Seba Prokashoni after QaziDa

There's a nip in the air. It's the beginning of Magh. Half past midnight. Segunbagan. The whole area is sunk in a slumber so profound that no sound of living beings can be heard. Only the night guard is busy patrolling the neighbourhood. At times he is blowing his whistle, and almost immediately, a feeble response is floating in from a distance. 

These were the starting lines of the legendary book series 'Kuasha 1', back in June 1964, creating a mystifying atmosphere surrounding a Dhaka neighborhood. Never before had readers seen anything like this. And thus started the journey of Seba Prokashoni, with Seba being an acronym for Segunbagan in Bangla. 

Fast forward to May 2023 and a lot has changed in the last 59 years. Segunbagan is no longer called Segunbagan, and the area now known as Segunbagicha has not been able to hold onto its unique charm. 

On a rainy evening when I set foot there, it felt like just another overcrowded Dhaka locality; nothing out of the ordinary. It was as regular as a Privet Drive in a muggle world. 

Add to this the harsh reality that Qazi Anwar Hussain, lovingly known as QaziDa by fans - the man who steered Seba Prokashoni and Segunbagicha to nationwide fame - was no more. 

It has been nearly 16 months since QaziDa passed away on 19 January, 2022. Many predicted it would also lead to the demise of Seba Prokashoni. 

My aim was to find out how Seba has actually been faring in recent months without the leadership of QaziDa. With that in mind, I arrived in the very house he used to live in, and sat for an interview with Masuma Maimur, who is not only the advisor of the publishing house, but also its de facto director at the moment. She is also QaziDa's daughter-in-law. 

Masud Rana in new look

The first look of the Bangladesh and Hollywood co-production MR-9 - based on Masud Rana's first book 'Dhongsho Pahar' with ABM Sumon in the lead - has already been revealed. 

Meanwhile, Seba Prokashoni is also mulling a new look for the iconic character of Masud Rana. The next book of the series will be titled 'Kalbela', written by Qazi Maimur Hussain, and 'a real-life Masud Rana' will be featured on the book cover. 

Masuma said this person was Zaman MD M.

"Qazi Anwar Hussain himself used to call this person Masud Rana. I won't go into details right now, but this man really deserves it. He used to be a banker, and donated 70% of his earnings to orphanages," she said. 

"The cover for Kalbela has not been finalised yet. There might be a few changes. But through this initiative, we will pay tribute to both Qazi Anwar Hussain and the person he considered as the real-life Masud Rana," she added. 

The copyright controversy

In December, 2021, the High Court reportedly ruled in favour of Sheikh Abdul Hakim for the copyright of over 300 books in the Masud Rana and Kuasha series. However, Masuma claimed that all but two Masud Rana books still belong to them. 

"There were two books for which we offered one-time payment to Sheikh Abdul Hakim and Iftekhar Amin, and thus they got to claim the copyright of those two,|" she said, adding, "but other than that, we hold the copyrights of all other Masud Rana and Kuasha books."

However, that's not the case for some other books, which were published by Seba Prokashoni but had the real name of the translators printed on them.

"For example, Sheikh Abdul Hakim could sell the Godfather books that he translated to other publishers, because he had their copyrights. There are some other books, like the Voyal series that readers demand we reprint. But we are unable to reprint them because we do not hold their copyrights," Masuma clarified. 

But as there aren't any copyright issues, Seba Prokashoni is continuing to reprint Masud Rana, Tin Goyenda, Kuasha and translated classics on popular demand. 

A steep decline in book sales

There was a time when books and other publications from Seba Prokashoni would sell like hotcakes. And that would also result in a high number of copies going into making every edition. 

Previously, on average, 20,000 copies would be printed in every edition with some books having several editions. Some even had a 32,000 copy first edition.

But nowadays, even the books of widely popular Masud Rana get around 8,000 to 10,000 copies in the first edition, whereas Tin Goyenda, horror and translated books get around 6,000 copies. And the publishing house has stopped publishing Western books on a regular basis. 

"This is because we want to sell out every title as soon as possible. We don't want books to remain stuck in the godowns," reasoned Masuma. 

As a result, they also don't print more than 6,000 to 7,000 copies of Rahashya Patrika, the monthly publication of Seba Prokashoni, although once it had a monthly circulation of nearly 20,000 copies. 

"The main reason is piracy. There are still many people who love to read Seba Prokashoni books, but the habit of buying books has depleted," she said. 

"I personally know many who prefer reading PDFs, and are very proud of it. There are even some who complain about the quality of our books and then go on to download unauthorised e-books."

Having said that, Seba Prokashoni is still way ahead of most other publications in terms of books printed in the first edition. 

"The least number of books we consider printing in the first edition is 1,250," informed Masuma. 

It should be noted that most other Bangladeshi publications nowadays print only 300 copies in the first edition, while there are also some who print only 100 copies at a time.

Many new attractions in the pipeline

For a long time, Seba Prokashoni was criticised for holding onto the past and not moving forward with the times.

However, things gradually began to change even before the death of QaziDa; that too with his approval and appreciation.

Seba's first big step towards change was through embracing e-commerce. Its official website, since being launched in 2020, has been running in full swing. 

People from both Bangladesh and abroad can order books on the website and receive home delivery. Additionally, they can also pre-order books before publication. 

"We receive demands for various books to be reprinted. Through pre-orders, we can understand if reprinting a particular book would be viable for business. Generally, we proceed with the decision to reprint a book after receiving over 600 pre-orders."

With the help of pre-orders, Seba Prokashoni reprinted the first two volumes of Kuasha series and several other classics, with special covers, in recent years. 

In the coming months, they also have plans to reprint Rahashya Patrika's first four issues, originally published in 1971-72, in their vintage forms. They will also bring out other collector's editions as well as audiobooks and e-books.

"If the audience response is satisfactory, we may even start producing our very own animation films," said Masuma. 

New writers with 'ego problems'

Masuma blamed the dearth of new-generation writers without "ego problems" behind the drop in both the quality and quantity of Seba's signature books, including the Tin Goyenda series. 

Seba Prokashoni has the reputation of grooming  writers while also delivering books of the highest quality. However, although authors of the bygone era agreed with the publishing house's editorial policy, many among the new generation of writers do not. According to Masuma, they don't like it when their write-ups are heavily edited before going to print. 

"There was a young writer who showered Seba with praise when we published his first book. But when we wanted to edit his second book, it hurt his ego, and suddenly he rebelled against us," recalled Masuma. 

Another reason why many writers leave Seba after a certain point of time is the publishing house's comparatively low royalty. 

"Many use Seba as a stepping stone. Being published from Seba is like a certificate for them. So, they cherish it. But after a while, they are on the lookout for other alternatives," she said.  

"While other publishers sell a book at Tk300, we sell it at Tk75 because we always want our books to be affordable for everyone. But this also means relatively low royalty, which many writers aren't satisfied with," she added. 

Masuma said Seba Prokashoni follows the "international standard" royalty rate of 7%. 

Seba still survives, but for how long?

As of now, Seba Prokashoni is still going strong.

Qazi Maimur Hussain and Qazi Shahnur Hussain, both sons of QaziDa, are writers. Masuma, who is supervising the publishing house right now, has also gained prominence through her writing. 

Literature runs in their blood, and hence Seba Prokashoni continues to exist well into its second generation. Apart from the love for literature, QaziDa's successors also want to carry on his legacy. 

"We aren't running Seba Prokashoni simply for business. We know what this publishing house meant to our late Abba, so, as long as we are alive, we will continue to uphold his dreams," said Masuma. 

"But I don't know what will happen thereafter, and whether our next generation will be interested in keeping this business. It will be completely their own decision, we will certainly not force anything on them," she said.