Asian Publishers Week
Participant
Bui Thu Ha
Country : Vietnam
Company : Alpha Books Joint Stock Company
Job Title : Head of Production – Editor in Chief
E-mail : thuhabui86@gmail.com / ha.bui@alphabooks.vn
Work Experience in Publishing
My professional career in publishing spans more than 17 years across editorial, rights, production, and publishing management. I have held editorial and leadership roles at several of Vietnam’s leading private publishing companies, including Alpha Books, Nha Nam Publishing and Communication, Thai Ha Books, and Khai Tam Books, gaining experience across the entire publishing value chain.
I began my career at Alpha Books as Editor of the Business Books Department, responsible for title acquisition and editorial planning for business and non-fiction titles. I later served as Vice Editor-in-Chief at Khai Tam Books and Managing Editor at Thai Ha Books, expanding my expertise in copyright acquisition, production planning, and publishing operations. At Nha Nam, I focused on translated non-fiction and worked closely with translators, authors, and international rights holders.
This path has also included editing Vietnamese translations of works by Korean authors, including Ha-Joon Chang’s Kicking Away the Ladder and Park Byung-ryul’s How Much Can I Buy Iron Man Suits, Choi Sung-bong’s Singing Is My Life: Memoir of My Journey from Homeless to Fame as well as participation in international book fairs in Bangkok and Beijing—experience that has shaped my interest in cross-border collaboration and the evolving publishing landscape across Asia.
I returned to Alpha Books in 2024 as Head of Production and Editor-in-Chief, where I currently lead a production team of more than 20 people.
Current Projects
I am currently contributing to Alpha Nova, a digital transformation initiative that aims to create Vietnam’s first fully digital publishing platform. The project combines AI-driven automation in editorial, production, and rights management workflows with a marketplace model that allows independent authors, as well as other publishers and content companies, to self-publish and sell ebooks directly to readers. My role focuses on content strategy and editorial workflow design—defining how manuscripts move through AI-assisted editing and production stages before reaching the platform.
Alpha Nova also includes efforts to digitize and streamline rights and licensing operations, from tracking and reviewing existing contracts to exploring more efficient models for rights research and management. Alpha Nova is designed to lower the barriers to publishing in Vietnam by giving authors and smaller publishers access to professional-grade production tools and distribution infrastructure that were previously limited to larger companies. The project is currently in its early stage, with the core platform under internal development and testing.
In parallel, I continue to work on projects that reflect Alpha Books’ engagement in cross-border publishing—among them, supporting a Korean author based in Vietnam in publishing a Korean-language learning book for Vietnamese readers, one of the roughly 240 titles we bring to market each year.
Experience Related to This Year’s Topic
In 2024, I was part of the team that conceived and launched Alpha.AI, Vietnam’s first AI-integrated smart publishing service. This Alpha Books initiative applies AI models ‒ including GPT-4, Claude, and DeepL ‒ across translation, editing, and production, combined with review by professional editors to ensure quality and accuracy. To date, Alpha.AI has supported the publication of approximately 100 titles, reducing production time by 20–50%. Beyond efficiency, this has freed editors and rights managers from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus more time on creative and strategic work ‒ manuscript development, author relationships, and rights negotiation.
My responsibility within this project has been to design the editorial workflow that combines AI tools with human review: determining which stages ‒ terminology consistency, manuscript summarization ‒ can be AI-assisted, and which decisions on voice, accuracy, and cultural nuance must remain with editors.
Alpha.AI has since been recognized as a turning point in the digitalization of Vietnam’s publishing industry. Our operating principle remains clear: AI can accelerate and support publishing professionals, but final editorial responsibility for every published work must stay human.
Over the past two years, the conversation around AI and publishing in Vietnam has shifted from experimenting with new technologies to addressing questions of governance, copyright, and professional responsibility. Publishers are no longer asking whether AI should be used, but how it can be adopted responsibly.
Two recent legal developments have shaped this discussion. Vietnam’s AI Law (No. 134/2025/QH15), effective March 2026, requires AI-generated audio, image, and video content to be clearly labeled. The amended Intellectual Property Law (No. 131/2025/QH15), effective April 2026, allows AI training on lawfully published works while giving authors the right to opt out. Together, these laws represent an important first step toward balancing innovation with creators’ rights.
The industry is also responding in practical ways. Earlier this year, a young poet’s award-winning collection came under scrutiny amid allegations that several poems had been adapted from foreign works using AI-assisted translation. The case sparked debate about originality and editorial responsibility. At the same time, some publishers, including Nhã Nam, have introduced explicit no-AI clauses into literary translation contracts.
In my view, AI should not be resisted but managed responsibly. At the same time, publishers are actively exploring practical ways to integrate AI into their work. Through my work at Alpha Books, including the 2025 Digital Publishing Summit organized by our company, I have seen how AI can improve productivity and free editors to focus on critical thinking, editorial judgment, and developing a book’s distinctive voice. The greatest opportunity for Vietnam’s publishing industry lies not simply in adopting AI, but in ensuring that technology strengthens—rather than replaces—human creativity and professional responsibility.
What would you like to discuss related to this year’s topic?
I would like to propose the topic: “How Can Asian Publishers Help Knowledge Travel More Freely in the Age of AI?”
For generations, publishers have built the bridges that allow ideas and knowledge to cross borders—through rights acquisition, translation, editorial work, and collaboration. Today, AI offers an opportunity not only to make these processes more efficient, but also to rethink how knowledge moves across Asia.
In Vietnam, I often see books reaching readers through intermediary languages because direct translation expertise remains limited. AI may help publishers work more closely with source languages, but it can also do much more: improving rights discovery, supporting editorial work, and creating new opportunities for regional collaboration.
I hope this discussion will explore how Asian publishers can work together to build stronger connections in rights, translation, editorial practice, and AI adoption—so that technology helps knowledge travel more directly across our region while preserving cultural authenticity, editorial quality, and readers’ trust.
Connection to Korean Publishing
– EYA Agency
– MaeKyung Publishing
– Chungrim Publishing
– Bookie Publishing house
– Yeonam Books
– Visang Education
– EYA Agency
– Dasan Books
– Woongjin Books
– 21st Century Books
– Hanbit Biz
Your reasons for applying to Asian Publishers Week 2026.
When I first entered the publishing industry nearly two decades ago, I often questioned whether I had chosen the right career path. At that time, publishing in Vietnam was a relatively small industry, with limited readership and modest professional opportunities. Over the years, however, I came to realize that publishing is not simply a profession—it is a way of creating long-term social value.
Throughout my career, I have been committed to bringing global knowledge, diverse perspectives, and meaningful ideas to Vietnamese readers through accessible and high-quality publications. Whether supporting Vietnamese and international authors, introducing world-class works to local readers, training future publishing professionals, or building communities of readers, I have always believed that publishing plays a vital role in shaping knowledge, culture, and society.
I am applying to Asian Publishers Week 2026 because I believe that the challenges and opportunities created by artificial intelligence cannot be addressed by individual publishers or countries alone. As the publishing industry undergoes unprecedented transformation, I hope to contribute perspectives from Vietnam’s publishing ecosystem while learning from the experiences of publishing professionals across Asia and beyond. I believe that the future of publishing will depend not only on technological innovation, but also on our collective ability to preserve human creativity, editorial responsibility, and cultural diversity.
Vietnam’s publishing industry is evolving rapidly, and I hope to contribute its experience to regional conversations while bringing home new ideas that can benefit readers, publishers, and authors in my country.
Your Company Profile Alpha Books Joint Stock Company
Company Name: Alpha Books Joint Stock Company
Company Address: 3^(rd) floor, Dream Center Home Building, 282 Nguyen Huy Tuong,
Number of Employees: 200
Specialty: Business, Personal Development, Lifestyle,
I am publishing executive and Editor-in-Chief with over 17 years of experience in Vietnam’s publishing industry. Throughout my career, I have worked on a wide range of translated and original titles, with a particular focus on non-fiction, business, personal development, and social sciences.
In my current role as Head of Production and Editor-in-Chief at Alpha Books, one of Vietnam’s leading private publishing companies, I lead the editorial and production teams that turn manuscripts into published books—from copyright acquisition and content development to final production—supporting the release of approximately 240 new titles by Vietnamese and international authors each year. My work involves collaborating with authors, experts, and thought leaders to transform their ideas and expertise into high-quality publications that reach a broad readership.
Beyond my editorial work, I am the founder and administrator of Thu Vien Nha Ta, a reading community dedicated to introducing meaningful books to readers who are genuinely passionate about reading and lifelong learning. I also serve as an instructor for publishing and editing courses at 25 Academy, a professional training organization for publishing and creative industries, and as a guest lecturer at the Vietnam Academy of Journalism and Communication, where I teach book editing, translation, and publishing practice.
I am particularly interested in how artificial intelligence is reshaping editorial practice, copyright, translation, and the relationship between books and readers. Through participation in Asian Publishers Week 2026, I hope to exchange ideas and experiences with publishing professionals across Asia and beyond, and to explore how the publishing industry can embrace technological innovation while preserving creativity, editorial quality, and intellectual integrity.