Dubai Culture hosts specialised workshop 
exploring the process of publishing a book

Elaborating on the process of publishing a book, the Literature Department of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) organised a specialised workshop titled "Publishing a book - From content into production"at Etihad Museum on 18thJune 2019. Conducted by noted publisher Talal Al Sabri, Founder, Jumeirah Publishing House, the workshop was designed to inform and motive aspiring authors and professionals and help them understand the intricacies of book publishing - starting from writing to the final process of publishing. 

The Literature Department held this workshop to enrich the participants’ knowledge about the publishing industry, highlight its importance and explore the detailed process of publishing a book. The workshop was attended by writers, editors, and budding authors along with students of schools, colleges, and universities, who got together to discover the journey of publishing a book and transforming their literary dreams into reality. 

The workshop featured important information on the basics of the publishing industry, right from content creation and writing techniques to the tasks of packaging and distributing books. During the session, Al Sabri shed light on the procedure beginning with the initial planning process, introduction, categorisation, page separation, margin selection, references, and book art and designing including the cover, colours, illustrations, and more. It later concluded with information on the printing mechanism, type of papers that are used, and the size of the book.

Talking about the workshop, Mohammed Al Hebsi, Acting Director of Literature Department at Dubai Culture, said: “The workshop and its content was specifically designed to cater to the need of more accurate and detailed information about publishing a book, which is not readily available.”

He added, “The Literature Department strives to provide the knowledge, and the sources for enrichment of the individuals and hence society. There is a good number of promising talents in the field of literature who are waiting for right guidance and information to start their journey of becoming authors. But there is a dearth of such information and hence this reduces their chances of sharing distinct and good content with the world. This gap between talent and information led us to host this workshop with an aim to familiarise participants with various stages that a book passes through before reaching its readers.”

“The workshop didn’t only explain the process of book publishing but it also examined the writing terminology and the concept of the book industry,” Al Hebsi concluded. 

Dubai Culture aims to enhance Dubai’s cultural scene and draw attention to the UAE’s rich heritage. The Authority’s mandate is to build bridges of constructive dialogue between different civilisations and cultures to enhance Dubai's position as a creative and sustainable global city for culture, heritage, arts, and literature, with the aim to empower these sectors by developing creative and innovative projects and initiatives locally, regionally, and globally.