Hans Kuehn has played a crucial role in the industry of the book in Republic DominicanFor more than two decades he has served as vice president of Cuesta Booksmanaging the works of thousands of authors and striving to promote the habit of the reading and the importance of book.
The industry of the book in Republic Dominican covers the creation, production and sale of bookswhile promoting the culture and education.
Although it faces challenges of distribution and digitalization, among others, it remains a pillar for the culture and local education. Kuehnthrough its work, has contributed significantly to these efforts.
How would you describe the current relationship between Dominicans and the books? Or the habit of the readingespecially after the pandemic.
I’m going to say what I see, feel and assume because, and I always repeat the same thing, there is no cold data here. Statistics are not generated outside of what we have from our stores, but I think it can be said that after the pandemic there has been a growth in the reading.
It’s sad to say, but having to be locked in a space Unable to move, many of us, perhaps with much time free and many young people who could not leave their homes, that generated a space of leisure larger than normal.
After spending the first few months seeing even the biggest nonsense of Netflixmany people returned to the books and all that generated a base that encourages readingwhich is calm, the time freethe individual need to distract oneself and to get away from one’s environment.
So what do they generate for you? books? Being able to Travel without having to leave home. At that time, you could do the act of liberation, not physicalbut yes mentally and many people took advantage of that.
When people left, to their school, to their work, they already had a habit of reading strengthened by that time locked up and that is noticeable today since there is more interest in the reading.
What does it take for the industry editorial of Republic Dominican grow?
There has to be a promotion of the State, which You have to understand that the culture It is a good that perhaps cannot be easily calculated in numbers, but it generates a good in the education of the people, in training, in the promotion intellectual and, above all, in the progress in many things.
When you look at the history of humanity, the culture It is one of the main indicators of progress of a nation Why? Because the culture It grows and is fostered when there is economic well-being.
So that here the industry editorial can grow in such a small and difficult market, the State has to do much more and understand that this is not about generating more taxes, but because it has a broader vision of what should be Republic Dominican in 10 or 15 years.
That on the one hand and on the other other There is the private sectorwhich in turn also needs to be more organized.
Other Spanish-speaking nations have writers’ organizations, publishers, unions, and all kinds of private groups where the sector It is organized, in some way, to have more strength and political power at times X.
It is spoken of the networks social and technology in general as enemies of the readingbut we see that there is books that become bestsellers because they recommend them on TikTok or booktubers who are dedicated to promoting the readingShouldn’t these be seen? advances technological as tools to promote the reading?
That’s right. The networkson the one hand, and technology, have helped a lot bookSo there’s no “yes” or “no” answer, it’s more about what we do with those tools and how we use them.
20 years ago there was a very strong myth that the eBooks They were going to finish off the books It will be the end of it. Much time The data later told us that this was false. On the contrary, they support the books .
All that discussion about the ebook It distracted a lot of attention from what really had a big impact on him bookand it continues to impact him, which are the networks social, that nowadays they take away a lot from a person time.
If you are a lot time In them it may be that your concentration for the reading It may be worse because your mind has become accustomed to another style of capturing information. But, I repeat, this has its two sides, because equally the networks have helped the book to spread further.
That has generated a lot of good. Today the reader has much more access and there are readers who are much more better informed that I because they find out that their favorite writer is going to write a book new and until what date it will be released, something that I obviously cannot do because I manage between 30 and 40 thousand authors (national and international) in the bookshop.
The platforms streaming They have also done a lot of good for the booksbecause a high percentage of successful series or films in recent years are based on a book.
These companies found that it is much easier to take a book successful and with this make a script and split it into pieces to create two or three seasons, than to invent something from scratch.
What actions can we take to cultivate a new generation of readers?
Here, locally, the schools, thank God, are working a lot with the reading. Especially since the teacher is a ally our.
We have had many advantages in the market books Also because science has advanced a lot, especially neuroscience, and many studies have been published on what does reading in your head: a very great good.
I already mentioned the Statethat really is one of the most important issues; especially us, who are the ones who We votedWe have the power to demand that this be an issue, that not everything is tourism.
And on a personal level, it is important that us As parents we understand that this generates good and aid.
If you want your child to read, you have to create the conditions for that and the first is to take away the cell phone. The second condition is to generate a space where he’s going to be bored.
Boredom is not bad. We live in such an altered society that we understand that get bored It is bad. No, for the child being bored is very important because it generates a space where you have to generate creativity and find a job.
Not everything can be a stimulus. You have to create a space where there is no cell phone, there is no television and you can’t go play soccer or whatever. bebut you’re going to sit here and draw, read, or do other things.
What are the main challenges that an author faces when trying to publish his work in this country?
The challenge is great for authors because there is no structure to help them. The author has to do everything alone and that is difficultbecause he may be very good at writing, but he is not necessarily a financier, accountant, administrator, or agent. literarynor editor.
How can you overcome that? Well, above all, by seeking advice. There, perhaps, the networks and web pages. You can search in other countries, such as Spain, which possibly They may have some manuals or tips, but the author would have to search for it alone to publish.
At least authors today have the advantage that self-publishing exists. That was impossible 15 years ago, but today you can write a book and publish in several platforms.
Here locally it has also dropped a lot. price of the impression. There the author has earned something, but after having it printed, he has to go to the bookstores, offer it, put it into circulation and follow up on how much has been sold. It is very complicated for the local author.
Do you think that the diversification It is essential for the survival of a bookshop?
In bookstores in general, there is a private and a public aspect. Again we return to the public theme, the State has a Law of Books and Libraries, which has been a very good first step, it helps a lot. However, there are some things that were not taken into account.
For example, the topic of rentals. If you want to open your account right now bookshop You have to look in Santo Domingo or Santiago for a space central, where there is a lot of traffic, because it is difficult for people to get around, we do not have a pedestrian zone.
Everyone moves in vehiclesthe two largest cities, for example, are very complex.
People have the habit of going to places where several businesses are gathered and take advantage of doing several things; in short, they are squares, medium or large. In these squares, rentals They are quite heavy for a bookshop be able to pay for them, not forgetting electricity, employees, etc.
Here, if we exclude schoolchildren, everything is imported and what you bring you have to sell it, you have to pay for it. When strips the numbers with all that, it’s very complicated.
It is important to understand that the bookshop it’s a business very complicated. It means that if you dedicate yourself to this, you have to learn the business of the books.
It’s not just about choosing a place, filling it with books, wait for people to come and spend three hours talking to customers about “Crime and Punishment”, what a good thing book is, and what part did you like the most.
It is a very romantic vision of the businessbut it is not like that. It is the other way around, it is a business very cold and raw where you have to be very careful with, for example, inventories, rotation of books and customer service.
You need to have a lot information and flexibility. In order to be able to open a well business and defending yourself requires some specialized training.
