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| The winners pose for a picture. |
Saadon Ishak, Managing Director of Don Studio, won for Category 1: Idea to Publishing. He secures an opportunity to publish an original illustrated travelogue sketchbook with Karangkraf, apart from a RM5,000 grand prize from Kota Buku and international marketing support. Saadon Ishak's sketchbook, What a Colourful World, is inspired by his private art journal that features scenery, architecture, historical artefacts, and other subjects in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Raymond Yeo won second prize for Category 2: Book to Development with Animal Tales from the Quran.
Kota Buku received over 100 entries for the competition and together with Karangkraf and FINAS, shortlisted 10 entries for each category. Finalists were invited to pitch their ideas and book in front of a panel of judges. The winners were chosen based on the idea, concept, originality, viability, saleability, purpose, and presentation.
Sayed Munawar Sayed Mustar, CEO of Kota Buku said, "We started this competition with the hope of finding talented Malaysian writers and IP owners, and we did. I believe there are a lot more promising talents out there and we will strive to reach out to them and enrich the publishing industry as a whole."
Held in conjunction with the 9th edition of Kuala Lumpur Trade and Copyright Centre (KLTCC), the annual rights fair for the Southeast Asian region, and concurrently with the annual Kuala Lumpur International Book Fairs at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang from 7 to 9 May 2016, the competition aimed to open up opportunities and provides a platform for budding writers to publish their ideas and develop established writers’ intellectual property (IP) into diverse digital media content.