Complaints about book prices are old-hat, so why not think back to a simpler time, a time when 1 RMB would buy you not one, but two volumes full of useful information:
The “50-cent Book Series” was a collection of popular books published in the 1980s and 90s and aimed at general readers. Over the course of more than a decade, 150 titles were issued by the Shanghai Literature and Arts Publishing House. Total circulation passed 15 million copies, making the series a stellar performer for the company. Although the book prices were low – each volume asked a mere 0.5 yuan – they covered a rich selection of topics, from humanities and history to astronomy and geography, as well as content that closely matched the everyday lives of readers: Body Language, Opening up the right side of the brain, and The Art of Dressing. He Chengwei, the series editor and the current vice-president of SLAP, remembers: “At that time, this series had quite a reception from society, not only because it was cheap, but because each thin, short volume could satisfy the reading needs of the average reader.”
He Chengwei explained that one mistake made in book publishing today is the drive to publish scaled-up new books – books are too thick. Some books are printed in small type set in widely-spaced lines, leaving too much whitespace and wasting money.
These days, even used books go for much more than 0.5 yuan, and new books priced below 10 yuan are most likely reprints of classics. Xinmin Evening News found a series of 9-yuan books published by People’s Literature Press that reprints contemporary novellas; a collection of English-Chinese facing-page condensed translations of Western classics is also priced fairly economically. But original works are seldom issued in low-priced editions.
- Xinmin Evening News via Sina (Chinese): Readers fondly recall low-priced book series
- Earlier on Danwei: Explaining Chinese book prices