Himalayan publishing in European languages spells big money, but the market is dominated by books about idyllic mountains and touristic pursuits. While serious publishers in the region face hardships, some fly-by-night book packagers take short cuts to big profits.
Rama Tiwari started selling books lO years ago on the streets of Benares. He moved up to Kathmandu six years ago and today runs Pilgrims, one of the busiest bookshops in the heart of Kathmandu´s tourist district with a collection of 70,000 titles and a yearly turnover of NRs 35 million.
Tiwari´s rags-to-riches story provides a peep into the world of Himalayan publishing and book-selling. But such success stories mask the industry´s largely tourism-dependent nature. Publishing is not institutionalised and sometimes appears as fragile as theecology of the Himalaya. With one million tourists visiting the Himalayan region every year, publishers agree mat the local market for books is big.
The fact that visitors on holiday are ready to spend money means that books go easily. Bookstalls make a tidy sum because they buy mostly "off-price" copies in the Westand charge the cover price. Others specialise in ferreting out tum-of-the-century books on the Himalaya by colonial adventurers and selling them at stratospheric prices.