Novel idea: Readers hunt for bargains at a discount bookstall. This summer, publishers and book companies are selling books at significantly lower prices to attract readers, students and school children. — Photo sgtt.vn

HCM CITY (VNS)— Publishers and book companies are selling books at significantly lower prices to attract readers, students and school children this summer.

Kim Dong Publisher, which specialises in children's books, has slashed prices by 20 and 30 per cent until June 30, and Phuong Nam Book Company is also selling discounted books at its stores in HCM City until late August.

Later this month, hundreds of titles will be sold at discounts of 40 per cent by Tre (Youth) publisher. Its shop in its office on Ly Chinh Thang Street in District 3 is selling books for VND10,000 (US$0.45) each.

Fahasa, HCM City's leading distributor, will have the biggest sale of all, beginning in July through August 30, with discounts of up to 50 per cent for nearly 1 million copies.

Prices of the textbooks for use in the new school year in September will be cut by 10 per cent. All the books are new.

Every year, prices on books are cut in March and during the summer vacation.

Booksellers said that the Vietnamese-language version of Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson as well as many books about Vietnamese history are selling well this summer.

In March, Nha Nam Co, along with 12 major publishers including Tre, First News and Phuong Nam, sold many titles at low prices at a book fair held in the city.

Advertisements for Book Reading Day, organised in the same month by the city's Information and Communications Department, also attracted a large number of buyers.

This summer, e-book stores run by several companies, including Tiki and Vinabook, cut prices for the first time of many of their books, some of them up to 80 per cent. — VNS