News - People are prejudiced; those who haven't read the book already have opinions about it.

Published on: November 19, 2025 People are biased beforehand — those who have not read the book yet already have opinions about it Tigranuhi Martirosyan Journalist, media-promotion specialist Artavazd Yeghiazaryan We live in a time when no good text remains unpublished. The question is that there are problems attracting a book to a reader’s attention. These problems existed ten years ago and they exist today as well. This is what fiction writer and editor Artavazd Yeghiazaryan told media.am, noting that many books are published and stay on bookstore shelves. What is contemporary Armenian literature like? Can we name it, articulate it? That question would be better answered by publishers and by bodies promoting the field. But as a writer, as a reader, I can say that we have contemporary, high-quality, competitive literature. Unlike film production, which requires large financial resources and a team, literature is created by an individual. The author writes, the publisher prints. Printing is easier now than 15 years ago. Therefore many works are produced that are of international quality. We live in a time when no good text remains unpublished. The question remains about attracting the reader’s attention. These problems existed ten years ago and exist today. Many books get printed and stay on shelves. It seems social networks should have solved this problem. Is that so? If we look at the overall market, the habit of buying books has revived thanks to events like Book Gift Day and Book Fest, which are well promoted and people actively participate in them. But individual books, as a rule, individual authors, are not promoted. There is no separate marketing campaign for a specific book or for a specific author. The events tend to promote translations more than Armenian authors. There is a widespread misunderstanding that Armenian writers write like Armenian TV series. People have preconceived opinions — those who have not read the book yet already have opinions about it. And don’t authors use available tools? For example, to work on shaping their image on social networks and be in direct contact with readers? You are right, this is a good tool, but not all authors can engage in it. It requires knowledge, skill, time. Personal branding is a separate job, a task requiring special attention. Not everyone can do it. By the way, a fairly effective counterexample exists: when bloggers or influencers publish a book and it succeeds. People for years engage with an audience and one day publish a book (regardless of topic), which becomes a bestseller. On the other hand, we have, for example, Aram Pachyan, who has no public pages on social networks, is quite closed to readers, rarely gives interviews, but people await his books. So I cannot confidently say that if an author is active on social networks, they will succeed, and conversely that lack of success is due to social-media passivity. Have you analyzed the success story of your book The Secret of the Dragon Stone? Which factor became the sales booster from a marketing perspective? On social networks I am known as the editor of the Yerevan magazine, so I am confident that a personal page has not affected book sales. I simply entered a field that was empty in Armenia. There are very few authors creating children’s literature. When I was choosing books for my son to read, I noticed that the market was entirely translated literature; there was no local author creating literature for that age. Therefore I decided I could write myself. The book appeared in autumn 2020 within the Book Fair framework; early readers loved it, and positive opinions spread. Naturally, the layout, Harutyun Tumaghyan’s illustrations, and even the font, showed a high-quality product by Antares Publishing. I also held meetings with students. This helped me a lot because when you tell children you are a writer, they imagine a black-and-white photo in a textbook of someone who has long since died. Seeing a living writer, especially one with tattoos, is a shock for them. Do libraries remain an indicator of a writer’s success? Does a contemporary writer want to be represented in libraries? Or is the indicator sales? Of course it is very encouraging when a book reaches a library, especially if it is demanded by readers. I think in contemporary literature that happens this way: when readers demand it, the library includes it on its list of newly acquired books. When your book is borrowed from the library, I think this is a greater responsibility for the writer than when it is purchased. Regarding responsibility: since the book is for children and adolescents, have you censored yourself on certain topics? Were there themes or phenomena you did not want to write about, thinking they might not be understood or would blur the line between reality and fiction? The events in my book take place in contemporary Armenia, but there are also references to myths. There are real places we have all been to, but there are also talking dragons that speak in colloquial Armenian. That was the main challenge. There has been quite a bit of criticism about the language choice. I have even heard that the language is streetwise because it uses the A sound. Naturally I disagree. We have a stereotype that if a letter is printed on paper, it should not be spoken with the A sound. Many were startled that I used a word that translates as to snatch. I think language is a living organism and if you tell a story about 21st-century Yerevan you must use the language used at that time. Was there also a concern that at that age many children would perceive this as reality, or even misinformation, because they might not understand that it is fictional? No, I did not think about that. Fiction is a work of art; I do not think children need to be told that it is condensed and imaginative. Zruts is interview by Tigranuhi Martirosyan Encyclopedia Mariana Danielyan From the library to media-centered: what needs to change Encyclopedia 5 November 18, 2025 Announcement A scholarship is provided for state sector workers November 18, 2025 Mariam Barseghyan Ten months following Azertajin November 17, 2025 Regulations for digital platforms in the European Union — Are they applicable in Armenia? November 14, 2025 Armenia–Azerbaijan: what did the governments demand from social media platforms November 13, 2025 Ongoing responses to Washington meetings in Armenia and Azerbaijan November 12, 2025