40. évfolyam, 1994. 3. szám

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Changes of the book market in Hungary

LÕRINCZ Judit

Market economy develops slowly in former socialist countries due to the lack of capital, and the backwardness of infrastructure. The book market has also changed considerably in Hungary since the transition, 1990. Beside official and occasional publishers small workshops also appeared, and alternative (street) book trade started. The scale of this alternative form of distribution is impossible to estimate due to the lack of statistical data. Bread-and-butter worries pushed book purchase down to the bottom of the structure of the consumption of the average citizen. The publishing of fiction and non-fiction has increased since 1988, while that of scientific and special books has decreased. In 1990 the number of domestic and foreign Hungarian publishers, editors, printing houses, and distributors amounted to about 2000 all together. Books in Print was started in 1993 surveying commercially available books. The choice of book publishing widened, but the average size of editions decreased. It could be an aim that the products of book publishing be statistically measurable and comparable in East Central Europe. (pp. 374-377)

Országos Széchényi Könyvtár Észrevételek