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ublishers looking to find new writers with exceptional stories to tell are now looking online for new sources of ideas.

Before polishing the drafts of upcoming books, editors are also responsible for selecting potentially profitable books, head of the film rights adaptation and fiction editorial department at major book publisher Gramedia Pustaka Utama (GPU), Hetih Rusli, said. A sharp nose for a good story is key for an editor, thus Heti often browses the web to find hidden writing gems that could potentially be a hit book.

“We have to understand what our target market wants,” she said in a discussion held during the 2018 Litbeat festival in the National Museum in Central Jakarta on Monday.

As the internet allows aspiring authors to submit their writing to many publishers at no cost, publishers are often overwhelmed with scripts whose quality is questionable.

Hetih said that GPU, one of the biggest publishing companies in the country, must scan roughly 2,000 scripts submitted by email sent from all across the country annually.

In order to look for good-quality content, publishers have also initiated moves to look for potential new stories through web-based writing platforms such as Wattpad. Through the platform, users can share their creative writing for others to read.

“We don’t count how many clicks the stories get. We are looking for good content,” Hetih added.

Ronny Agustinus, chief editor of independent book publisher Marjin Kiri echoed Hetih saying that he often combed through the internet and online academic journals to find interesting and solid abstracts to be turned into books.

One of its most prominent published books was a dissertation-based book called Merebut Ruang Kota: Aksi Rakyat Miskin Kota Surabaya 1900-1960an (Seizing the City: The Poor Movement in Surabaya in the years 1900 to 1960) by historian Purnawan Basundoro of Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java.

The book, which discussed how the marginalized groups in Surabaya fought for land during that time, was among the college textbooks selected by the Technology, Research and Higher Education Ministry in 2015. However, being recognized as a textbook by the government did not turn the book into a best-seller. “It didn’t increase the sales of the book or anything,” Ronny said.

Having a sense of potential stories is essential in producing good quality books, he added.

Independently run Marjin Kiri, which specializes in books on social, political, literary, historical and philosophical issues, often finds it is flooded with emails from aspiring authors looking to get their fiction scripts be published.

“Some authors simply send their scripts arbitrarily to any publisher without knowing the background of the company,” Ronny added.

The idea of pitching stories to be made into books enticed 21-year-old journalism graduate Fikriah Nur Jannah. “I only write for my own personal expression. Maybe I have to challenge myself to send my work to publishing houses,” Fikriah said. “I have a dream about that, actually.”

The Litbeat Festival was designed to bring publishers and the public together to address challenges faced by the publishing industry and to improve the quality of book content as well, head of the festival committee Erlan Primansyah said. (stu)