As Karine Pansa’s two-year tenure as president of the International Publishers Association (IPA) draws to a close, the Brazilian publisher and owner of Girassol Brasil Edições shared some of the challenges and achievements of her two-year term. Pansa’s presidency, which began in January 2023, has been marked by global crises, technological disruptions, and efforts to strengthen the international publishing community.
One of Pansa’s primary initiatives was to improve data collection and analysis across the global publishing industry. However, this ambitious project faced significant hurdles. “We have more empty spaces of information,” Pansa explained, noting that many countries do not view the book industry as a creative industry worthy of detailed study.
Another challenge is the lack of standardization in data collection methods. “The data that is available is not comparable,” Pansa said. “Each region wants to see the book industry numbers in a different way. For Brazil, we usually get sales on net prices. In Europe, it’s usually retail price.”
Despite these obstacles, Pansa sees potential for improvement. She highlighted efforts to support neighboring countries in South America with data collection methodologies, leveraging Brazil’s comprehensive approach to industry statistics. Here, she noted the success of MVB’s Metabooks project, which started in Brazil but has since expanded further into Latin America.
Pansa also emphasized the IPA’s evolving role in fostering collaboration among member organizations, particularly in response to emerging challenges like artificial intelligence.
“We had to develop ourselves as an organization, mainly regarding how committees work. For instance, the copyright committee is now very strong and that is something we are proud to have achieved.”
The IPA has also been active in legal matters, collaborating with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) on the Internet Archive lawsuit, in which the IPA filed two briefs in support of the lawsuit. “That not only helped and supported AAP, but the whole market,” Pansa said.
Recent global conflicts and political tensions have also made the IPA’s advocacy for freedom to publish more urgent.
“In the past, it was individuals or publishers who were having issues on publishing certain types of books. But now, we often see an entire region at one time impacted,” Pansa said. “In my own region of São Paulo, when one of the state secretaries said, ‘Okay, we’re not buying any books anymore. We’re publishing all of them as educational titles under our own authority,’ what does it mean, having a whole state of São Paulo deciding that they are publishing their own books? For me, this is clear that they’re trying to define the type of knowledge or the type of information that they want to give to the population.”
Reflecting on her tenure, Pansa acknowledged that her views on certain industry issues have evolved. For example, she noted a change in her perception of print-on-demand (POD) technology: “I didn’t have the right idea about POD and its possibilities abroad, outside of my region. While POD remains expensive and impractical in South America, I can now see its potential.”
She also expressed optimism about the growth potential for e-books and audiobooks in developing markets. “There is still place for development, mainly in the countries where it hasn’t achieved a mature position,” Pansa said. “I still see that in my region, there’s plenty of possibilities and space to grow as well.”
As she prepares to hand over the presidency to Gvantsa Jobava from Intelekti Publishing in Georgia, on January 1, Pansa is focused on a new initiative to promote literacy and reading policies across Latin America. “We are now trying to start an Ibero-American movement for literacy,” she explained. “And the IPA has signed a MoU [memorandum of understanding] with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) to support reading promotion projects across the region.”
Pansa sees this as a crucial step in highlighting the importance of reading and writing to policymakers worldwide. “Reading plays a crucial role in educational, social, and economic development,” Pansa said.
“It is not only an essential tool for education and personal development, but also a means to preserve and disseminate cultural identity, encourage critical thinking, and strengthen social cohesion. Through reading, we promote access to knowledge, encourage creativity, and build more inclusive and equitable societies,” she said. “We need to make sure that young people understand the importance of a book or the importance of reading for society. It’s not only about selling books. We are talking about making sure that a person reads and understands and is able to think critically about what they read.”
