Category: Publishing

Kota Buku to be Primary Agent of Oyez!Books

13/2/2017

Starting 1 February 2017, the Perbadanan Kota Buku (Kota Buku) will be the primary agent of Malaysian children's book publisher, Oyez!Books. Kota Buku will hold exclusive rights to represent Oyez!Books worldwide in various areas including print, digital and multimedia.

Oyez!Books has been active internationally since it was founded in 2008 and has achieved some successes in terms of rights sold. Several titles have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, German, Indonesian, Korean and Vietnamese in both print and digital formats.

"Most of our books are written and illustrated by Malaysian authors and naturally we are delighted that they are also well-received at the international level. However, we are a small company and are constrained by existing resources. As we look around for partners to work with, we believe that Kota Buku is the right organisation to take our books, and therefore, our authors further," says Peter Duke, chairman of Oyez!Books.

Kota Buku is the organiser of the annual Kuala Lumpur Trade and Copyright fair and is also the lead Malaysian agency for the Bologna International Book Fair, the China Children's Book Fair in Shanghai and the Beijing Book Fair. In addition, the company also participates in other international fairs and conferences.

©Emila Yusof

"There is definite synergy between Oyez!Books and Kota Buku," says Sayed Munawar, CEO of Kota Buku. "Their books are of high quality and of international standard. We are proud to be their primary agent. This is in line with our mission to promote Malaysian books internationally," he adds.

About Oyez!Books, www.oyezbookstore.com
Oyez!Books was founded in 2008 as an imprint of Integra Majujaya and is now an imprint of Integra Creative Media Sdn Bhd. The imprint focuses on children's books by Malaysian writers and illustrators although it also publishes translations of international works. Oyez! Books & Gifts is a division of the imprint that aims to promote existing intellectual properties for licensing purposes.
Contact: Linda Tan, email: contact@oyezbookstore.com

About Perbadanan Kota Buku (Kota Buku) www.kotabuku.my
The Perbadanan Kota Buku, a government-linked corporation, was established in line with the aspiration of the National Book Policy. Kota Buku aims to act as a nucleus for all book-related activities and to work with stakeholders in the book industry in order to enhance the book industry in Malaysia. This includes capacity building, content trading, organising book-related activities and being a technology enabler.
Contact: Hasri Hasan, email: hasri.hasan@kotabuku.my

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Timun Emas Retold and Illustrated by Evi Shelvia

27/12/2016

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Timun Emas is an Indonesian folktale of a woman who longed for a child. Her wish was granted by a giant but there was a price. When the child has grown, the giant will come for her. That seemed like so far away and her desire so great that the woman agreed without further ado. The giant gave the woman some cucumber seeds with instructions that she should plant and take good care of them. The woman did as she was told and one day, one of the golden cucumbers ripened and inside was a beautiful baby girl. The woman named her child Timun Emas.

Timun Emas, Indonesian folktale retold and illustrated by Evi Shelvia, published by Oyez!Books

This folktale is similar to the story of Thumbelina from Denmark where a little child was born from the flower of barley corn. In another way, it is also similar to a German folktale, Rumpelstiltskin where a goblin helped a woman but the price was her firstborn.

How these stories come about, we can only guess. Folktales certainly reflect our shared humanity and much have been written about them and their meanings and significance. As an example, this story has been interpreted to mean the empowerment of women for in all cases, the women found a way to overcome a bad situation.

We are happy to present Evi Shelvia's retelling of this Indonesian folktale and she has added a delightful creature, the Kuda Kepang. Evi's gorgeous illustrations make this story all the more delightful and the book will be one to keep and treasure.

The publication date for this book is 30 December 2016 and will be made available for online purchase at www.oyezbookstore.com.

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The Story of a Book: Through The Windows of a Train

18/12/2016

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Have you ever sat in a train and looked through the windows and wondered where everyone is heading? Who are your fellow travellers and what are the places you have passed? And then you arrived at your destination almost with regret for the journey was certainly part of the pleasure.

Well, Lucia Hiratsuka thought about this too and wrote and illustrated a book, Na janela do trem which translated from the original Portuguese language into English is, Through The Windows of a Train.

Of Japanese descent, Lucia was born and raised in Brazil. She grew up on her father's farm which was called Asahi meaning 'morning sun' in Japanese. The farm was located in Duartina in the countryside of Sao Paulo. She first traveled by train with her grandmother and since then has always enjoyed traveling by train and looking through the windows.

Here are a few illustrations from the book.

This story is not finished yet as Oyez!Books is bringing this lovely book to Malaysian children in Bahasa Malaysia. In November 2015, Oyez!Books rights director, Lei, went to the Shanghai International Children's Bookfair. There she met Antonio Erivan, rights director of Cortez Editora. Antonio showed her many books including Na janelo do trem. At the same time, Oyez!books was looking for suitable books to translate and we have also received information from the Brazilian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur that we may apply for a translation grant from the Fundação Biblioteca Nacional which is the National Library of Brazil.

After much deliberation, (on the shortlist were beautiful illustrated books on the animals of the Amazon) we selected Na janelo do trem because we love Lucia's simple illustrations and because the story is one that a Malaysian child can relate to.

In October this year, we were informed that our application for a translation grant was successful. It was enough to cover the translation and editing cost (which was from Protuguese to English to Bahasa Malaysia as we couldn't find anyone suitable who could do a direct translation from Portuguese to Bahasa Malaysia.)

We are now in the process of getting the book ready for publication early next year. Can't wait! Stay tuned for further update!

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A Message From Oyez!Books Chairman - Peter Duke

16/12/2016

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As we enter the last two weeks of 2016, all of us at Oyez!Books want to express our thanks to our supporters. We have a had a good year despite the many challenges facing the retail market for children's books. Of special note has been the strong support from libraries, in particular the National library, the Sutera Mall library in Johor and the Perak State library. We have been well supported by a number of retailers, including Silverfish in Bangsar, Kinokuniya in KLCC, IKA Books in Kuching, BACA reading room in Temerloh, and Precious Pages in Penang. And I would like to say thank you to the ladies who have acted as our agents selling our books, I say ladies because all of them without exception are ladies.

We have one agent in Muar who has been very active in supplying our books to kindergartens in Johor. We would welcome enquiries from anyone who might wish to promote and sell our books to schools and kindergartens.

Peter Duke, Oyez!Books Chairman

We want to add a special thank you to our authors and illustrators who have continued to produce excellent new material for us to publish. I am referring to Emila Yusof, Evi Shelvia, Heidi Shamsuddin, Lay Koon Lim, Rossiti Aishah Rashidi, Chooi Ling Keiong, Yusof Gajah, Nor Azhar Ishak, Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail. A special thank you to you all!

The Real Elephant - children's picture book by Yusof Gajah, published by Oyez!Books

Puteri Tioman the Green Turtle - by Rossiti Aishah Rashidi, illustrated by Farrah Ashiela Samsuri

Negaraku - children's picture book by Mahaya Mohd Yassin, illustrated by Evi Shelvia, published by Oyez!Books

Under The Sea Colouring Book by Nor Azhar Ishak, published by Oyez!Books

Pip's Peculiar Problem - children's picture book by Lim Lay Koon, published by Oyez!Books

Where is Owly? - children's picture book by Mohd Khairul Azman Ismail, published by Oyez!Books

Do Dinosaurs Share? - children's picture book by Feng Feng Hutchins, illustrated by Fengyi Lai, published by Oyez!Books

Emila's Travelogue - selection of travel blogs by Emila Yusof, published by Oyez!Books

The Case of The House At No. 74 - children's chapter book by Heidi Shamsuddin, illustrated by Lim Lay Koon published by Oyez!Books

Frog Loses His Memory - children's picture book by A.H. Benjamin, illustrated by Evi Shelvia, published by Oyez!Books

A specialist book publisher such as Oyez! Books cannot rely on the open market for success. We have to attract corporations and foreign publishers to licence our books or buy rights to publish our books. We have been fortunate in this field with McDonald choosing four of Yusof Gajah's books for their happy meals promotion. P&G in conjunction with Tesco's licensed two of Peter Worthington's Tipee Hipee Early Readers as promotional material for P&G products. We have been successful in selling foreign rights to publishers in China, Korea, Switzerland and Germany. We will continue to focus on this sector as it bring benefits to both us and to our authors and illustrators. It must feel great for an author or an illustrator to see one of their books published in a foreign language.

Grandma Lim's Persimmons Korean edition - written by Sunita Lad Bhamray, illustrated by Marjorie Van Heerden

2017 will bring new challenges as foreign books are being increasingly dumped in Malaysia at little more than the cost price to the publishers. However, at Oyez!Books we have a special niche in that all our books are quality publications, mostly in English, and mostly written and illustrated by Malaysians. I believe we are the only publisher to specialise in this field and many of those who come across our books express surprise and pleasure in finding such books. However, having said that we are constantly exploring the foreign markets to see if we can find picture books to publish that will bring pleasure to Malaysian children. Some of these will be available next year.

On a personal note we will be welcoming Emila Yusof who will be joining us in January as our Creative Development Director. Among her other roles she will be launching our new initiative ‘Books & Gifts’. Books make the best gifts - they last a long time and can be 'used' and treasured over and over again. They can also be passed down. They reflect the values and thoughtfulness of the giver in selecting just the right books that will bring pleasure to the receiver.

Finally, I wish everyone Happy Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Kota Buku to be Primary Agent of Oyez!Books

Timun Emas Retold and Illustrated by Evi Shelvia

The Story of a Book: Through The Windows of a Train

A Message From Oyez!Books Chairman - Peter Duke

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