Vietnamese people are increasingly turning to foreign-language books and original publications to access world knowledge. (In the photo: Readers choosing books at the Inbook foreign-language bookstore - Photo: Inbook)
This was shared during a recent Q&A session with readers of foreign language books by Ms. Hoang Thanh Van - Director of Andrew Nurnberg Associates Hanoi , an international book copyright representative - drawing from her personal observations during her long career in book publishing and international book copyright.
According to Ms. Van, within Southeast Asia, Vietnamese people are considered to have sophisticated reading tastes. This opinion is also shared by many people in the book industry and book business.
This year, on the occasion of Vietnam's Book and Reading Culture Day (April 21st), the publishing industry is not only discussing the increase in the number of books published but also how to cater to the increasingly sophisticated reading tastes of readers. As readers' capacity for in-depth reading increases, the publishing market is forced to restructure its processes.
The preferred destination for elite book lovers.
Ms. Hoang Thanh Van shared that while 10 years ago we were limited to simple "how-to" books, today readers are reaching for the highest peaks of human knowledge. Difficult topics such as geopolitics , sociology, or non-fiction novels thousands of pages long are no longer obstacles.
Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam is rated highest by international publishers in terms of reading taste.
Looking at Thailand, people read more for entertainment. Indonesia, being a Muslim country, has many restrictions on religious books. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese publishing market is very close to the pace of developed publishing markets.
"When I went to New York and entered a bookstore, I noticed that almost all the bestselling non-fiction books on their shelves were quite similar to those in Vietnam. At least in the non-fiction genre, Vietnam is catching up with the best books the world is reading," Ms. Thanh Van said.
According to her, publishing houses in Vietnam are always on the lookout for bestselling books or world-renowned classics, and leading authors in various fields, to bring to the Vietnamese publishing market.
As soon as a work wins a major award or sparks controversy in the West, offers to purchase the rights from Vietnam immediately appear. International publishers are beginning to consider Vietnam a "preferred destination" in Southeast Asia for academic and elite books, rather than just a place for mass-market publications.
Huyen Chip's book "AI Techniques" (right), recently published by TIMES, has been reprinted after a month - Photo: T. ĐIỂU
Vietnamese people tend to be discerning readers.
From the perspective of someone in the foreign language book business, Mr. Nguyen Duc Anh - representative of Inbook foreign language bookstore (Hanoi) - also agrees that the reading tastes of Vietnamese people are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Considering only foreign language books, Mr. Duc Anh stated that this market has witnessed a clear shift in recent years: readers no longer read foreign language books solely to learn English, but rather to acquire original knowledge, thus making more careful choices in their book selections.
The best-selling books at Inbook bookstore over the years have typically focused on modern classics, Nobel Prize-winning works, Booker Prize winners, and especially in-depth philosophy and psychology books.
Although the market still has a segment of quick-reading entertainment books, the rise of challenging authors like László Krasznahorkai or "heavy" philosophical essays demonstrates that a large segment of Vietnamese readers possess high intellectual capacity, ready to engage directly with the complex ideas of the world without the filter of translation through foreign books.
"Vietnamese readers' tastes are becoming more sophisticated; they are more selective than ever. They are becoming more demanding about both content and form, prioritizing reputable publishers as a guarantee of intellectual content and aesthetic value," Mr. Duc Anh said.
Mr. Vu Trong Dai - Director of the Times Science and Education Publishing Company (TIMES book brand) - also noted that Vietnamese people have an increasing demand for non-fiction books, especially on topics related to trending developments in the world and Vietnam in recent years such as geopolitics, global value chains, artificial intelligence, finance, or energy...
The recent growth of book brands focusing on intellectual, non-fiction books, such as Omega+ and TIMES, demonstrates that non-fiction books can absolutely establish a foothold in the Vietnamese publishing market.
However, according to Mr. Dai, although the demand for non-fiction books is increasing among Vietnamese readers, it is still too early to conclude that Vietnamese people have sophisticated tastes. In developed publishing industries, non-fiction books, specifically scientific reference books, typically account for about 5% of the market. Even so, the estimated combined revenue of publishing houses in Vietnam currently only reaches about 2% of the industry's total revenue.
"Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that Vietnamese people have a tendency towards sophisticated reading," Mr. Dai said.
Although acknowledging that Vietnamese people have refined reading tastes, Ms. Thanh Van asserted that the reading rate among Vietnamese people is still low, and the overall reading culture needs to be improved. Meanwhile, the presence of books among the Vietnamese population is currently limited, and physical bookstores are becoming increasingly scarce.
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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-viet-co-gu-doc-sach-tinh-te-20260419093531516.htm
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