PV:Madam, this year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the traditional day of the Publishing - Printing and Distribution industry with many meaningful and practical activities to affirm the great role of the industry in political, ideological, cultural work... contributing significantly to the development of the country. So, in your opinion, compared to the whole country, what are the unique characteristics of the Publishing - Printing and Distribution industry of Nghe An?
Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc:If we take October 10, 1952, when President Ho Chi Minh issued Decree No. 122/SL on the establishment of the National Printing House as the traditional day of the industry, then publishing, printing and distribution activities in Nghe An were born quite early compared to other provinces and cities in the country. Currently, the whole country has 57 publishing houses, of which there are only 7 local publishing houses, of which Nghe An Publishing House is always highly appreciated by the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Information and Communications for its appraisal and editing work, publishing many valuable books, typically the topics about President Ho Chi Minh and his family, Famous people of Nghe An, local cultural identity...
PV:Over the years, in its role, Nghe An Publishing House has been producing many book series according to the province’s orders. What is the significance of this, Madam?
Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc:Placing orders is an important task for the current national publishing activities. Because through placing orders, publishers have published many valuable books, making an important contribution to the propaganda and dissemination of guidelines, policies, achievements of the locality, the country... Moreover, through books, knowledge in many fields is imparted to the people, contributing to improving people's knowledge, developing the economy, culture, society... and developing the reading movement in the community, especially in remote areas, remote areas, and ethnic minority areas.
Determining that publishing books ordered by the Provincial People's Committee is the top priority, Nghe An Publishing House always invests a lot of effort to polish this area. Some valuable ordered books that Nghe An Publishing House has produced in recent years include: "Nghe An Toan Chi", the book series "Ve Xu Nghe" (9 volumes), "Nghe An Dat Phat Nhan Tai" edited by Associate Professor Ninh Viet Giao, "Socio-economic development strategy of Nghe An province for the period 2015 - 2020 and vision to 2030" edited by Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, "Phan Boi Chau in Japan" by author Chu Van Thong, "Thai Dictionary" by author Sam Van Binh...
PV:In recent years, the National Book Awards have honored many valuable works, beautifully presented and highly appreciated by the professional council. Is this a playground too big for local publishers, and what goals has Nghe An Publishing House set to introduce good and meaningful works to readers nationwide?
Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc:The National Book Award is an award organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Vietnam Publishing Association, awarding books and book series with outstanding values in terms of content, ideology, knowledge, and aesthetics. It was first held in 2018; previously, the award was called the Vietnam Book Award, held annually since 2004.
With Nghe An Publishing House, we are confident in joining this playground, because we are very aware of our strengths. Previously, at the Vietnam Book Awards in 2012, Nghe An Publishing House was honored with the book "Phan Boi Chau in Japan" by author Chu Huy Thong, which was honored with the Bronze Prize for Good Book. In 2015, the book "Dat Nghe" organized by Nghe An Culture Magazine was also honored with the Encouragement Prize. Notably, in 2016, the book "Vinh Xua" collected and compiled by author Pham Xuan Can was honored with two prizes at the same time: the Silver Prize for Beautiful Book and the Bronze Prize for Good Book.
Each publishing house has its own strengths, we are truly confident in the field of books about the land and people of Nghe An, because for a long time, this subject area has created a prominent brand for Nghe An Publishing House. Moreover, we are fortunate to have a team of authors who are enthusiastic professional and non-professional researchers from all over the country. Not only honored at the National Book Awards, but books of Nghe An Publishing House have also been awarded noble prizes such as: State Prize for Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dong Chi with the book "Folklore of Nghe Tinh", Ho Chi Minh Prize for Associate Professor. Ninh Viet Giao with the book series "Ve Xu Nghe", ... along with other awards from Central Associations and Ho Xuan Huong Literature and Arts Award of Nghe An province ...
PV:After many years working in the Publishing industry, what changes do you see in the current reading trends? How must the Publishing industry change to meet the needs of readers?
Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc:Over the past years, along with the explosion of information technology, many new means of entertainment have been continuously born, causing people to be drawn into new "pleasures". That has greatly affected the reading culture in the community. From reading less, to being afraid to read, then not reading has become an alarming situation for many people, including office workers, intellectuals...
However, that does not mean that books are… redundant. Many people still consider books as a reliable companion, a golden key to open all doors in life, and there are even books that can truly change a life, especially for young people.
The trend of reading e-books is also being welcomed by young people in Vietnam because of the convenience and usefulness of applying technology in enjoying books. In addition, today, readers are gradually moving towards the trend of reading compact books. Readers have too little time to read books every day, so they really need compact books on all topics. This is also the topic of a recent conference organized by the Publishing industry and has been quickly grasped by many publishers.
Enjoying books is also a trend among book connoisseurs recently. Because besides the content value, they are also very interested in special books - limited editions, with the criteria of uniqueness, strangeness, beauty to collect and display as a treasure.
PV:Digital transformation has had a significant impact on the publishing industry. In your opinion, what advantages, difficulties and challenges will digital transformation bring? And what will the publishing industry need to do to adapt to the new situation?
Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc:Digital transformation is an inevitable trend for all industries. At the Conference on publishing and distributing publications in 2022 held in Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution identified: Promoting digital transformation, e-publishing, and technology development in the book sector is a key issue. In particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the publishing industry has quickly grasped the advantages of digital transformation to adapt its operations. Many publishers have taken advantage of the opportunity of "people living slowly" during social distancing periods to promote and release books that suit the tastes that normally in a busy, hurried life, many people do not have time to read books,... For many years, instead of organizing direct book fairs and exhibitions, the publishing industry has proactively organized online book fairs on electronic platforms, which is very effective and cost-saving. Besides, the trend of electronic publishing is also an inevitable direction of the industry, alongside electronic newspapers.
The application of technology and digital transformation is also a huge administrative reform for publishers. Through network systems, authors across the country can connect with any publisher to conveniently publish books without having to travel. Manuscript editing is also done on computers in a scientific and efficient way.
The above does not mean that the Publishing industry is completely favorable to the digital transformation trend. For readers in our country, reading traditional books is still an inherent habit, because, in addition to accessing knowledge and the value of books, readers still enjoy the exciting feeling of turning each page of a book, inhaling the smell of new paper, keeping their favorite books on the bookshelf as memorable souvenirs. Reading books is different from surfing the web in that way. Therefore, in my opinion, e-publishing in our country up to now is still in the stage of gradual adaptation.
In addition, there are some shortcomings of digital transformation, that is, most editorial boards of publishing houses do their work on computers, which is very efficient and quick, but the preservation of manuscripts according to regulations still has to be paper manuscripts with quite cumbersome procedures, not to mention some regulations on documents according to the Publishing Law of 2012, after 10 years of implementation, have revealed many shortcomings.
PV:It is known that you have just been proposed by the Provincial People's Committee and approved by the Central Propaganda Department to be honored as "Outstanding Publisher" on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the tradition of the Publishing - Printing and Book Distribution industry in Vietnam and the celebration will be solemnly held in Hanoi on October 10. How do you feel about this noble award?
Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc:I am truly touched and very proud to receive this noble award after 20 years of working in the Publishing industry. The achievement of this honor is not only mine but also the “sweet fruit” of generations of cadres, civil servants and workers in the Nghe An Publishing industry who have worked hard to cultivate it over the past 70 years. Moreover, it is also the achievement of generations of authors and collaborators – those who wrote each page of the manuscript so that we were fortunate enough to be given the role of “midwife”.
On this occasion, I would also like to sincerely thank all levels and sectors, especially the team of authors and collaborators of Nghe An Publishing House across the country - the extended arms that help our mission reach higher and further!
PV:Thank you for taking the time for this interview!
