Dawama sues DBP

From The Malaysian Insider (TMI): Publishing firm Dawama Sdn Bhd is suing Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and its director-general for defamation, following claims that the latter suggested on a radio show on 21 April 2011 that the company was mismanaged.

Dawama currently holds a 12-year contract to print and market DBP’s books and magazines until 2014.

At the end of July 2011, Dawama Sdn Bhd had asked all 400 staff to take no-pay leave before the start of Ramadan due to financial difficulties. It complained that DBP had caused the crisis in July when it took over the publication of textbooks for the 2012 school year without notice, and handed over printing and marketing rights to a third party, and appointed its own printer.

On 4 August, another TMI reported: “Dawama workers no-pay leave letters have been rescinded and they remain employees, said Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam today. The minister explained that Dawama after discussion with Manpower Department director-general, Datuk Sheikh Yahya Shaikh has backed down from the no-pay leave enforced since Monday and will pay each worker for 12 days per month until its dispute with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) is resolved.

The Malaysian Insider

Frankfurt notes

From Publishing Perspectives

"Start making everything you have as sharable and findable as possible; then people can talk about it. Then, if you are really awesome they may have a conversation with you.” Mitch Joel, keynote speaker at Tools of Change Frankfurt conference. Publishers Need to Engage With the Mobile Consumer.

... the rapidly aging population should present publishers with opportunities to sell to “those book-loving baby boomers who finally have the time to read.” Nielsen Reports Print Book Sales in Decline.

“We found out that the car manufacturers are in a similar situation as us,” explained Frankfurt Book Fair Director Juergen Boos. “As we go from print to digital publishing, the auto industry is experience similar disruption as they move from the petrol to electronic engine. We want to learn from their transformation, from their problem solving processes.” Driving Into the Future.

“There is an increasingly diverse media out there—things like Angry Birds.” Global Ranking: International CEO Panel at Frankfurt.

“Some years back I unthinkingly gave my support to the removal of all restrictions on the retail pricing of books. It was in retrospect a dreadful mistake. At one stroke the British publishing industry delivered itself into the hands of the mass-marketeers—and a death blow to the beleaguered independent bookseller.” Le Carré: Death Blow to Indie Booksellers.

His experience with foreign publishers has taught him that, “it’s better to go with small publishers who are truly dedicated.” Icelandic Author Sjón on Myths and Crackpot Theories.

“Man is a narrative animal.” Icelandic Author Sjón on Myths and Crackpot Theories.

News roundup

Toasters, coffee machines and vacuum cleaners are all perfectly good things to buy on Amazon, the general manager of Toronto-based Kobo told us yesterday when we sat down with him for a product demo of the company’s latest e-reader tablet, but not books. Kobo GM: Why Buy Books From Amazon?

The corner bookstore is supposed to go extinct once Amazon takes over the world. If Borders — and even mighty Barnes & Noble's — couldn't fight off the behemoth, how would the lowly local shop even stand a chance? Used Book Stores Are In A Great Position To Benefit From The E-book Apocalypse.

Self-published authors frequently take the hit for poorly edited and badly formatted e-books. But the truth is, many of them are more careful about proofing their work than traditional publishers seem to be. Why Are E-books Filled With Errors?

Old people read faster than normal on an iPad, even though most claim to prefer 'real books', a study shows. German researchers discovered that people of different ages could read just as well from iPads and Kindles as they do from traditional books. In fact, old people read even faster using the the iPad as it made reading easier than both the Kindle and traditional book. Elderly people 'read iPads three times faster than normal books’.

Every book counts. Malaysia’s Silverfish Books.