Indonesian Writers and Publishers Meet to Discuss Publishing for the Digital Generation

The topic, “Publishing for the Digital Generation,” drew 22 Indonesian Christian writers and publishers to a one-day event last month hosted by Bina Kasih Publishing House and Media Associates International.

Held in the National Library of Indonesia in Jakarta, the gathering featured as keynote speaker Andi Tarigan, CEO of Gramedia Pustaka Utama, the country’s largest general publishing house.

Tarigan challenged the writers and publishers with three digital realities: 1) the shift to digital will be permanent; 2) publishers must recognize the urgency to expand their digital presence; and 3) publishers need to share their stories with the new “reader-listener-viewer” generation.

“This was a good opportunity for participants to meet and greet fellow Indonesian Christian content creators,” said MAI’s Ramon Rocha III, who helped plan and facilitate the event. Ramon continued, “Two were newly published authors and several met each other for the first time. Everyone had the chance to ‘show and tell’ their traditional or self-published books.”

Ramon urged the group to continue meeting together, at least quarterly or twice a year, for mutual encouragement and equipping. He also invited the publishers and writers to take full advantage of MAI training resources, including the monthly training webinars, regional trainings led by MAI-Asia, and the triennial LittWorld conferences.

Please pray for God’s enabling for Christian writers and publishers in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation with a population of 280 million, and for the creation of excellent, contextual Christian content for the nation’s readers.