erinja:Almost any Esperanto speaker already speaks a native language that has more speakers than Esperanto. If I wanted a book on coins, I might have one (expensive, possibly low quality) book in Esperanto, and many, many choices for English books. Why would I buy the Esperanto one, when the English one is likely to be much better in its content, and much cheaper besides?

Well the collectible coins example was offered with tongue slightly in cheek. But the rest of the topics I think are legitimate.

However, I'm curious as to why you think the book in Esperanto would be lower quality. Is there a history of the Esperanto publishing industry producing low-quality non-fiction works?

SPX:However, I'm curious as to why you think the book in Esperanto would be lower quality. Is there a history of the Esperanto publishing industry producing low-quality non-fiction works?

Basically, there is no money in Esperanto books. No one has ever gotten rich, or even earned a living wage, on writing Esperanto books. The people who write Esperanto books, therefore, would do it simply because they love it, or because they want to see their name in print. Talent doesn't really have anything to do with it. Esperanto does have a couple of publishing houses that look at the quality of a book before publishing it, but most of Esperanto's books are self-published, so there's no quality control, it's just whatever someone has written and feels like spending the money to print. It's similar to self-publishing in English, right? Some self-published books are of excellent quality, but most self-published books aren't, and you have to dig through the masses of uninspired poetry and poorly written junk to find whatever is good.

SPX:So it seems to me that, while Esperanto's speakers are a tiny fraction of those of English, those speakers who do exist would be very active in their pursuit of the language and would gobble up just about anything that was written in it. As such, I don't see why it should be any big problem to sell, say, 10,000 copies of any particular work.

That's a beginner's eye view of the Esperanto world, I think. As a beginner, I was thrilled to have anything printed in Esperanto - a magazine, a CD, a book, etc; and when I went to my first Esperanto event of any size, I was thrilled to attend talks in Esperanto, even if it was on a topic that didn't interest me, simply because I was excited to be hearing Esperanto and understanding it. Selling 10,000 copies of a book would require that practically every active Esperantist buy the book, and that simply isn't reasonable, both for reasons of interest (not everyone will be interested in the topic) and for economic reasons (Esperanto books are expensive and many Esperanto speakers couldn't afford to spend that much money on books).

I'm no longer thrilled simply to see Esperanto in print, and in my opinion, most experienced Esperanto speakers don't feel that way either. Esperanto books are expensive, and I can't see myself paying $30 for a book on a topic that I could read about in more depth in English, that I could check out for free from my local library. I enjoy speaking and reading in Esperanto but Esperanto has become part of my daily life now; I use it all the time for various purposes, and it's no longer novel or special enough that I would go out and buy any old thing just because it's written in Esperanto. I have some standards, and for me to spend $30 on a book, it needs to be a truly interesting book, preferably containing viewpoints or information that I couldn't get in English.

I would say that Esperanto films are the one exception to the rule. There have only been a handful of films made in Esperanto, and they all suck, but I think people buy them because they're desperate. I don't think there's the same level of desperation for an Esperanto-language book on the mammals of North America. And I still get the impression that beginners and intermediate speakers buy the films more than experienced Esperantists do.

erinja:
Esperanto does have a couple of publishing houses that look at the quality of a book before publishing it, but most of Esperanto's books are self-published, so there's no quality control, it's just whatever someone has written and feels like spending the money to print.

That makes sense regarding self-published works. I guess I was more thinking along the lines of books that have gone through the proper process of being vetted by a legitimate editor at a reputable publisher.

erinja:Selling 10,000 copies of a book would require that practically every active Esperantist buy the book. . .

Really? There are only 10,000 active Esperantists around the world? What are these figures of one or two million that I often see then? I was under the impression it was more like 100,000 or so active speakers . . . one or two million with some knowledge of the language.

erinja:. . . Esperanto books are expensive and many Esperanto speakers couldn't afford to spend that much money on books).

How many new Esperanto books actually come out in a year? My impression has always been that the number is very small. (I am speaking here of non-self-published works.)

Also, I was wondering. . .

I have an interest in antique and collectible books, as well as the process of book binding. I was thinking that at some point it would be very nice to take "A Christmas Carol" (perhaps my favorite classic in terms of fiction) and have a copy in Esperanto that is originally illustrated and very nicely printed and bound.

The cover would be bound in leather and everything would be done by hand (except printing the pages, of course). Due to the time and materials involved it would be necessary to charge more than your usual book cost (maybe $100 or so?) and it would probably be best to make it a limited edition with a finite print run.

Do you think there would be a market for a book like this?

I think erinja has basically nailed it.

To someone like myself, who has incorporated Esperanto into my daily life for the last six years, Esperanto isn't really a new or novel thing. It's just a language that I know. And just as I wouldn't buy absolutely anything in Spanish just because I happened to know Spanish*, I certainly wouldn't buy absolutely anything in Esperanto just because I happen to know Esperanto.

In fact, aside from textbooks (of which I have quite a few), I have never actually bought a book written in Esperanto. I have the free 215 books downloaded onto my iPad, and those are more than sufficient for me. Plus, the internet provides plenty of additional material, and there's more of that every day. Finding material to read in Esperanto is not really a problem if you aren't terribly picky.

So, if you want to write books in Esperanto, I say go for it. But expect it to be a labor of love rather than a financially rewarding activity. Because you are highly unlikely to sell 10,000 copies of anything written in Esperanto.

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* I don't actually know Spanish. It's just an example.

SPX:Do you think there would be a market for a book like this?

Obviously I can't speak for every Esperantist on the planet, but I would guess that there is not. Sure, there'd be a few people who might buy it (there usually is someone). But overall, I think the demand would be pretty thin.

RiotNrrd:
To someone like myself, who has incorporated Esperanto into my daily life for the last six years, Esperanto isn't really a new or novel thing. It's just a language that I know. And just as I wouldn't buy absolutely anything in Spanish just because I happened to know Spanish*, I certainly wouldn't buy absolutely anything in Esperanto just because I happen to know Esperanto.

I would think the situation would be different within the Esperanto community. Spanish, to use your example, is not an embattled language. There's no fear of its extinction. And there's no romantic ideal behind its propagation.

I know that with Esperanto there's a strong desire to push the language and to increase the number of speakers so that not only does the language continue to be passed down from generation to generation, but also so that--at least this seems to be the goal--it takes its place as the true international language (regardless of how hopeful you actually are of its chances of doing so).

Therefore I would expect its speakers to be more willing to invest both time and money into the language in various ways so that the community and the movement stays robust and active and ultimately grows. After all, the more people who are actually willing to pay for and read new books, the more books will get written. And the more books that get written, the more awareness there will be of the language (presumably), and the more awareness of the language there is the more new speakers will join the ranks. Or, conversely, the more general activity there is in the Esperanto community--including in the publishing field--the less attrition there will be due to speakers just losing interest and going to do something else.

I guess I'd equate it to buying local when you can instead of going to Walmart or some other big box store.

RiotNrrd:So, if you want to write books in Esperanto, I say go for it. But expect it to be a labor of love rather than a financially rewarding activity. Because you are highly unlikely to sell 10,000 copies of anything written in Esperanto.

Maybe 10,000 is a little high but I saw a post from a few years ago on the esperanto-usa site that said that within the last three months the top seller had only sold something like 21 copies and that bestsellers in Esperanto are usually measured in the dozens of copies, not the thousands or even hundreds. (Though there had been a tiny handful of books that had gone on to sell a few thousand.)

That just sounds crazy to me. Maybe there needs to be more marketing?

A few people in this thread are really downbeat about Esperanto books. Come on people, let's be a bit more positive! Personally, I like to see Esperanto in print and I think it should be encouraged even if it is a relatively small market.

SPX:I would think the situation would be different within the Esperanto community. Spanish, to use your example, is not an embattled language. There's no fear of its extinction. And there's no romantic ideal behind its propagation.

I don't think that most experienced Esperanto speakers worry about Esperanto going extinct. And a romantic ideal is something that a lot of Esperanto speakers don't necessarily believe in, and they won't necessarily buy a lot of expensive books because they have this ideal.

SPX:Therefore I would expect its speakers to be more willing to invest both time and money into the language in various ways so that the community and the movement stays robust and active and ultimately grows.

This is true but I wouldn't extend it to buying a lot of expensive books. There's also often a gap between enthusiasm and capability - I have often found that the people who are most enthusiastic about Esperanto as an idea don't have the capability in the language to read the books with ease. Or, you have a very enthusiastic student or retiree, people who may not have the money to buy a lot of expensive books.

Most Esperantists are more willing to invest time than money - that's why this site's tutoring and translation are done by volunteers, for example.

I would be interested to know, of the people worldwide who speak some Esperanto, how many of them have read even one complete book in Esperanto, start to finish, and not a children's picture book. I think it would be a lower number than you might think. Reading in a language that you don't speak that well is time-consuming and frustrating, and many people must lose patience.

SPX:Maybe 10,000 is a little high but I saw a post from a few years ago on the esperanto-usa site that said that within the last three months the top seller had only sold something like 21 copies and that bestsellers in Esperanto are usually measured in the dozens of copies, not the thousands or even hundreds. (Though there had been a tiny handful of books that had gone on to sell a few thousand.)

I think they're referring to their book service alone, not all of the book services in Esperanto. They couldn't possibly have the statistics for other book services, so I am sure that they're only speaking for themselves.

The bottom line is that the same market forces rule Esperanto as anything else. If I write a book on the history of Washington DC, in English, what percentage of English speakers do you think will be interested enough in the topic to pay money for my book? Now translate this to Esperanto - with a much smaller number of speakers, and a book that will probably cost around twice as much, it's unlikely that I could sell a thousand copies.

If it's a book on grammar, however, I could expect to sell more copies. A good Esperanto grammar guide will sell relatively well, though still nothing approaching 10,000 copies.

If you have the interest and the financial resources to support the Esperanto community by buying lots of books, then that's great! But most Esperanto speakers don't have the money to spend, or the inclination to buy a lot of books that might not even interest them, to invest in that manner.

erinja:
I don't think that most experienced Esperanto speakers worry about Esperanto going extinct.

Not today or tomorrow, but I don't think it's survival 300 years from now is exactly guaranteed.

erinja:And a romantic ideal is something that a lot of Esperanto speakers don't necessarily believe in, and they won't necessarily buy a lot of expensive books because they have this ideal.

If it's not romantic idealism that fuels most Esperantists then I don't know what does. There is some limited practical value, but not enough to study it instead of some other national language. For me, it's the underlying philosophy, history and community that's really attractive, rather than ending up in some country and having to use Esperanto to get out of a bind or easily get around. I assume it's the same for the majority of esperantistoj.

erinja:This is true but I wouldn't extend it to buying a lot of expensive books. There's also often a gap between enthusiasm and capability - I have often found that the people who are most enthusiastic about Esperanto as an idea don't have the capability in the language to read the books with ease. Or, you have a very enthusiastic student or retiree, people who may not have the money to buy a lot of expensive books.

From what I can tell there aren't a lot of books to buy. At least not a lot of new ones.

erinja:I would be interested to know, of the people worldwide who speak some Esperanto, how many of them have read even one complete book in Esperanto, start to finish, and not a children's picture book. I think it would be a lower number than you might think. Reading in a language that you don't speak that well is time-consuming and frustrating, and many people must lose patience.

That's interesting. It sounds to me then that aren't really a lot of Esperanto SPEAKERS . . . just a lot of people who have some very basic understanding of the language.

I certainly wouldn't call myself an Esperanto speaker right now nor would I want to be counted as a such. I only have an understanding of some basics.