A Mindanao publisher shows the way

When the National Book Development Board (NBDB) is invited to participate in international book fairs—aside from the Frankfurt Book Fair which in the last three years our budget has allowed us to attend—we are always enthusiastic about making a presence to show the world what Philippine publishing has to offer. But our enthusiasm is tempered by the costs involved. If there is a budget, we arrange for a collective booth for publishers, the way we have done for the book fairs in Hong Kong and Beijing this year. The ideal situation is for the publishers themselves to be present to negotiate for the books on display. Attendance has been a challenge for them because of steep travel and accommodation costs.

That was why the NBDB thought it best to mount a country stand and arrange for the shipping of books to be displayed only if a publisher confirms attendance. At the first International Children’s Content Rights Fair (ICCRF) in Chiang Mai two weeks ago, an NBDB team was present to observe and to show solidarity with our Asean neighbor, Thailand. We did not carry any books for exhibit.

What was remarkable was the impact and the difference that the presence of the sole Philippine publisher made, leaving lessons and a “template” for future book fairs. We were not even aware that Mary Ann Ordinario of the Mindanao-based ABC Educational Center Children’s Books would be there, too. She flew in with her assistant, daughter Jonamari Floresta, who is completing doctoral studies in education in Sydney, with one ambitious goal in mind: to sell the rights of her books to Asean countries, to realize her longtime dream of seeing her books translated in different languages. She was in Frankfurt last October and was encouraged by the interest particularly in her newest book, “Malong: The Magic Cloth.” An American publisher was eager to buy her only copies immediately and wanted to plan her book tour in the United States.

It was in 2000 when the rights to all of Ordinario’s initial four books were first sold. It was clear as early as then that her topics were of special interest beyond our shores. Her first books were: “War Makes Me Sad,” “The Crying Trees,” “Durian, The Smelly Fruit,” and “My Muslim Friend.”

Ordinario was delighted when she was informed that illustrator Pepot Atienza had been chosen as the Asean Children’s Best Book Illustrator in Fiction for his submissions for “Malong.”

That distinction, plus the publisher’s presence in a short Business Match session, earned Ordinario meetings with publishers from Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia, all of whom were interested in rights to some of her publishing company’s 30 books. She was again overwhelmed by all the interest and could confidently say that she was in a negotiating position to request a reciprocal arrangement so that she could both buy and sell rights.

Her meetings with the publishers from different countries led to valuable insights. The Japanese agent, for instance, critiqued the “award-winning” illustrations as much too busy, hardly leaving any white space. It’s not an unheard-of comment, as artists themselves have admitted feeling compelled to fill up every inch of space, with the text fighting for its own space.

This experience gave Ordinario a better sense of what book to offer a particular country. “Malong” earned much attention and scrutiny at the ICCRF, but was not every country’s favorite. Quite fortunately, Ordinario’s books offer a wide variation of the Mindanao theme on which she has chosen to write, primarily because she lives in Kidapawan. It is what she knows best. “I would like to share the truth and the situation in Mindanao that affects children, like the ongoing war and conflict,” she said. “The world deserves to know the real problem. It is also nice to share the culture of Mindanao because most Filipinos, especially in Luzon and the Visayas, are not aware of it.”

May other publishers be as fortunate as Ordinario to discover their niche. This did not come easy for her—and we all know success to be so elusive.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrcruz@gmail.com) is chair of the National Book Development Board and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.