A common theme here at TNPS is the much-overlooked demand for English-language content in parts of the world where English is not the first or official language. Perhaps nowhere has that been more apparent than with the Big Bad Wolf phenomenon, where a Malaysia-based outfit ships literally millions of English-language books to countries like Indonesia, Read More …
When StreetLib launched The New Publishing Standard in September 2017 we made clear the function of the journal was to stimulate debate about the much-neglected global book markets. It was not a StreetLib promotional tool, and not a vehicle to advocate digital at the expense of traditional formats. But occasionally StreetLib becomes part of the Read More …
In marked contrast to Storytel’s usual approach of keeping quiet about new launches until everything is ready to go, Storytel’s Asia expansion plans are being announced well in advance. This week comes a Storytel press release confirming Storytel will be launching in Singapore in 2019, with titles in English and Chinese. This will come as no Read More …
Back in December 2017 TNPS ran with the headline, S.E. Asia online economy growing faster than predicted. $200bn by 2025. Will publishers rise to the opportunity? S.E. Asia online economy growing faster than predicted. $200bn by 2025. Will publishers rise to the opportunity? It seems some have. This week comes news that, from a base Read More …
Not content with its Latin America ambitions, with a Mexico launch set for December, and a Brazil launch looking likely in the New Year, Storytel has announced the next stage of its Asia expansion is underway. To start with it’s an office in Bangkok, which will be used to coordinate expansion across the continent as Read More …
35 libraries from 19 countries were in the running, but just five have been shortlisted for the annual prize to be acclaimed 2018 Public Library of the Year, awarded to a public library that is either newly built or set up in premises not previously used for library purposes. The jury consists of members of Read More …
The global publishing market has never been more exciting, and every day myriad publishing stories cross my screen that I’d love to develop here at TNPS, but there simply isn’t time. They do make the TNPS twitter feed, however. Follow TNPS on twitter here: @thenewpubstd. But twitter is an ephemeral beast. If you’re reading TNPS Read More …
Singapore’s National Library Board made the headlines briefly earlier this year when Singapore joined the US and Canada in the notional OverDrive One Million Club. That is, a country where OverDrive saw over one million digital downloads. Not such a surprise given almost half the population are library members, and that in 2016 the Singapore Read More …
The Tet (lunar New Year) holiday has just ended and book fairs set up for the event raked in over a quarter million dollars in book sales in the week long event. Fully half of that came from the Ho Chi Minh City event, held across three streets in District 1 – Nguyen Hue, Mac Read More …
Usually on alternate Sundays I review the latest Hot Sheet from Jane Friedman and Porter Anderson, but this time around it was a review of the past year and much of what is covered has been discussed in previous reviews here, so this week I’m doing my own TNPS-style review of the 2017 publishing year Read More …
It may be Christmas where you are, and the publishing industry is sleeping off one hangover just in time for the next as the New Year celebrations begin, but elsewhere in the world it’s business as usual for publishing. The Saudi Jeddah Book Fair and the Singapore Bookfest may have wound up on 24 December Read More …
Myanmar has been in the news for all the wrong reasons this year, so let’s round off 2017 with a look at Myanmar’s book scene. Today’s Myanmar Times (never let it be said TNPS brings you old news!)(of course, time zones help) tells of English teacher Peter Evans, planning on opening his third bookstore in Read More …
A year and a half after Google and Temasek’s first assessment of the SE Asia digital economy, a new report shows the region growing significantly faster than predicted. The report touches on neither books nor ebooks, but this study represents major opportunities for publishers, distributors, retailers and authors, both within the region and beyond. By Read More …
Stagnating book markets are a troublesome feature of the modern world, where so many different forms of infotainment vie for our limited cash and attention. In Singapore Cheng Ngok Chou, the eighty year old CEO of Popular, the biggest bookstore chain in the country, believes the book market is stagnating, and he’s experimenting with Read More …
It was only last week we reported on the world’s youngest published author (Guinness Book of Records certified), a four year old in the Seychelles. This week we report on the world’s youngest published author (Guinness Book of Records certified) to write a bi-lingual book – in Singapore. Singapore’s The Straits Times tells us of Read More …
