Fragments From a Changing Publishing Landscape

At the meeting, we held a zine-making workshop about literature in everyday life. Each participant facilitated a different theme; I led a session on literature as a form of advocacy. Zines are perfect for this kind of discussion: fluid, unbound by rules, and capable of carrying uncertainty, doubt, and hope together.

In my group, we talked about how publishing often creates barriers that make advocacy difficult. To publish a piece in mass media or as a book, you must pass through gates—and not every idea gets through. Even writing that is relevant, clear, or beautiful may be considered too sensitive, too risky, or potentially controversial. Publishing, after all, exists within larger systems of power. Governments may support cultural expression—or actively silence it if it challenges the status quo. Advocacy, by definition, fights for the voices at the margins, which can put it in tension not only with those in power but also with the comfort of the majority. These pressures shape every publisher’s decision about what gets printed.

One participant shared how growing up in a homogeneous environment had shaped her sense of the world. Visiting bookstores at home felt like facing endless choices—but they were all familiar. Studying abroad, meeting people with very different lives, she realized how varied reality really is. The books on shelves reflected that diversity, and she wondered why more ideas never reach readers through publishing. It struck me that today, thanks to technology, writers don’t need to wait for the industry’s approval to circulate ideas—they can publish directly, reaching readers without passing through traditional gates.

Through the zine, the group observed that literacy-friendly lifestyle trends are clearly on the rise. Book clubs, literary events, and cafés with in-house bookstores are becoming increasingly popular, especially among young people. Reading in public spaces is now seen as something cool and aspirational, with books taking on a new role, not just as sources of knowledge, but as part of personal style and everyday life.

At the same time, the group also flagged a few things worth paying attention to. With so many voices and narratives circulating freely, not everything is curated or reliable. The growing trend of digital books sold cheaply through social media platforms like TikTok, often created by content creators, raises questions about authorship, originality, and responsibility. It becomes important to ask: Is the work original? Is the content accountable? Does it go through an editorial process? Does it have an ISBN?

Overall, this shift was seen as a positive movement that needs to be taken care of, not treated as a passing trend. Keeping it alive requires collective effort from everyone in the literary ecosystem— publishers, writers, communities, and readers. As part of the younger generation, participants highlighted the need to be actively involved in creating spaces, supporting good work, and making sure this growing reading culture can last and reach wider audiences.