On the eve of the New Year 2024, Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution under the Ministry of Information and Communications, shared with The Hanoi Times the publishing industry in the past year and the challenges ahead.

Imprints of digital transformation

What are the highlights of the publishing industry in 2023?

In 2023, the industry recorded outstanding figures on digital transformation, such as the audiobook market revenue in 2023 reached VND80 billion (US$3.3 million); the number of audiobook listeners in 2023 was 40 million, up 25% year-on-year; the number of e-book titles published in the year reached 4,600, an increase of 31.4%, bringing the ratio of e-books out of books to 15.3% of total publications. The percentage of publishing houses registered to release electronic publications reached 40.3%, up 20% than planned. 

The application of digital technology is an inevitable step for the publishing industry for two reasons. First, reading habits have partly changed with smart devices and increasingly convenient reading devices. Second, the entire process of creating, editing, printing and distributing books is undergoing a major shift from printed versions to e-books.

Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing, and Distribution. Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Publishing Association

The publishing industry has applied digital technology to digitize data and work processes and create big data.

Publishers are also developing a common electronic publishing and distribution platform to save investment costs and offset depreciation costs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely applied in book editing and converting printed books into audiobooks using different voices suitable for all audiences in all regions (text to speech), which contributes to enriching the products of the publishing industry.

We have developed platforms for organizing online book fairs and exhibitions, such as Book365.vn.

Could you elaborate on the development of the publishing industry in 2024?

We are developing solutions to protect book copyright in cyberspace, forging coordination among publishers to deal with copyright infringement in cyberspace, while supporting publishers to improve book communication, develop the book market and reading culture.

In addition, the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution will pilot the construction of a digital ecosystem in publishing and distribution activities and report on BookTok trends (in coordination with TikTok).

We have identified six specific solutions and tasks, namely: (1) creating a favorable legal framework for digital transformation in the publishing sector, ensuring compliance with legal regulations; (2) devising appropriate policies to develop shared platforms for electronic publishing and distribution and those connecting readers; (3) completing specialized databases updated systematically in the long term; (4) developing a digital platform and mobile application platforms, completing the publishing database; (5) improving the ability of officials, employees and workers in publishing houses to use information technology; and (6) ensuring the security of the system during the digital transformation.

Winning books on display at the National Book Awards ceremony. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

How would you rate the National Book Award's impact on the development of the publishing industry?

The National Book Awards can be considered as the most important and prestigious award in the publishing industry, making a very important contribution to honoring authors, translators and creators.

Book awards contribute to the development of reading culture.

Busy lifestyles give rise to audiobooks. Photo: Fonos

What do you think about the number of translated books in this year's National Book Awards?

Translated books are mainly in three genres: children's books, literary books, and science and technology books.

Vietnam is in the process of integration, so translated books still play an important role in providing new knowledge about the world.

From a certain point of view, we still see them as books published in Vietnam, and we give awards to translators and publishers, not to the foreign authors of the books. Next time, we will try to strike a balance and include a reasonable proportion of translated books in the awards.

After the awards, what does the organizing committee do to spread the value of the winning books to readers?

The Vietnam Publishers Association has a very careful plan to implement this. We believe that the National Book Awards will not end after the awards, but will be the catalyst for the dissemination of award-winning and even non-award-winning books.

On the one hand, we have a plan to promote books not only through press outlets, but also through social networks.

We are also continuing our book exhibition activities. This year, we will organize an international book fair and many activities and events related to books. We will continue to organize the Day of Book and Reading Culture and many other important events where award-winning works will be presented.

Thank you for your time.