有人部落

The East Asia Publishers Conference and World Editors forum, Seoul, November 2008
by Chen Lin Loong/Got One Publisher Sdn Bhd

contents:
1. Introduction
2. Some Statistics
3. Agency: The Problem that Needs to be Dealt With
4. Marketing Channels: There is a Way When Viewed Positively
5. The War Between the Simplified and the Traditional Chinese: Is the War Already Finished?
6. The Entertaining Business and the Publishers: Misery Loves Company
7. Conclusion: Walk Your Own Way

1.Introduction

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian nation comprising 13 states and three federal territories, and a constitutional monarchy. The country covers a total area of 329,847 square kilometers. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the political institutions. Malaysia is separated into two regions by the South China Sea: One is West Malaysia on the Malaysian Peninsula, which borders Thailand in the north, and the Johor Strait and, through the Singapore-Johor Causeway and the 2nd highway, Singapore to the south. The other one is East Malaysia in northern Borneo, which shares borders with Kalimantan of Indonesia to the south. The State of Brunei lies between Sabah State and Sarawak State.

According to the Economic Planning Bureau and the Statistics Bureau of Malaysia, the country’s population stood at 27.17 million in 2007, the 43rd largest country in the world in terms of population. The ratio of urban to rural population is roughly 7:3. Malaysia comprises many ethnic groups, with the Malays accounting for 54% of the entire population, or 14.67 million, the Chinese 25% or 6.8 million, and the Indians 7.5% or 2 million. Non-Malay natives, such as the Iban and Kadazan tribes, account for 13.5% or 3.66 million.

The per capita GDP in 2007 was US$5,040. In 1980, the average per capita GDP of Malaysia was US$1,830 dollars, while that of Korea stood at US$1,760 dollarsUS$70 dollar more for Malaysia. In 1990, Malaysia’s average per capita GDP was US$2,380 dollars, while Korea’s was US$5,740 dollars, with Korea surpassing Malaysia by US$2,360 dollars. In 2003, Malaysia’s average per capita GDP was US$3,880 dollars, whereas Korea’s stood at US$12,030 dollars, or about three times larger than Malaysia’s.

2.Some Statistics

The number of people who can read Chinese: Malaysia’s literacy rate is some 90%. However, even if the statistic is regarded as having been achieved by setting the lowest standard, all of those rated as literate do not necessarily have the ability to read. Each ethnic group has the freedom to use its own language and there exist elementary schools which educate students using the language of a particular ethnic group. Therefore, most of the population who can read Chinese are Chinese children. The circulation of Chinese newspapers in Malaysia amounts to some 800,000 copies. When it is considered that one copy is read by three people and children who can read publications for children are included, although they supposedly do not read papers, then the number of people who read Chinese in Malaysia is some 3 million.

Yearly publication of books in each language: According to data released by the National Library and the National Statistics Bureau, the publishing companies which published books in different languages applied for ISBN for a total of 18,262 books (including reference books. The actual publication is regarded as being roughly 90%.) The Malay books accounted for 11,332 titles at 62.05%, the English books 5,773 titles at 31.61%, the Chinese books 1,067 titles at 5.84%, the Tamil books 50 titles at 0.27%, and books in other languages some 40 titles at 0.22%.

Statistics on Books Published in Different Languages in Malaysia in 2006
Language No. of Titles Percentage
Malay 11332 62.05%
English 5773 31.61%
Chinese 1067 5.84%
Tamil 50 0.27%
Others 40 0.22%

* Source: National Library and the National Statistics Bureau
* The total number of titles was 18,262, including text books and school reference books.

Types of Chinese Books:
Among the 1,067 Chinese books, children’s books and supplementary books to schoolwork account for some 70%, or 748 titles. There were 90 history books, at 8.43%, 79 literary works at 7.4%, 25 books on feng shui, 17 books on health, 2 comic books, and 106 other types of books, at 9.93%.

Classification of the Chinese Books Published in 2006
Type No. of Titles Percentage
Novel 51 4.78%
Prose 22 2.06%
Poetry 6 0.56%
History 90 8.43%
Feng Shui 25 2.34%
Health 17 1.59%
Comic 2 0.19%
Children's 725 67.59%
Supplementary 23 2.26%
to Schoolwork
Other 106 9.93%

* Source: National Library and the National Statistics Bureau

3.Agency: The Problem that Needs to be Dealt With

Agencies or commission agents in Malaysia should be divided into those supplying books and those supplying magazines. The former supplies books mainly to bookstores, while the latter supplies publications to kiosks selling magazines and newspapers. Agencies deduct a commission of 10 to 20 percent, and the commissions for magazine agents are slightly lower than those for book agents. Generally, book agents take some 30 to 40 percent as a commission. If one wants to supply books to newspaper kiosks, one should use magazine agencies. But when supplying books to bookstores, some publishers and writers supply books to bookstores themselves in order to save agent commissions.

Many publishing houses face a problemnamely, when they consign books to a book agency, the agency does not take many copies. With literary and humanities books, for example, the agency usually takes only 200 to 400 copies. Books are often printed in units of a thousand, and for those books that the agent does not act on behalf of, the publishers have to find a way of selling them all by themselves.

4.Marketing Channels: There is a Way When Viewed Positively

Major distribution channels for Chinese books in Malaysia include some 60 general bookstores across the country, five Dajiang Bookstores, and one Kinokuniya Bookstore Building. The general bookstores also sell English and Malay books and stationery and attract readers by offering discounts. The Dajiang Bookstores sell Chinese books only. In collaboration with the Borders Bookstore, four of them, except the main bookstore, operate within the Borders Bookstore. The Kinokuniya Bookstore Building sells English, Malay, and Japanese books. With lots of titles and a clean environment, the building is frequented by many booklovers.
However, although they take some additional copies, they actually sell less than half the number of the printed copies of a book. Publishing companies need to find other marketing channels, such as schools.

In Malaysia, a total of 1,288 Chinese elementary schools and 60 independent middle schools provide education using Chinese. Additionally, many of the hundreds of national middle schools have Chinese students who can read Chinese. In the entire Malaysia, just three universities have a Department of Chinese Language and Literature. If publishing companies can open book fairs and lectures in cooperation with the schools which can encourage students to participate in such events, then the sales of books can rise significantly. At one point of time, such one-off events could sell almost as many books as the total number of books sold in an entire year.

There are two large Chinese book fairs, one being the Overseas Chinese Book Market which opens sometime in the middle of the year, and the other being the Book’s Flavor Chinese Book Fair at the end of the year. At these events, publishing companies can rent booths to sell books and dispose of the books with the agents. If any of the books are attractive enough, they could sell quite a lot at some discount.

The hot-sellers at either bookstores or book fairs are books from abroad (Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong). Unlike the local books which can be returned if not sold, the foreign books that are not sold at normal prices are later forced to be sold at dumping prices because bookstores importing those books purchase hem up front. If an average reader buys 10 books a year, it is no wonder that eight of them are books sold at dumping prices. Undoubtedly, this situation reduces the total amount of money spent on purchasing locally published books in Malaysia.

Efforts to find other marketing channels, such as selling books at newspaper kiosks, churches, temples, or in Singapore, can be rewarded with increased sales if the types of books are appropriate.

5.The War Between the Simplified and the Traditional Chinese : Is the War Already Finished?

In Malaysia, simplified Chinese began to be taught in the 1980s. In the 1990s, major Chinese newspapers and magazines started to employ a method where they used the simplified Chinese in the texts and the traditional Chinese in the titles. Chinese books usually use simplified Chinese, unless the author insists otherwise, or the publishing company has any specific reason not to do so.

Books from China in simplified Chinese have been imported by Malaysia in large quantities due to their favorable prices. On the other hand, it is not easy to predict what would happen to the traditional Chinese books published in Taiwan, although they still enjoy large readerships due to their higher quality. It is fully expected, however, that books in traditional Chinese will be at a low ebb as a result of the growing population who can read simplified Chinese and the increasing number of Chinese books taking particular care with the design. Some solace can be found in the fact that because most readers are recently capable of reading both simplified and traditional Chinese, students who have been educated in simplified Chinese still have opportunities to encounter the traditional Chinese. True, artists of Taiwan and Hong Kong are more popular than their counterparts in the mainland China and culturally speaking, the arts of Taiwan and Hong Kong are closer to Malaysia than those of China. The information that readers gain from the TV subtitles and the Internet has contains quite a lot of traditional Chinese. Therefore, the day when traditional Chinese becomes extinct is not just around the corner just yet; and that day may never even arrive.

6.The Entertaining Business and the Publishers : Misery Loves Company

Malaysian readers have traditionally worshiped anything from the outside. Well-known writers are all from mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. When a foreign writer visits Malaysia to give a lecture, the attendance will be no matter of concern at all. On the other hand, if a native writer gives a lecture, he or she should call his or her friends up to fill the room. Hot-selling books in foreign countries will also be best-sellers in Malaysia with the coverage and advertisements through the media and the Internet. However, many readers would just pass the bookshelves for Malay Chinese Literature.

The situation is similar to that of Malaysians entertaining business. No Malaysian entertainers have become big stars and they fall far short from their counterparts in Hong Kong and Taiwan in terms of their popularity and name value. Entertainers with any ambition go to a foreign country, especially Taiwan and China, and return after gaining popularity outside. It is like someone who you passed by when he goes out but you recognize when he comes back with a bright face. It is undeniable that Taiwan has relatively sound mechanisms and conditions to produce famous entertainers and writers.

That is why there are some “Malaysian gangs” in Taiwan-namely, those Malaysian entertainers working in Taiwan. Many Malaysian writers and scholars teach at universities in Taiwan and use the island as the base for their creative works.

Similarly, the movie industry of mainland Malaysia can attract Malaysian people’s attention only after some of their films participated in foreign film festivals and won an award. It is like some Malaysian writers become the object of interest after they won an award in Taiwan and then publish their books in Taiwan and Malaysia. What is not similar is that the entertainers who gained popularity in a foreign country always win applause and public favor, but award-winning films and writers do not always win audiences and readers although they may be talked about much.

7.Conclusion: Walk Your Own Way

An analysis of the past best-seller lists of general bookstores shows that out of the ten best sellers, only one to three books were written by writers from mainland Malaysia. In terms of the publishing companies, Malaysian publishing companies account for only four out of the ten best-sellers even when the lists include works by foreign writers. The market share of foreign books is much higher than those of locally published books.

This deviation has been caused by some recent factors. The most important cause of all, however, is that the market is too small. The smaller the market, the less the returns. In such a situation, there will be a shortage of talented writers who devote themselves to writing in every area and it makes it difficult for publishing companies with ambition and resources to devote all their energy to publishing books. Many publishing companies are not professional and do not have professional editors or designers. As a result, the crudeness of the content and the package are in sharp contrast to books imported from foreign countries.

What is naturally required of the Malaysian Chinese book publishers through this “traditional” inferiority is nothing but to publish good books. They should improve bad habits from the past, understand the needs of the readers, and find appropriate writers and editors to produce books that come closer to the Malaysian readership with content that foreign books cannot provide.

Recently, we have witnessed some achievements. Travel guidebooks and juvenile books are selling well, comic books for children are popular, while cookbooks and cuisine magazines are published in large quantities. Literary and humanities books have reached sales-levels that match those of competing books published in Taiwan.

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