Swiss Review 6/2018

Swiss Review / November 2018 / No.6 19 stabilised at around 25percent. In other words, bibliophiles still buy three-quarters of all books in stores. Thebook industry’s decline in sales has also slowed recently. 2018 could even result ina slight surplus, depending on Christmas sales. However, the positive developments did not happen of their ownaccord.Manybooksellers realised that putting books on shelves was no longer enough to get people to go to bookshops. Bookstores have become meeting places with cafes, lounges, events and support clubs. The selection of books is carefullymaintained. “Our selection is hand-picked,” says Beatrix Stuber, “our customers appreciate be- ing inspired and receiving advice”. Carol Forster, a bookseller fromAp- penzell, reacted early on. Her cam- paign is called “Lock-inandenjoy” and has been taking place inher bookstore several times a week for the past nine years. Groups or individuals can re- serve the bookshop and browse through the available books. “We are always fully booked,” says Forster. She also focuses on purchasing locally. She delivers books ordered fromher online store to stores in Appenzell’s Vorder- land region. There are no more book- stores there, but the retailer Volg, the bakery, the organic food store and the cafenowrun small book corners. “This is a way for village shops to support each other,” says Forster. And the con- scious consumer, the consumerwho is tiredof globalisation, cancontribute to amore lively place to live. The look and feel of a book Book publishers have been receiving cultural funding from the federal gov- ernment for the past two years. But even in their case creativity has to flourish, and is doing so. “We are en- hancing our profile,” Matthias Haupt says in the conference room of the publishing company Haupt-Verlag, novels to regional thrillers. Biogra- phies, and not only those written by celebrities, also do well. Even when they never go on sale. The cultural pro- ject Edition Unik lets people like you and me write down their life stories. They are guided through a writing programby a specially developed soft- ware and receive two copies of a printed book at the end. “People are still fascinated by books when it comes to giving away their own life story – to their children, family or friends,” says the founder and cultural entrepreneur Martin Heller. The par- ticipants know that they have pro- duced something precious “and for them an elegant, sensuous book is more suitable for expressing this pre- ciousness than a simple digital file”. The printed book is alive. And this is most likely more than just a retro fad like the vinyl record. While more and more music is streamed online, the e-book has yet to establish itself in Switzerland. It has a market share of ten percent. The printed book has something about it that people obvi- ously don’t want to give up, even in digital times: the physical interaction with it, undisturbed immersion in reading experiences. “People already spend far too much of their lives in front of computers,” says the book- seller Carol Forster, “they enjoy taking a break and holding a book in their hands”. Her colleague Beatrix Stuber stresses that she “has no desire to only be amanager of data”. And SBVVMan- aging Director Dani Landolf quotes the writer Umberto Eco: “The book is like a spoon – an invention that sim- ply cannot be improved.” “We are treading on thin ice, but the ice is supporting us.” Publisher Matthias Haupt which is located in the Länggasse dis- trict of the city of Bern. He runs the family business, whichhas been in the family for three generations. Today, Haupt-Verlag mainly publishes non-fiction books on nature and the environment as well as handicrafts and design. The focus in on quality, also in terms of the design. The pub- lisher pulls out “Steine Berns”, a new geological excursion guide through the federal city. He almost tenderly strokes the rough cover. “The paper is inspired by sandstone,” he says. Ac- cording to Haupt, the look and feel is an unbeatable advantage of the printed book. Even niche books, which are pro- duced in high quality, find a reader- shipwilling to pay for them. The sixth edition of the Flora Helvetica plant guide was recently published by Haupt. Virtually every wild flower that grows in Switzerland is men- tioned in it. But it is a heavy load, even for flower lovers, weighing almost two kilograms. The publisher now com- bines the bookwith 21st century tech- nology, an app formobile devices. This also has its price, but is doing verywell according toHaupt. Unlike newspaper publishers, the book publishers never made the mistake of offering their products for free online. “We are treading on thin ice,” says Haupt, “but the ice is supporting us”. He is more optimistic than he was five years ago. More than a retro fad One third of the books sold in Switzer- land are fiction books, ranging from A cross-section of the current Swiss book scene can be found on the following page.