"Istanbul and the Shores of the Bosphorus: A Picturesque Voyage" has been published by Demirören Yayınları.

Ahmet Boratav, the owner of Zero Kitap, praised the work "A Picturesque Voyage to Constantinople and the Shores of the Bosphorus" by Antoine Ignace Melling, published by Demirören Yayınları, saying that it was prepared with great care. He stated, "The prestige publications that Demirören Yayınları has begun to release are truly significant. Their print quality is excellent, and it's also important that they support booksellers and secondhand bookstores in their sales, as these are the sales channels. In other words, Demirören Yayınları is positively supporting the market. For example, Antoine Ignance Melling's 'A Picturesque Voyage to Constantinople' has been reprinted. This is a very high-quality print and a very high-quality binding. For book enthusiasts who haven't been able to acquire it until now, it's a very important publication. As a former printer, I can say that the printing of Melling's book is truly excellent. The selected paper, print quality, original reproduction from archives, and proper color separation have all been done well. With a perfect binding, it’s a true collector's book," he said.

Ahmet Boratav, the owner of Zero Kitap, evaluated the recent publication of Antoine Ignace Melling's "A Picturesque Voyage to Constantinople and the Shores of the Bosphorus" by Demirören Yayınları and the current state of the industry. Boratav emphasized that the work was prepared with great care, saying, "The prestige publications that Demirören Yayınları has started to produce are truly important. Their print quality is excellent, and supporting booksellers and secondhand bookstores in their sales is also important because these are the sales channels. In other words, Demirören Yayınları is positively supporting the market. Since the foundation of the Republic, the Turkish Historical Society has been publishing such books. Additionally, there were the Archaeology and Art publications that began in 1976-1977. It was very important that the Turkish Historical Society and Archaeology and Art publications began this work at that time. However, later on, books that didn't sell much, such as academic or excavation reports, started to be directed to our printing house. Currently, we are also a publishing house that prints fewer popular books, with higher prices, primarily bought by libraries, and more academic in nature. We also add every book we publish to our own library. But I wish there were more demand so that these books could be sold. Unfortunately, demand for books is gradually decreasing. I especially keep every book I print in my collection," he said.

"BOOKS SELL LESS WHEN PDFS ARE SHARED"

Boratav, who stated that his publishing career did not start out as planned and that he was a printer before becoming a publisher, explained that his current publishing portfolio is entirely composed of archaeology, art, and art history, thus mostly consisting of academic books. Boratav said, "For this reason, the majority of our customers are libraries or professionals. Besides excavation libraries and institutes, we also produce a smaller number of handbooks aimed at archaeology students. We have a narrow consumer base, such as archaeology students, history enthusiasts, and art history enthusiasts. Unfortunately, young people are not very interested in books and bookstores. Naturally, as technology advances, demand for physical books decreases. Since it’s easy to reproduce publications digitally, reproducing them through photocopying, which could be considered piracy in the past, is no longer the issue. Now, there's the issue of PDFs. This, of course, is something that puts publishers in a tough spot. When PDFs are shared, books sell less. When books sell less, fewer are printed. When fewer are printed, costs increase. As costs increase, sales drop further. It's a vicious cycle. Compared to the past, the situation has now shifted towards digital. As it moves towards digital, physical book sales have also declined. As digital book sales decline, print runs have decreased, and unit costs have increased. As unit costs increased, sales decreased. It's essentially a vicious cycle. We're in a transitional phase. It seems that in the next 5-10 years, everything will completely shift to digital. We'll have to adapt accordingly," he said.

"A BOOK'S COLLECTOR VALUE IS TIED TO ITS ORIGINAL CONTENT"

Boratav said that for a book to have collector value, its content must be solid, stating, "It needs to have original content. It also needs to be of limited edition and rare to attract the interest of collectors. But there are also people who collect the first editions of popular publications that are printed in large quantities. These are important. It’s also important if they are signed and dedicated. If there is a dedication from the author to another important writer, it becomes even more valuable. There are various factors, but the most important is that it has good content, quality printing, and binding, and is printed in relatively small quantities," he explained.

"THERE IS STILL INTEREST IN PRESTIGE BOOKS AS BEFORE"

Boratav stated that the online purchase of prestige books makes it easier for buyers to shop, saying, "But people who are genuinely interested in prestige books want to hold the book in their hands. In other words, people who have a real love for books want to hold the book in their hands. They always visit bookstores. To some extent, online sales have now started to increase. Today, there is still interest in prestige books as there was in the past. But marketing is more important for prestige books. Active marketing is more effective. Nowadays, people don’t often go to bookstores; they follow them on internet sites. But since they don't physically hold the book, they can't fully trust it. Because it's an expensive book. The new approach seems to be actively showing the book to the relevant people and selling it personally," he said.

"THE PRESTIGE PUBLICATIONS THAT DEMİRÖREN YAYINLARI HAS BEGUN TO RELEASE ARE VERY IMPORTANT"

Boratav expressed that Demirören Yayınları’ work "A Picturesque Voyage to Constantinople and the Shores of the Bosphorus" by Antoine Ignace Melling was prepared with great care, saying,

"The prestige publications that Demirören Yayınları has begun to release are truly important. Their print quality is excellent, and it's also important that they support booksellers and secondhand bookstores in their sales because these are the sales channels. In other words, Demirören Yayınları is positively supporting the market. For example, Antoine Ignance Melling's 'A Picturesque Voyage to Constantinople' has been reprinted. This is a very high-quality print and a very high-quality binding. For book enthusiasts who haven't been able to acquire it until now, it's a very important publication. As a former printer, I can say that the printing of Melling's book is truly excellent. The selected paper, print quality, original reproduction from archives, and proper color separation have all been done well. With a perfect binding, it’s a true collector's book," he said.