Publishing Stories: Making Books in the Time of TikTok

"Now is the time when it is impossible to tell a leisurely story with the full "process" of the silkworm eating mulberry leaves, spinning silk and then creating a shirt, when the rule of not watching for more than 3 seconds has become a "habit" of viewing and reading for the public in the TikTok era ...", Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution Nguyen Nguyen (photo) shared with Thanh Nien on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the Traditional Day of the Publishing - Printing - Distribution industry (October 10, 1952 - October 10, 2025).

"Maximum information in a minimum amount of time"

In the context of the digital transformation story for all industries, how about the publishing industry, sir , to conquer the public in the TikTok era, the era of touches, familiar with short reading, short viewing?

Những câu chuyện xuất bản: Làm sách thời TikTok- Ảnh 1.

Director Nguyen Nguyen : Recently, we have been happy to see many young people excitedly returning to books, due to many other resonant influences, but there is also a group of readers who are almost not interested in books. To attract the audience of the TikTok era to our side, we clearly cannot rely on calling or forcing, but can only create products that interest them. Along with the support of digital platforms in the distribution stage, the publishing industry also needs to pay more attention to creating book products where the compression of knowledge and information needs to be pushed to the maximum in a minimum amount of time.

Now is the time when it is impossible to tell a leisurely story with the full "process" of a silkworm eating mulberry leaves to produce silk and then create a shirt, when the rule of not watching for more than 3 seconds has become a "habit" of viewing and reading for the public in the TikTok era. Audiobooks will certainly develop faster in the future for readers who can only spend time listening. The currently budding interactive book genre will certainly become more popular in the future, where readers can read and play at the same time. They can even participate in co-creating with the author by choosing one of the endings for the book, or interacting between readers.

Diversifying products, attracting readers right from the first sight and touch with images, sounds, visual impressions and interactivity; highly personalizing users' enjoyment needs... will certainly be the attractions that Vietnamese books must strive to meet to attract readers in the TikTok era.

Những câu chuyện xuất bản: Làm sách thời TikTok- Ảnh 2. — Book Festival in Ho Chi Minh City

A50 and A80 have recently witnessed the blossoming of a series of concerts and Vietnamese blockbusters in the field of topics that are considered to be selective for young audiences. The publishing industry seems to have missed an opportunity to "catch the trend" with a publishing phenomenon, like Dang Thuy Tram's Diary before?

In fact, at the time of the release of Dang Thuy Tram's Diary 20 years ago, the print run of 300,000 - 500,000 copies was considered a publishing phenomenon, but at this point in time, even books with a print run of up to 1.5 million copies may not have created a strong effect.

Today's public tastes are so diverse, with so many different interests, that it is difficult to create a media effect with a book that is of interest to many readers at the same time.

The recent A50 and A80 also indirectly created a push, albeit a bit quieter, with books that were published long before, but thanks to their general effect, were suddenly sought after and read. Those were the books Red Rain by writer Chu Lai and the Memoirs of Dang Thi Binh - Family, Friends, Country, which helped the number of printed copies (reprints) of these two books increase dramatically to nearly 100,000 copies.

However, we cannot just look at a few occasional phenomena and effects to name the nature of the matter. In the development strategy of an industry with strong requirements for digital transformation such as the publishing industry, there is still a lot to do and a longer, broader vision can create strong shifts.

Publishing house - surplus but shortage

What is your opinion on the story of streamlining and merging when it comes to the publishing industry?

To develop a modern publishing industry, it is clear that we need more than the model of large publishing houses in a leading role because it is no longer a domestic affair anymore, when the story of digitization and e-commerce has blurred the boundaries of publishing.

From 44 publishers in 2002, to 52 publishers in 2006, then 65 publishers in 2014, until 2025, it has decreased to 54 publishers and may decrease by at least 5 publishers in the near future. However, the problem is not how many publishers there are, but how many publishers are needed to cover the areas that need to be supplemented without overlapping in functions and tasks.

How should the issue of international cooperation be raised by publishing industry leaders so that Vietnamese publishing is no longer considered a "lowland" and poorly connected area?

If in the past, Vietnamese publishing was almost "alone in the market" in a closed world , now the presence of Vietnamese publishing at conferences, seminars and international book fairs has clearly improved a lot. Vietnam is even one of a few dozen countries with geographical indications at the world's largest international book fair. Of course, there is still a long way to go and there is still much to do for Vietnamese books to go further and wider, instead of having a trade deficit..., but personally, I still have faith and optimism in these new movements. In particular, digital transformation and AI are really important pushes that can help gradually shorten the distance and erase boundaries.

Thank you!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-cau-chuyen-xuat-ban-lam-sach-thoi-tiktok-185251009213959788.htm