When Arief Hakim was kicked out from university less than twenty years ago, his parents gave him two options: to help his grandfather at his oil palm plantation or to help them in their fledgling publishing company. Arief chose the latter because he wanted to remain in Kuala Lumpur where his friends were.
Today, 37-year old Arief is managing director of the PTS Media Group, a publishing company with an annual turnover of RM30 million.
Speaking at the Singapore Writers Festival recently, Arief presented some pretty impressive figures including the fact that some of their titles, especially low price Islamic titles and cookbooks, have sold more than a million copies and that some of their authors earn six-figure annual royalty.
Today, 37-year old Arief is managing director of the PTS Media Group, a publishing company with an annual turnover of RM30 million.
Speaking at the Singapore Writers Festival recently, Arief presented some pretty impressive figures including the fact that some of their titles, especially low price Islamic titles and cookbooks, have sold more than a million copies and that some of their authors earn six-figure annual royalty.
Arief speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year on digital publishing in southeast Asia. PTS has about 3000 titles on their list; the company is active in social media with about 200,000 followers on their facebook page; their books are distributed in both traditional and non-traditional channels, from bookstore chains to convenience shops; and in both print and digital formats. Arief himself is the honorary secretary of the Malaysian Book Publishers Association where he plays an active role in addressing industry challenges, organising the annual ASEAN ebook conference, and lobbying the government.
But Arief is getting restless. The university drop out has come a long way. What next for him and the publishing company he has grown from when it was a start up? Arief is a strategic planner and PTS is often ahead of other publishers from first publishing Malay teen novels to playing an active role in social media. At a publishing symposium this year, Dato' Husammuddin, industry veteran and CEO of the large Karangkraf Media Group acknowledged that his company emulated PTS in reaching out to their readers through social media.
But Arief is getting restless. The university drop out has come a long way. What next for him and the publishing company he has grown from when it was a start up? Arief is a strategic planner and PTS is often ahead of other publishers from first publishing Malay teen novels to playing an active role in social media. At a publishing symposium this year, Dato' Husammuddin, industry veteran and CEO of the large Karangkraf Media Group acknowledged that his company emulated PTS in reaching out to their readers through social media.
Arief is now seeing that some of their traditional markets are getting crowded and it's time to look for new blue oceans. And if it's any indication, PTS has set up new imprints Gedebook, #novelicious and Puteh Press; the first two publish contemporary young adult novels while Puteh Press's first book is a non-fiction in English that offers readers 'an alternative perspective into topics such as identity, love, education, community, and self-worth.'
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