Polish Cultural Journals Support Project 1996 – 1998
Polish Cultural Journals Support Project 1996 – 1998
In cooperation with the Polish Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw, CEEBP assisted in the project, providing matching funds for workshops, promotion, marketing, distribution, library subscription programme, and a joint catalogue which subsequently developed a bi-lingual archive Witryna/Showcase.
See also CEEBP Newsletter No 4, November 1998, “Polish Book Marketing Research in Bulgaria” in No 6, December 1999, “Online library (CEEOL)“ in No 8, December 2000, and “Journals Encouraged to Enlarge their Readership“ in No 9, June 2001.
Polish Cultural Journals Project 1996 – 1998
The project provided a series of well-attended workshops conducted by the Book Marketing Research (BMR) from Cracow on topics such as marketing and distribution, the Internet, copyrights, and financial management. A catalogue for the presentation and promotion of the journals was produced and distributed to libraries, booksellers, wholesalers, the media and other interested organizations. The catalogue soon became a basic source of information and an important reference tool.
Through the matching funds programme for library subscription, publishers not only saw an increase in the subscription from libraries but also from private subscribers. Joint promotion activities were carried out such as the journals stand on the Warsaw Book Fair. To improve the circulation, an agreement was reached with the largest book chain in Poland to take care of journals’ distribution and put them on show in their stores. While a number of titles folded during the two years, some new ones were established, and yet others underwent considerable development and growth. The sales of cultural journals grew slightly (8 %), and the total number of subscriptions went up by 75%.
Another significant change was the shift in the total costs for publishing journals. The overall costs remained unchanged but less money was spent on production costs and more on promotion, distribution, and management. The tendency towards increasing the cover price showed that publishers were starting to adapt to the rules of the market, and becoming more willing to take this risk despite the fact that five very important titles published by the state maintained ‘dump-level’ prices.
Apart from the high quality of their publications, a group of periodicals has also distinguished itself by organizational efficiency, entrepreneurial initiative, and improved co-operation with wholesalers and booksellers.
Nowadays there is a stable number of quality cultural periodicals on the Polish market, which constitute an indispensable element of free public opinion.