SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore novels will get a chance to reach readers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar after publishers in these countries agreed to a landmark book deal. <\/p>\n
Home-grown publisher <\/p>\n Epigram Literary Foundation<\/p>\n <\/a>, formerly Epigram Books, initiated the pioneering regional agreement that will take effect from 2026.<\/p>\n The compact was signed on Oct 17 at the recently concluded Frankfurt Book Fair. It means the four winning entries of the <\/p>\n annual Epigram Books Fiction Prize<\/p>\n <\/a> will be simultaneously released across six South-east Asian countries, with their initial print fun boosted by thousands. <\/p>\n Since 2020, the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, which began as a Singapore prize for unpublished manuscripts in English in 2015, has been open to citizens and permanent residents of South-east Asia. <\/p>\n Epigram Literary Foundation founder and director Edmund Wee says: \u201cTogether, I hope we can leverage our combined scale to drive book sales and introduce readers to a wider range of South-east Asian stories.\u201d <\/p>\n The surprise pact, negotiated over six months, is the first multilateral agreement of such scale to be inked, and will continue for an initial period of three years for Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, and five years for the Philippines.<\/p>\n Participating publishing houses are The Biblio Press from Malaysia, Elex Media of Indonesia, River Books from Thailand, Milflores Publishing from the Philippines and NDSP Books from Myanmar. <\/p>\n Mr Wee tells The Straits Times that the exact numbers of books these publishers will print are left to their discretion, but that Elex Media has committed to 1,500 copies for each title, giving a sense of the deal\u2019s multiplier effect.<\/p>\n Starting print runs in Singapore typically range from a few hundred to 1,000 due to its smaller population. Mr Wee has long believed that tapping the regional market, numbering some 700 million people, is the way for local publishers to not only balance the books, but to also attract the best authors in the region into their fold rather than lose them to Western publishers.<\/p>\n He says: \u201cThis was only possible because of the relationships built over many years of meetings at rights fairs and book fairs. A big element of trust is involved because they are agreeing to publish titles they haven\u2019t even read.\u201d <\/p>\n This \u201cradical nature of the deal\u201d meant precise financial terms took some wrangling, he adds. Some publishers pulled out during the process and he also eventually could not secure a Vietnamese partner. <\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, the Thai publisher has access to the Laotian and Cambodian market. So, Vietnam \u2013 not counting Brunei and Timor Leste \u2013 will be the major Asean country missing. Maybe if it works, it will come in a year later.\u201d<\/p>\n It is his hope that this could mark the start of a more extensive regional collaboration. Epigram Literary Foundation has already offered participating publishers first dibs on translation rights to the novels.<\/p>\n In recent years, more of Epigram Literary Foundations\u2019 titles <\/p>\n have found success in foreign markets<\/p>\n