We live in a post book age and that's something many find difficult to accept. If that is not so then let's adjust the statement and say that we live in an era where the paper-based content monopoly has ceased to exist and there are other options too particularly of the digital variety vying for the reader's attention.

The result is a loss in the share of the total attention market. And with everyone with a phone in hand which serves as a home for social media channels, what chances can other sources have? Well.

More authors and books but less reader's syndrome

Interestingly, while readership of most books has declined going by print order sizes, the number of authors have increased manifold. So, there is a market surfeit of author's right when books are being sold less and there is a connection however firm or weak. The answer is probably simple. The number of books competing for a place in the market or the readers' hands are high thereby reducing individual sales.

This of course is the reality of paper books but digital books haven't done very well in Bangladesh going by market word of mouth. Most sales are low and it isn't drawing a large round of public interest. What happens is also that the public are exposed to various kinds of digital content of varying length which are easier to consume, needs low attention span and is not too taxing on the brain. This of course is not unique to Bangladesh, it's the global trend.

Thus, what we have is the following:

- Lot of books published, much more than ever before as the number of authors have risen many times.

- Print orders are down and self-publishing has increased hugely as authors are happy to see a published book which they are ready to pay for. And publishers having made a profit before the book hits the market are not keen to sell it anymore, this pre-paid risk-free venture.

- It basically means that the book is published but not read (much) not because of any quality issue but because it's lost in the caravan of many books and because no professional marketing strategy exists to reach the readers.

- Marketing today usually begins and ends with a post/ notice on Facebook followed by several likes and so on. A few promises to read are made and then the book is forgotten.

- There is a genuine competition for attention and books, particularly the non-top writers' face greater difficulty in seeing the paper or digital book reach an audience. And soon, the book is lost in oblivion in most cases and bye-bye.

Access and visibility

It has of course always been so but never this extreme. There are great books, good books, fine/OK books, not so great books and on and on. However, each book does have a niche of readers and they would like to read them. Barring great books which are known to all, others get much less exposure than they deserve because the book industry is not very developed.

Their buy-sell policy is not always transparent and as it isn't always so many just post a book's title on their social media page and that's it. It's done almost superficially with no professional approach to production of attention seeking content.

Obviously, they focus on the few profit-making books they have rather than the rest which again are forgotten. So where does it all leave us? Books without readers, books without reviews, books that are forgotten. Good, bad, indifferent, something should be done.

Can anything be done? Why should anyone do it?

Why and how?

Instead of wailing for the "good old days "when books were the only royalty around, one could perhaps plan a digital space dedicated to books which is marketed as a professional activity. There are many book lover pages and they are good but they are not dedicated professional ventures. They also focus on a few books rather than scout out all kinds. What is perhaps suggested is an addition not an innovation. However, it could network with other sites and cover their activities as well.

Most of the existing efforts are FB based and many are run by young people with great energy and drive. Some have members in the hundreds of thousands too. So, the model already exists. But as other interests arrive, professional sustainability is an issue.

What a proposed site can offer are published written reviews, discussion, group chats on books and book promotion. It can promote authors as well so that it resembles a digital book café. And it's this environment that one can offer. Perhaps over dependence on FB has something to do with it but a multiple sourced platform sounds great particularly You Tube and X.

At the same time, if it is to sustain its professional approach, income generation is also important. So, an interactive relationship with publishers and authors should also be promoted. And linking paper books with digital content is very important. In other words, the focus is the book, not its paper identity.

And it's a professional paid activity based so that the services are not whim and like based but market demand based, some off and some on market.

Books will have to co-exist with other content based products but it really has to exist well first.