Miza Tales- Children's Book Publisher

When seven bloggers met last week we didn't need to introduce ourselves much because we always read about each other, we just went on talking about this and that through out the evening. But there was one thing that stood out and also gave birth to new dreams- it's was Chador Wangmo's children books, illustrated by Kinzang Tshering, about which I wrote in "Do You Remember Those Stories?" 
The writer, the illustrator, and the editor were all there among the group and it was pleasure letting them sign on our copies but something about the publisher bothered us all. The books carried the 'DSB Publication' logo while everybody there knows that the books were self published, and this happened because any publication needs a licensed publisher's name. DSB was kind enough to borrow their name.

This issue ignited the idea of creating our own licensed publishing brand, and we called it "Miza Tales". Miza means the bonfire made in tins, and Chador tells us how she used to listen to folk tales sitting around the miza. Every Bhutanese born and brought up in country side could connect to similar memories from their childhood but we all know how the culture has disappeared after TV came about. With Miza Tales we dream to record all those Bhutanese folk tales we heard or read and present to our children with beautiful illustrations. 

Once we register Miza Tales, Chador Wangmo can write her fifth book under Miza Brand, and like her any Bhutanese writer and illustrator wishing to write books for children with illustration can publish under Miza Tales. We dream to create an ocean of illustrated Bhutanese Children's Books like the Lady Bird Books. Remember reading Lady Bird Book in Primary School? Lets create fond memories for our children too with our own folk tales.

Lady Bird Books

We Met for the First Time, Yes First time

It was all together a different feeling meeting people with whom I had bonded so well online over the years. It was on 3rd Jan we decided to meet at Karma's Coffee and there we were meeting for the first time in person- at least I was seeing five out of the six of them for the first time.

1. Kinzang Tshering of QINZA's STORIES, blogger and illustrator. He did the illustration on all four books Chador Wangmo wrote.
2. Ugyen Gyeltshen of Porky Pie, Blogger, Author of Dear Sadey, and of course a.k.a Tukuli on WAB and Nopkin (There is more than one of him on our writing sites) 
3. Chador Wangmo of feelings n emotions, blogger, Author of four Children Books I wrote about last time, and a.k.a Pandora on WAB and Nopkin
4. Nawang Phuntsho of Penstar, blogger, columnist, author of Then I Saw Her Face. He is Penstar on Nopkin and also Founder of WAB
5. Sangay Dema of MY PAGE, blogger and a.k.a Bella on WAB and Nopkin
6. Riku Dhan Subba of Riku Dhan Subba's Blog, blogger, Photographer and the most eligible bachelor on the Bhutanese blogoshpere. 
7. And I of this blog you are reading!

Riku, Tukuli, Bella, Pandora, PaSsu, Qinza and Penstar behind the camera!

But it felt like we knew each other for years, like we have played together as children and went to same school. When Riku and Qinza said they may not come I was upset and ready to strangle them -like a dear friend would feel.
It felt so good when all seven of us could finally sit on the same table. Of course there are many bloggers we loved to have that evening but we could only reach to so many over the phone. I think we should meet again and broaden our reach, because we sync so well, we are on the same boat. That was my happiest night in Thimphu. I would love to meet more bloggers in coming days.
Though Karma's Coffee suggests us to "Talk Life over Coffee" we talked literature. And I will post about what we discussed, yes very soon. After coffee I discovered Tukuli need a drink, so did I but rest were good guys, you know, so Riku left because he was alone at home, Penstar had to drop Pandora, who wasn't in good shape!! Qinza and Sangay Dee didn't have any excuse so they joined the two of us to The Banana and watched us drink like fish. Oh, it felt so good, I even forgot to have my dinner.

Riyang Books: Bhutan's Own Penguin

In high school and college I would pick a book in library and even when I loved the title and author I would still look for the little penguin on the cover to agree with my choice. That penguin to me was the hallmark of best literature, I don't know why I felt that way, but it always proved right.

The Little Penguin

I read many stories of struggle and watched movies of great people who went through lot of rejections before they became who they are but when I actually met some publishers no inspiration saved me from throwing away my manuscript and forgetting my dream of becoming a writer in Bhutan. I was then in college and fully in love with my short stories but overnight I knew I could never become one in Bhutan.

I discovered that the big names of publishers I saw and heard were not actually the kind of publishers I romanticized, they are not lovers of literature and books, they don't have editors, they don't even read your stories (could they even read?), they are just publishers in strictly technical terms. They are mere contractors who make money out of printing bills, cash memos, calendars, and any government documents they get. The only books they are interested in publishing are guide-books and solved-question-papers because these sell well among students.

Now, we have a Penguin of our own, Riyang Books is just launched and I am already calling it Penguin without a doubt. It's the answer to my long forgotten question: Why don't a literature lover become a publisher? Riyang Books is founded by one of Bhutan's foremost writers, known across the world for her novel Circle of Karma, Ashi Kunzang Choden and her family. With the birth of this publisher I can already see the possibility of becoming a writer if you have the gift of writing, and I also feel secured that no rubbish will be published.

This's this Sign!

I welcome Riyang Books with hopes and dreams, that someday I see shelves of Bhutanese authors with that blue Riyang Books logo, and that I can just pick any book from Riyang with the assurance that it will be a wonderful book.

Follow Riyang Books on Twitter @riyangbooks
Visit them @ www.riyangbooks.com/

The Raven Spreads its Wings in Wangdue

The Raven is the magazine born in difficult times, and I have followed its journey from its licensing time, when the egg was still not hatched. The team behind the magazine, who are very active social activists, and the numerous discussion about it on social media made the waiting very hard. The Raven broke its egg and spread its wings on 13th October 2012; choosing the special day made the occasion of first royal wedding anniversary part of the magazine's history.

Finally I caught a Raven

In next few days I received the PDF copy of the book but that didn't quench the long thirst of having waited.  and it was yesterday evening I finally got my hands on the Raven. The magazine is now in Bajothang at TashiKee Mid Point store. 

Last night I spent the time watching Kezang read it and soon gave up to sleep. This morning I added an extra hour to my day and feasted on the magazine. The name has always impressed me and now the design has won my heart. The Raven's wingspan has covered the hottest issues and its claws have dug the depths. The maturity seen on the cover design is maintained throughout the 74 pages taking its worth beyond Nu.100. The most wow factor was the independence it celebrates with its own in-depth research and interview with people about issues that matter most these days.   

I have seen magazines come and go, and news of another magazine shouldn't impress me but with The Raven all hopes are renewed and I only hope it will fly down generations across. Best Wishes.

P.S: If you are out of the reach of hard copy of The Raven, Send you email address to editor@ravenmag.com or marketing@ravenmag.com I think they are generously distributing the PDF of the inaugural issue for free. And don't forget to follow @bhutanraven on Twitter.
<< Since I am getting lots of request for PDF copy of The Raven, and also since I have the permission to distribute the inaugural copy I have created a download link on the left for all of you to freely download the mag. Please acknowledge the free distribution to the two addresses given above.

Dear Sithey, thank you for the great book

It's a pleasant surprise to receive a gift from somebody whom I never met and it's matter of great honor when the gift is a book and the sender is the writer himself. Drukyul Decides- In the minds of Bhutan's first voters is a complete record of what happened in 2008 in Bhutan. Flipping through the pages I can see how we prepared our own government for the first time, how fates of some men were changed forever, and in doing that how we changed our fates.
While the rest of us were busy, anxious, and excited about the whole new process of people making their own government two men took it on to themselves the responsibility of writing the history for the future. Gyambo Sithey, the author who sent me this book and Dr. Tandin Dorji didn't not miss anything from 2008. The book is already becoming interesting, and like wine it will only grow better with age. Years from now this book will be a priceless piece of record and the two men will be thanked more than ever.


Dear Gyambo Sithey, thank you for the priceless gift, and thank you for writing that book- cant imagine how long and how much it took to put this many information and pictures together.


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Book Fair Should be More Than Business

It was a great joy when National Book Fair happened in my school for the first time, putting my school in the center of over hundred schools from western half of the country. It also gave me satisfaction knowing that we are finally understanding the need to equate events in and out of Thimphu to narrow the gaps between the extremes. Just by know that Thimphu is not the center of earth we could ease lots of social issues.

SOLD OUT!

The organizer and the book stores were bombarded with pleasant surprises- they never seemed to have expected beyond what they had seen in Thimphu for last four years. Many of them literally ran out of stock and spent all seven days in Bajothang smiling. Unlike Thimphu there were hardly any preoccupations that distracted people away from books and therefore people who were sent to buy books were really buying books. For the first time I saw so many school buses parked in my school. As far as sale of books is concerned the event was a grand success, though the buyers were only school libraries with government funds.

However the bigger question is why we are investing millions in books when we know that reading habit is almost extinct in schools? Is being optimist enough? Shouldn’t we invest in building the culture of reading? What is the purpose of Book Fair? Is it to spoil the business of book stores that didn’t participate?

My idea of a Book Fair was an event where the organizer will involve schools in activities that glorify books, where the best readers from different regions will present their reads and suggestions over the seven days, where Bhutanese Writers will be invited to read and autograph their books for buyers, where buyers are inspired to invest in books… But I was wrong. 

The book fair here was an absolute business; everybody was engaged in buying and selling of books with money that didn’t belong to them. And some, I heard, were capable of finding half a million worth of books in a single stall ignoring 24 others. It was already sad to know that Book Fair was just a business, and now some were making it dirty business for the sake of relationship.I believe official who were monitoring the event took note of that. 

My school had the luxury of sending every subject department to look for our own books and our democratic approach led to diverse choice and subjects, and we finally found that we have purchased from 16 stalls.

I personally bought Dear Seday- …letter from the mountains by Ugyen Gyeltshen, one of the most promising writers on Writer Association of Bhutan blog. His story was born on our blog and it grew there day after day, until one day his readers insisted him to turn the story into a book. I am reading it now and will write about it soon. 

Dragon Bones -Murray Gunn

I have known Murray Gunn through my blog. He often commented on my posts, and let me know he has written "Dragon Bones". He promised to send me a gift copy. His publisher Pete made sure that I received it. I want to thank the two of you for being kind and keeping your words.

The gift & Note

I have just begun reading and it already occurred to me that I am going to have a lot of fun. Murray is talking about his journey to Bhutan and through it! I am getting to see Bhutan from an honest oz eye, who joined his French wife as a househusban. The first twenty pages I have finished promise a lot of revelation of Bhutanese characters which we take so for granted.

Gift Package

I will write about the whole experience of reading Dragon Bones after I finish it. Give me some time, I am slow reader.

Loving Jungle Book and Hating Tiger

Mowgli Riding on Bagheera (alexross.com)

Mowgli playing with Baloo (startedbyamouse.com)

Shere Khan- the hated tiger (bandofcats.com)

Tiger- almost disappearing from the wild!
(moversandsekhars.wordpress.com)

I first read Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (Ladybird edition) somewhere in early 90s, when I actually couldn't read well. I enjoyed the pictures. And recently I watched the animation movie of the book with my friend's son. It was amazing. I borrowed the DVD and watched to over and over. I want to get a copy for my daughter. I can already imagine how exciting it would be for her.

She would love Mowgli, and may fantasize herself riding on Baloo or Bagheera and sleeping in the curl of Kaa. She would hate Shere Khan, the tiger and wish if Akela, Baloo and Bagheera could come together and kill the cat. I hated the tiger back then. So must be the feeling among children across the world who read the book or watched the movie.

Could it be the cause of disappearance of tiger population? Everybody was a child once, and therefore must have love The Jungle Book and hated tiger. We grew up with the feeling that tiger is a bad animal. I have forgiven Shere Khan and started loving tigers, but will tigers forgive Rudyard Kipling and his The Jungle Book?

It may not be possible to change the character in The Jungle Book but someone could write a nice book on tigers for children and let Save the Tigers publish it, and let Disney make a cartoon. If we have to start something it should be with children.

Magazines, Bhutan and Ngawang's Dream

My friend Ngawang Phuntsho has a dream I didn't know about. He dreams of Druk Outlook without waking me up, of course he has the freedom of dreaming alone. Druk Outlook is supposed to be a magazine just as I had a dream of a smaller student’s magazine like the Indian Student Today or Wisdom, which would be cheap and resourceful for the students. I don't know what difference Ngawang plans to bring forward with his dream magazine but I would want to have solved question papers, subject notes, explained poems, writing competition, teachers’ and students’ award, etc…

This is but just a part of a big problem. Bhutanese buyers think Nu.100 to too much for a magazine, when they can pay the same amount to photocopy ten pages in black and white. Just go to a photo studio and have a copy of your picture printed in A4 size, I don’t know about Phuntsholing and Thimphu but in Wangdue it is Nu.300. Now look at a Magazine; it’s over 130 pages of full colored pages with write-ups. The cost we are paying for a magazine can actually buy just a page of it or an empty book.

A Magazine or for that matter a newspaper, survives on advertisers and sponsors but our country has very few companies which can afford such luxury. And this few find no reason why they should be advertised in Bhutan when they are already more than known to everybody. So it is hard to dream of a Magazine in Bhutan. And it is harder to dream of it when there are more magazines coming up because the sponsors are the same companies who didn’t see any difference after having being advertised in those former magazines.

Except for Tashi Delek (in-flight magazine of DrukAir) no magazine ever saw their second issue. Bhutan Now was the first and therefore the first to fail. Bhutan Window, Druk Trowa and Yeewong are the produce of 2009 and they are yet to see their second issues. I am positive as much as they are but until then Ngawang and I should put aside our dreams. At least we should wait for our country to come up with a company that can either make a shirt or a soap which is worth advertising and therefore that company is willing to sponsor our magazine.

Bhutan Window- did you buy one?

You did it, Bhutan Today! For those of you who didn't know yet Bhutan Window is the inaugural issue of Bhutan Today’s seasonal magazine. I am reading it now. I never left any book I read un-reviewed therefore I shall give my piece of mind on this in my later post. For now I am going to review the Bhutanese mindset on Bhutanese books.

That shop in Wangdue town must hate me for coming every evening asking the same thing, “Did the magazine arrive?” perhaps I must have inspired her, now she has it on her shelf. However, Having it on the shelf is one thing and collecting dust on the shelf is another.

The editor of the magazine is a good friend of mine and I am given to sell some copies for him. But I didn’t know I would have to beg some buyers before they could open their purse for Nu.90. They just look at the thickness of the book and compare with the cost. I have to tell them that it is not telephone directory. Some scream at the price. But there are a golden few who brighten up instantly and embrace it.

I once visited DSB books shop, where I am told my teacher Karma Padey’s book Ta She Ga Cha- Broken Saddle is the best seller. Curious, I asked how much they sold. I didn’t imagine a million though but I did put my guess at about a hundred thousand copies before he could answer- four hundred!

There are just a countable many Bhutanese books in the market, mostly self-published out of sheer love for writing ( I am proud to tell that I have a copy each of every one of them), and many good stories are still residing in the hard disk of some computers. Who will publish them? Why even publish them? After all who will buy them?

Some of us cannot read at all, some of us would not read, some of us cannot buy, some of us would not buy, some of us can read and also buy but like borrowing more, only a precious some of us buy and read. If at all many of us will buy Bhutanese books, then many publishers will come up to give break to many writers and among the many writers we might come across great writers. Actually it is simple, it starts with you; did you buy a copy of Bhutan Window? Look at Bhutan Time’s Bhutan Now magazine, it’s now never. Let’s save Bhutan Window. Let’s make it a point to buy a copy of each Bhutanese book in the market, for diamonds are found in rock and only a million rocks gives out a diamond.