Almost six months after the July uprising, the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair finally kicked off. However, the fair, which ended last Friday, saw a significant drop in sales. Publishers reported that their sales plunged to nearly half of last year’s figures. Writers, publishers, and industry insiders blame the sharp decline in sales on the country’s unstable political situation, frequent protests near the fairground, worsening law and order, and mismanagement by the organizers.
Speaking to writers and publishers, it became clear that this year’s fair was full of challenges. Both big and small publishers shared frustrating experiences. Even major publishers, including the fair’s organizer, Bangla Academy, saw their sales plummet by nearly 50 percent.
According to Bangla Academy sources, they sold books worth BDT 6.1 million at this year’s fair, a drastic drop from BDT 13.6 million last year. When asked about this decline, Sarkar Amin, a member secretary of the fair’s organizing committee, told Bonik Barta, “It’s true that sales were lower this year. We need to analyze the reasons behind this and discuss possible solutions.”
However, Dr. K M Muzahidul Islam, Director of Bangla Academy’s Sales, Marketing, and Reprinting Division, pointed to another factor. He said, “For the past 17 years, Bangla Academy has been publishing a large number of politically aligned books. In previous years, certain institutions would bulk purchase 50,000 copies of books on Bangabandhu’s biography or other political figures. That didn’t happen this time, leading to a significant drop in sales. The same happened to other publishers as well. Personally, I believe Bangla Academy should not be used in this manner for political purposes.”
The situation was no better for the country’s major publishing houses. Prothoma Prokashon, one of Bangladesh’s largest publishers, reported a 60 percent drop in sales compared to last year, although they did not disclose the total amount.
Other publishers also faced significant losses: Panjeree Publications sold books worth BDT 6.5 million, down from BDT 9.5 million last year; Adarsha Prokashoni saw sales drop to BDT 3 million from last year’s BDT 6 million; The University Press Limited (UPL) reported BDT 3 million in sales, down from BDT 6 million last year; Baatighar managed BDT 3.7 million, slightly down from BDT 3.9 million last year; Adorn Publications saw sales fall from BDT 1.1 million to BDT 600,000; Genius Publications dropped from BDT 1.5 million to BDT 800,000; Kakali Prokashoni reported BDT 2.6 million in sales, compared to BDT 4.6 million last year; Salahuddin Boighor saw its sales shrink from BDT 1 million to BDT 400,000; Ittadi Publications also reported a 50 percent drop in sales.
Sales at this year’s Ekushey Book Fair took a major hit, and publishers have pointed to multiple reasons behind the decline. Amjad Hossain Khan Kajol, sales manager at Oitijjhya Prokashoni, told Bonik Barta, “In the final days of the fair, both visitors and buyers noticeably decreased. Our sales have dropped by almost half. While the organizers provided a lot of support, there was also a fair share of mismanagement. This year, an unusually large number of food stalls were set up at the back of the fairgrounds—something we haven’t seen before. On top of that, there was a significant rise in hawkers and street children loitering around, which wasn’t the case in previous years. According to fair regulations, no one is allowed to stay inside the stalls overnight. But the food stall vendors remained at their stalls all night. Even after we closed at 9 pm and left, we could see food stalls still operating. The organizers failed to control these issues.”
Many sellers also noted that several of the organizers’ decisions seemed sudden and unplanned, which affected sales. Additionally, sales were lower because key fair dates—February 14, February 21, and Shab-e-Barat—all fell on Fridays this year. Fridays are typically the busiest days for book sales, but the overlap with these special occasions actually reduced overall sales.
Md Asif Ahmed, Creative Marketing and Corporate Sales Officer at Panjeree Publications, echoed similar concerns. “Many decisions this year were made at the last minute. On the day of Shab-e-Barat, we were suddenly informed via loudspeaker in the afternoon that stalls must close by 8 pm. But that’s when our sales were just picking up. We were told we could stay open until 10 pm the next day, but that never happened. Special days usually boost our sales, but since they all landed on Fridays this year, we lost out on potential revenue. Fridays are already our best-selling days, and February 14 and February 21 also bring in high sales. This year, we didn’t get that advantage.”
Among the major publishers, Baatighar Prokashoni performed comparatively better. Its owner, Dipankar Das, told Bonik Barta, “Compared to others, our sales were not as bad. Many publishers couldn’t even sell half of what they did last year. Some didn’t even reach BDT 100,000 in sales. The situation worsened after Bangla Academy’s award controversy—awards were revoked, stalls were shut down, and a writer was arrested. All of this cast a shadow over the fair. Overall, it was a terrible experience for publishers.”
Despite the overall slump, books by Humayun Ahmed—one of Bangladesh’s most beloved authors—continue to sell well. Several of his books were released through Kakali Prokashoni, but even they saw their total sales drop by almost half compared to last year. Md Imran Ahmed, Kakali Prokashoni’s communication officer, said, “This year, Bangla Academy handed out stalls to just about anyone. The fair had everything—except an actual book fair. Even street vendors who usually sell copied books on sidewalks were given stalls. This hurt big publishers like us.”
Many prominent writers had a disappointing experience this year. When Bonik Barta reached out to well-known authors such as Anisul Hoque and Imdadul Haq Milan, they declined to comment. Imdadul Haq Milan, who was unwell, did not attend the fair and chose not to share his opinion.
However, renowned novelist Harishankar Jaladas did not hold back his criticism. “I wouldn’t even call this a book fair,” he told Bonik Barta. “In all my years, I’ve never seen a fair like this. There was no proper security, no organization. Was this a book fair or a food market? It was hard to tell. The place was overcrowded with beggars and hawkers, making it difficult to walk. There weren’t even proper seating arrangements for elderly visitors. There was no security for attendees. This was not a book fair by any means. I’ve attended book fairs in different countries, and I’ve never seen such chaos.”
Publishers say they have never witnessed such mismanagement at the Ekushey Book Fair before. A large portion of the fairgrounds was allocated to food stalls, leading many authors and publishers to remark that it felt more like a restaurant festival than a book fair.
Md Jafirul Islam, Communication Officer at Kathaprokash, shared his disappointment. “Our total sales this year were around BDT 3 million, compared to BDT 4.2 million last year. Profits were minimal. We introduced over 100 new books this year, and investing in new titles always carries risk. With stall expenses and author royalties, we didn’t see the kind of profit we usually do. As for the fair’s environment, we were completely let down. The sheer number of food stalls was overwhelming, and unregulated hawkers flooded the area in front of the book stalls. We’ve never seen such an unchecked presence of street vendors before. The Bangla Academy did not take the fair seriously this year, which is disappointing.”
In previous years, Bangla Academy would publish total sales figures for the fair the very next day. However, this year, they have yet to provide a full report. On the last day of the fair, they only disclosed that books worth BDT 6.1 million were sold, which has led to widespread skepticism. Many on social media are mocking the claim, suggesting that this year’s entire fair only generated BDT 6.1 million in sales—a stark contrast to last year’s reported BDT 6 billion.
Publishers argue that daily sales records are submitted to Bangla Academy, so they should have been able to provide the final sales total by February 28. The delay in releasing this data reflects institutional inefficiency, they claim. When asked about this, Sarkar Amin, Secretary of the Fair Organizing Committee, told Bonik Barta, “We are still calculating the figures. Once the process is complete, we will release the final report.”
Regarding the overall situation, Bangla Academy Director General Mohammad Azam admitted to Bonik Barta, “The publishers are right about the security concerns. We failed to control the hawkers this year, despite multiple attempts. As for the food stalls, while there were many, they were placed away from the main fair area. If everyone agrees that food stalls should not be part of the fair, we won’t allow them next year. But there needs to be a collective decision on this.”