The international standard book number (ISBN) is the unique identification number for every book. How many ISBN’s a place registers every year is a reflection of the situation of its publishing market.
In 2014, statistics show that Macao published 640 titles, 12 less than the previous year. According to the ISBN Centre which handles applications for ISBN in Macao, the drop was not a significant one and was just a normal market fluctuation.
But who applied for the most ISBN’s? This is an interesting question. Data show that in 2014, the Macao Foundation applied for the most ISBN’s, at 51 last year, followed by the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau at 47. Third was the Cultural Affairs Bureau, which applied for 39. The forth was People’s Science Publications Ltd., which applied for 34, and was the commercial organsation that applied for the most ISBN’s.
On aggregate, there are 718 publishers in Macao from 2000 to 2014, with 314 of these being associations. The rest are individuals (160), commercial organisations (148), governmental departments (56) and schools (29) etc. As one can see, publishing houses operated as commercial enterprises make up only a small number, suggesting that even though Macao registered a good number of ISBN’s, its publishing industry is hardly a thriving one.
As local author Un Sio San points out, “In Macao it is easy to publish a book. Applying for an ISBN is free and anyone can do so, unlike on the mainland where only a publishing house can apply for one and it costs thousands of dollars. Anyone in Macao can publish a book and many books have government funding. However, there is still a long way to go for Macao to establish a proper publishing industry.”
