Pin-to Livros: a staunch advocate for independent publishing

Despite their significance in publishing, bookshops are still far and few between in Macao, and not many of them find it important to stock or promote the works by local authors. Located at Largo do Senado, the independent bookshop, Pin-to Livros is well-known for its efforts in promoting local literature.

In this bookshop, you can see an array of independently published works by Macao’s writers displayed prominently. Books such as Why Macau? , published by Yunyi Arts & Cultural Communications Association and co-authored by a group of Macao-based expatriates and return migrants, featured as the bookshop’s latest highlights.

The bookshop manager, Dawn Cheung, told us that the publishing market in Macao is still led by the government and organisations, given the sheer amount of publications coming from these parties. For example, Macao Foundation will publish a huge amount of academic materials each year, even if such titles lack market competitiveness and do not fare well in sales. She said: “In Macao, publishing is not very professionally managed, and there is hardly any publisher with proven commercial success.”

The bookshop focused mainly on selling independent publications. Cheung also pointed out that books by local playwrights are quite popular among mainland tourists,while titles such as Why Macau? are sought after by Hong Kong tourists. Chau’s latest volume, Cruel Story of Youth, has sold over 200 copies, topping the bestselling chart in the bookshop. Nevertheless, the bookshop founder, Anson Ng, said that such a sales figure is quite uncommon, since sales for most other books only range from several to tens of copies.

With ebooks becoming more popular, some online bookshops such as books.com.tw have started competing with traditional bookshops by selling books published overseas. Ng said: “These ebooks and online bookshops, with their cut-throat price competition, have an adverse impact on local bookshops. You can see that even the Taiwanese book chain, Eslite, has to rely on other means to support its book retail business. Regardless of their locations, it is now a priority for independent bookshops and publishers to find a way to survive and maintain their competitiveness.” Ng, however, maintained a positive outlook for the market: “There are sufficient resources in Macao to support the homegrown publishing scene, as is evident from the number of book fairs in Macao. The key to success lies in how we mobilise these resources.”