Editor: Romania's book market is small and difficult, distribution remains biggest challenge

Romania's book market is small and difficult and is now stabilizing, said Marin Vidrascu, the executive director of the Romanian publishing house Litera, in an interview with the Romanian media agency Mediafax. The greatest challenge in leading an editorial group is the distribution, Vidrascu says. "Romania's population is about 18 million and we have a book market of about EUR 40-60 million. Our neighbours from Hungary are four times less and have a book market worth EUR 200-250 million." The distribution issue was the main reason why Litera extended to so-called kiosk projects. "The kiosk projects are a good solution to send the book wherever you want very quickly. There are over 6,000 press kiosks and the books arrive quickly to places the readers pass by all the time," Vidrascu adds. Online has given the book market a big boost and has brought the possibility of rapid expansion, says Vidrascu. "Any company that sells online went up by 10 to 12 times per year, which is fabulous." Diana Mesesan, diana@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Google Plus)