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Published on October 22, 2007

 Pla Warn Publishing did not intend to steal the show at the Book Expo Thailand 2007. But as the publishing house had only one title - "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" - on offer, other publishers, big and small, took turns visiting the booth in wonder about how great this single book could be.

To Ariya Paitoon, 44, the founder of Pla Warn Publishing (or Whale Publishing), this could be a step towards success for an independent publisher who, like many other small players, hopes bookworms will find Pla Warn a familiar name and then be drawn to the company's later titles.

Ariya is a book lover who has long dreamed of publishing books. Children's literature is her focus, but on her first attempt she failed. Beluga Publishing, her first publishing house, established four years ago, flopped. But Ariya - who has been in the publishing industry for 20 years, including 12 years at Amarin Printing & Publishing as an editor for children's literature - was relentless. She restarted her business, but with a new name that is easier to remember. Now that Pla Warn has launched its first title, Ariya means to survive for a long time so that she can do what she loves: deliver worthwhile books to Thai children.

 "Despite years of work at Amarin, I'm not an entrepreneur. I didn't know how difficult it was to survive in this business," she said.

She has learnt that to succeed she has to sell books as fast as she can to receive cash for publishing more books. Moreover, she must not offer only her favourite titles as they may simply not succeed in the market.

She says that while big publishing houses tend to win in international bidding for famous titles, Pla Warn has one advantage in negotiating with foreign publishing houses for permission to publish in Thailand.

"Being small gives us flexibility," she said.

Weerawat Techakijjathorn, 31, is another bookworm. He started a publishing house two years ago with his friends. OhMyGod was meant to offer books useful for his friends and also other readers and it has been profitable for years.

Weerawat's success lies in his choice of books that focus on spiritual topics - something that is now deemed fit for people in the business world.

His first inspiration to print a spiritual book resulted in "Conversation with God", which was translated from an American book. He said after he read this book he felt happy and wanted his friends to have the same experience.

"Spiritual content is quite suitable for a niche market," Weerawat said. "Not many readers are interested in this style but I have a strong belief that the trend of spiritual books will be a hit in the near future. Many big publishers and booksellers in Thailand are eyeing to win the rights to publish more such books, such as Amarin, Jitwiwat Group and Komol Keem Thong Publishing. So I think I chose the right way in this business and can survive."

Although many big publishing houses with a lot of money to invest are tending to print more spiritual books, Weerawat believes that the books from OhMyGod are better because they are easy to understand and written to appeal to young readers.

"We have about 100 readers in our cybernet community discussing about the soul and spiritual issues after reading our books," he said.

Small publishers should pay attention to what Vitaya Saeng-aroon, director of Cyberfish Media Publishing, says because this company has been thriving in its first four years and has started to reap good profits in its fifth year.

Vitaya attributes his success to contents: his company focuses on the "third gender". This allowed the company to reach out to a clear target group.

 "Nobody focused on this content and this answers why my publishing firm can survive amid fierce competition," said Vitaya.

He added that his books aim to educate readers about the nature and relationships of people in this group.

"I aim at giving them and people around them a true understanding," he said.

Vitaya believes that his business is heading in the right direction. The target group will expand in the future, so his publishing business can continue.

Not all publishers can be as lucky as Weerawat and Vitaya. Ariya once saw her business flop. Sutat Nimkulrat, managing director of Smile Dragon Publishing, has also suffered from losses for two years.

Sutat admitted that he still doesn't know what subjects will appeal to Thai readers. At the beginning, he published books related to religion, philosophy and life principles but they received lukewarm attention.

 "I like this style and I thought that other readers would like it as well. But in fact, I received unimpressive responses. After that I changed to easy subjects. Still, they are not successful," Sutat said.

Last but not least, Sutat said it was difficult for small publishers to win strong support from bookstores, which are inclined to give prominent shelf space to large companies' titles. And given the launch of 300 titles a day, small companies' books are likely to fail to win public attention.

He added that he has invested Bt4million in this business and once these funds are used up, he is ready to wave goodbye.

 "I will not change to focus on sex or soap operas just to satisfy the market and survive," he said.

Nalin Viboonchart

 The Nation