I refer to the Op-Ed article (18 Aug) and agree with the writer entirely. I myself am a writer (In English) of many original scientific and other books (including poetry). As it was not possible to find a reputable publisher in UK (You need literary agent here to accept and then push your books for publication), I fell into the clutches of 'vanity publishers' about 25 years ago who published one of my books here. The vanity publishers are so called because the whole cost of printing, publishing and distribution etc is borne by the author and the publishers have nothing to lose whether any book is sold or not. As a matter of fact their main income consists of selling the book back to the author at a discounted price! These publishers are also well known to the critics and no book published by them are reviewed in any literary journal. So I gathered much painful experience and then set up my own publishing firm and website(www.oaktownpublicayions.com) to publish my own rather esoteric books( known as self publishing as opposed to vanity publishing), which are not in great public demand anyway.
After retiring from British Civil Service I set up a modest flat in Dhaka a few years ago for regular visits and aspirations to publish some of my books there. After getting in touch with some publishers in Dhaka to my amazement I found that all those that I contacted will be termed as 'vanity publishers' in UK as they have no investment of their own money for the books published or for a new and unknown author, or proper marketing and distribution mechanisms. In other words there is no risk or effort taken by any publisher to assess a book, or to support or establish any young ( or previously unknown) writer. Once a writer establishes himself/herself by his/her own efforts and expenditure, then publisher's mercenary instincts will take over for that writer or book!
So as I had to pay for the whole process I have set up a Publishing House myself in Dhaka as well.
Such a state of affairs cannot be good for the country. Publishing houses must be prepared to risk their money and reputation to sponsor young and unknown talented authors by paying them advances and publishing and marketing their work.
Perhaps there are such proper publishers in Bangladesh. However I have not come across them.