Creating a breakthrough for the streamlined book market.

Readers experience the concise book format of the National Political Publishing House - Truth on a digital platform. Photo: Thuy Du.

Significant progress has been made.

The market for concise books (short books under 200 pages, summaries, abridged books, and guidebooks) in Vietnam, although only established for about a year, has shown potential to contribute to the overall development of the industry. According to Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Publishing, Printing and Distribution Department ( Ministry of Information and Communications ), concise books will develop strongly in the future because they meet the needs of busy readers who want to access knowledge and information in the most time-efficient way. This target group is growing in modern life.

According to compiled data from the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution, there are currently 10 units in the publishing industry producing and distributing concise books, with 973 titles; nearly 400,000 printed copies and over 100 million e-book reads and listens. The types of concise books are also diverse, including printed books, audiobooks, e-books, picture books, podcasts, infographics, interactive comic books, etc. The content developed into concise books often covers skills, politics, history, finance, business, or literature…

As an active participant in the concise book publishing sector, the National Political Publishing House - Truth has recently published the "Political Common Sense" series, comprising 10 groups of popular theoretical issues on Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the country's reform line, which is being widely received by readers. In addition, the unit has published many concise books such as: "Introduction to the work 'The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State' by Friedrich Engels," "Introduction to the work 'Philosophical Notebooks' by V.I. Lenin,"... and is currently developing concise editions of valuable works by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The Agricultural Publishing House currently has nearly 100 concise book titles, most of which are abridged versions of larger books and series containing technical guidance to support and enhance the knowledge of farmers.

Readers browse interactive comic books – one of the more compact book formats – at Hanoi Book Street. Photo: Nguyen Quang

Waka E-book Joint Stock Company, a leading provider of paid e-book reading applications in Vietnam, launched its concise book series in June 2022. Currently, the company offers over 600 summarized e-book titles and more than 1,000 concise audiobook titles. In 2022, the company recorded 2,541 users who made paid purchases of summarized e-book titles and 10,567 users who made paid purchases of concise audiobook titles. Having launched its summarized book project 10 years ago, Alpha Books Joint Stock Company now has 700 concise book titles and operates them online… Fonos Joint Stock Company, with its Fonos audiobook application, also offers 215 summarized books to readers, including 71 books with both full and summarized versions…

After experiencing several forms of concise books, Ms. Vu Thanh Thuy (Yen Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District) shared: “By spending just 10-15 minutes with concise books, I can get valuable information from a book, or help me determine if the content is suitable for me before deciding to buy the original book. The diverse forms of experience such as reading, listening, and watching are quite lively and convenient on many devices, also increasing the choices for readers to access knowledge.”

Investing in human resources and technology.

Developing a streamlined book market is an inevitable trend in the publishing industry; however, this is a new direction, and many issues arise during its implementation. According to Dinh Quang Hoang, CEO of Waka E-book Joint Stock Company, the streamlined book market is clearly progressing, with an increasing number of readers and listeners interested in this genre. However, publishers are concerned that the growth of summarized books will negatively impact sales of printed and full-length e-books. Another issue of concern for publishers is the lack of clear regulations regarding the copyright of streamlined books, with no specific scientific or legal basis for their implementation.

According to Nguyen Hoai Anh, Deputy Director and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the National Political Publishing House - Truth, in the future, concise books will bring significant revenue to the industry and will not affect, or even support, other types of books, if developed professionally, with a focus on investing in improving the quality of human resources to create concise, easy-to-understand, and attractive products.

From the perspective of the regulatory authorities, Deputy Director of the Publishing, Printing and Distribution Department Nguyen Ngoc Bao stated that the publishing industry's future orientation is to prioritize the development of concise books and the market for this type of book. Therefore, agencies and units within the industry need to improve the institutional framework and management to attract investment resources for the development of concise books. Agencies, units, and professional organizations should implement comprehensive solutions to prevent copyright infringement, moving towards establishing a Copyright Center under the Vietnam Publishers Association; closely coordinating between this Center and the Vietnam Copyright Association to protect the copyright of concise books; and focusing on building and implementing the project "Applying information technology to develop reading culture on public transport" to create a market for concise books. Relevant agencies will support publishers and distribution businesses in cooperating to publish original books along with concise versions on various platforms. Publishing and distribution companies need to invest in technology to meet the diverse needs of readers in the digital age…

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