Book lovers in Hong Kong have lots of materials to devour, with stellar international titles in abundance in book shops around town. For those seeking authentic reflections of the city's life and landscapes, the search can be circuitous. Many local authors have yet to add their voices to the forum.

Haven Books, an English-language press in Hong Kong, is one independent publishing house that promotes local authors in the global markets. The voyage out began with long-time editor Dania Shawwa, who started the publishing business as a home operation in 2005.

"Being a mother of three I had to work from home at the time, which explains the name 'Haven Books'," Shawwa recalled. "As the president of the Women in Publishing Society (HKWIPS), I had a good knowledge of the industry. I decided to go commercial and to put more interesting titles on the market for local readers."

In the last four years Haven Books has expanded quickly and published various works with Hong Kong and Asia-related themes. A major breakthrough for Haven Books this year is a distribution deal to sell its books in the US. Shawwa is also in talks with distributors in UK and Australia.

Distribution in foreign markets is instrumental to Haven Books' becoming financially viable. "The local book buying market is too limited for us to grow," she noted. "We aim to become an international publishing company, and to produce high quality books that are Asia-oriented and yet have global perspectives."

Another challenge for the publisher is how to strike a balance between its production of commercial books and works that are out of the mainstream. Earlier this year Haven Books published one of its prestige titles, Not A Muse, an exceptional collection of 21st century women's poetry that features world-renowned writers like Margaret Atwood.

"We try to produce one or two of those every year," Shawwa said. "Beyond commercial considerations, we think it's important to publish works that add weight to our catalogue and to boost local talents. There aren't many publishers who can afford to do that. I feel obliged to promote these writers to the public."

On the commercial side of its ventures, some of Haven Books' more popular titles include its cookbooks and the posh shopping guide Everything Hong Kong. In keeping with its international focus, the publisher is working to develop the series to cover foreign countries, including Singapore and Dubai.

Young Havens, a series of young adult fiction for youngsters aged between 8 and 18, will hit the shelves in the coming months. The series is one of Haven Books's efforts to explore new markets in Hong Kong, believing there is a genuine need for English language reading materials among local high schools.

"They're novels with Hong Kong or Asian settings featuring both Chinese and Western kids as central characters. At the moment our target readers are students at international high schools in Hong Kong," she said. It's generally much harder to negotiate with local high schools because of bureaucracy."

The launch of Young Havens is grounded in serious research of the education sector in Hong Kong, she added. "It takes a lot of time and effort to understand a market; we're constantly getting feedback and refining the books' content. We want to make sure what we publish will be popular and add value to our business."

Besides her work with Haven Books and HKWIPS, Shawwa is a founding member of the Independent Publishers of Hong Kong. The industry group is a collaborative effort that helps promote independent publishers in local and foreign markets, as they advocate one another's publications and events.

"We offer advice and support for our members' activities, such as our participation in the London Book Fair," Shawwa pinpointed. "The reading population in Asia is booming, so we're looking to break into markets like Indonesia, Singapore and Japan, where readers are keen to discover new materials."

In the near future Haven Books will be working to expand its distribution to these Asian countries, while keeping an eye out for promising authors in town. Since Haven Books is willing to consider unsolicited manuscripts for publications, Shawwa receives a good number of proposals from both local Chinese and expatriate writers.

With many prestigious literary ventures now online, Haven Books is also stepping up its Internet publicity. "We reach out to potential readers through our Facebook group and other channels. In the future we may even consider producing e-books.

(HK Edition 09/19/2009 page3)