Books in the midst of a decline in reading culture.

VHXQ - Although the Vietnamese publishing industry continues to grow steadily, looking back to 2025, it's difficult to name any works that will be bestsellers and have a widespread impact on the public.

Book fairs continue to attract large numbers of participants.

Meanwhile, the number of new works by domestic authors (authors who previously had top-selling books) has seen a decline in both reader interest and print runs in recent years.

Habits change

Currently, the average print run of a book in Vietnam ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 copies, and some even have 800 or 500 copies per print. Taking a maximum of 2,000 copies as a benchmark for Vietnam's population of 102.3 million (in 2025), it's clear that the current reading culture in Vietnam is not high compared to the global average.

World Book Day was first celebrated in 1995. Over the past 30 years, humanity has undergone rapid changes. The explosion of information technology, coupled with the development and global spread of social media platforms, has transformed the 21st century into the audiovisual era. The public has gradually shifted from reading text to receiving information through images, which is faster and less time-consuming.

Not only in Vietnam, but in many parts of the world today, reading culture is on the decline. This situation has been observed in many countries, including developed countries such as the UK and the US.

The UK has a prestigious and long-standing Booker Prize. Between 2020 and 2025, the winning works were all no longer than 400 pages (except for Douglas Stuart's novel *Shuggie Bain* , which is 448 pages). In 2024, Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for her novel * Orbital *, which is only 144 pages long.

These days, it's difficult to find monumental works like Tolstoy's War and Peace or Hugo's Les Misérables . Basically, we're living in a different millennium.

Even famous works, those that have won Booker or Goncourt Prizes, receive only moderate attention from readers when translated and published in Vietnam. Even books by Nobel Prize-winning authors are readily available at discount counters.

Major publishers participated in the book fair with many new and excellent books at discounted prices. Photo: NGOC HA

The role of publishing

On average, the lifespan of a new book is about 6 months to 1 year. Currently, that lifecycle can be longer. Browsing bookstores or book fairs, you can even find books published as far back as 5 or 10 years ago. This leads publishers to be hesitant about publishing overly thick books, as they require a long production time, high investment costs, and have a slow return on investment for reinvestment.

Despite these reservations, not all publishers are averse to thick books. Historically, thickness hasn't been the deciding factor in whether or not a book is printed. The primary factor remains quality. Besides domestic authors, the publishing industry has strived over the years to quickly access and update its publications with authors and works making a name for themselves worldwide, especially award-winning books such as those with the Booker, Goncourt, Pulitzer, or Nobel Prizes. However, these efforts are struggling to fill the seemingly ever-widening gap.

Moreover, the Vietnamese publishing industry currently still heavily relies on "importing" – meaning translated books remain dominant – while "exporting" and promoting the works of domestic authors to foreign partners remains sporadic, small-scale, and highly individualistic, lacking a systematic approach and a long-term plan.

Even countries with strong cultural industries and significant state investment, like South Korea, took a long time and well-planned strategies to gradually assert their "soft power" on the international stage.

Publishing must play a crucial role in building a cultural foundation within cultural development strategies. In a declining reading culture, the publishing houses are the most directly and significantly affected. This "great decline" in reading culture, as mentioned, is not only happening in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world.

Young readers seek out healing books at Kim Dong Bookstore. Photo: D.HL

In response to this situation, developed countries like the UK and Norway have long had tax-free policies for books. Norway is also a country that invests in developing its library system and has policies to support and promote book publishing.

Of course, in the story of books, we cannot ignore the readers, who are the lifeblood of the book industry. In the information age, publishing is not just about printing; it's also about how to get information about the book to readers, how to make the book reach them as quickly and conveniently as possible—a crucial goal for those in the publishing industry.

Books continue to be printed, many new publishing houses continue to be established, and above all, a new generation of readers has emerged. They are exposed to the world earlier and more broadly, and therefore their demands for publication quality are higher. They become the driving force for publishers to continue their work and constantly improve their professionalism with each publication.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/sach-trong-con-suy-thoai-van-hoa-doc-3335046.html