The editor-in-chief position has always been linked to journalism in newspapers, magazines, and TV programs. But it’s a first in the Arab world for an editor-in-chief to head a publishing house. It’s Ibrahim Al-Sannan, the editor-in-chief of Dar Raff Publishing affiliated with the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), who proved that anyone that takes care of book-related content should be an “editor-in-chief”, a common global position in the world’s most prominent publishing houses.
During an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat inside the corridors of the Riyadh International Book Fair, Al-Sannan explained that the “publishing manager” position emerged in the Arab world, which he attributed to the fact that most Arabic publishing houses are small or family businesses that lack management structure, divisions, job titles, and clear tasks. This is how the owner of the publishing house becomes a “publishing manager” or appoints one, while in fact, the role this person accomplishes has nothing to do with the management of publishing.
Al-Sannan notes that Dar Raff Publishing has a structure considering that it’s affiliated with a large, prominent company in the Arab region, which urged it to adopt the highest, global publishing standards, including appointing an “editor-in-chief”. Al-Sannan believes that the word “editing” is directly linked to books and everything that is related like translation, language, and review. Editing is also a global model adopted in the publishing industry.
Cultural leadership
During the interview, Al-Sannan discusses the definition of “cultural leadership” as a new business entrepreneurship concept in the cultural field, driven by the availability of accelerators and courses that highlight the systems of editing, publishing management, and many other subjects that concern publishers. He also sees that this side was weak in the Arabic publishing industry in the absence of institutions at the time, as most efforts were initiated by people who have a passion for writing, books, and reading.
Culture digitization
Although digitization has dominated almost all fields, Al-Sannan sees that the traditional book is still valued and requested, but why do we pay to digitize culture? “Because digitizing culture addresses many problems, mostly those related to distribution and logistics. Digitization has become a means to make books more accessible, and that’s why we pay to get it with the help of the culture ministry and publishing houses,” he answers.
Surprisingly, Al-Sannan reveals that six of ten readers who read an e-book buy it again in the form of a traditional copy, adding that electronic and audio books have started to overcome the distribution challenge, so Saudi books are reaching many countries around the world, including regions with no shipment services. Although he believes the electronic book is highly important to widening the readers base and ensuring the book reaches the farthest places, Al-Sannan assures that this will never affect traditional books.
The reader’s mood
These cultural transformations have affected the readers’ taste and mood. Al-Sannan says that the readers now have more culture and knowledge, and ask for books with higher cultural value, noting that in the past, authors in certain fields were rare, which made readers focus their interest on specific subjects.
Raff’s editor-in-chief explains that composers are racing to make content including movies and podcasts, which, he believes, has contributed to upgrading the readers’ taste, who today see, hear, and watch high-quality cultural products and are requesting publishing houses for higher standards. According to Al-Sannan, publishing work is not easy as it used to be in the past given the developed awareness readers have today, which subjects publishing houses to more challenges.
The editor-in-chief highlights a higher demand for philosophy books recently, which he attributes to one publishing house’s interest in philosophy that helped boost the turnout for this type of books.
The Riyadh International Book Fair
When asked about this year’s edition of the Riyadh International Book Fair, he said it’s better than the former ones in many ways, adding that “I am thrilled today with the higher number of emerging Saudi publishing houses that work with esteemed names and focus on major subjects in all fields.”
He also believes that the writing movement has risen remarkably that publishing houses are unable to keep pace with it. Al-Sannan attributes this cultural prosperity to the efforts of the culture ministry, which worked on motivating the passionate youth in the field of authorship and composition with supporting initiatives and projects.
Raff’s editor-in-chief concludes that culture should be sustainable after it depended only on initiatives and non-constant support in the past. He also notes that Raff’s pavilion in Riyadh’s book fair provides questionnaires aimed at classifying readers and learning more about their interests and reading tastes, so the house can use this information to establish its plan for the next year.
