How to Find the Right Publisher and Succeed in the Book Market in China and Taiwan
Personal experiences of a Chinese translator who helped publish a book in China without the assistance of literary agents and eventually making it one of the bestsellers in both China and Taiwan
With its stringent censorship, China is one of the most challenging countries to have a foreign book published. Without a major publisher or literary agency involved, it is almost impossible to self-publish a book, let alone a book with what China considers to be "sensitive" content. Samuel Chong, a Chinese translator based in Los Angeles, is one exception. Not only did he succeed in having this kind of book published in both China and Taiwan, it later became bestsellers in both regions (see https://www.chinasona.org/Thiaoouba/Bestseller-China.html and https://www.chinasona.org/Thiaoouba/Bestseller-Taiwan.html).
Finding the Right Publisher in China - Personal Relationships are Important
In 2016, Samuel Chong was entrusted by the author of a self-published book titled "Thiaoouba Prophecy" to have it published in China. It is a book that describes the personal experiences of the author, who was taken by a beautiful and friendly extraterrestrial to their planet that has an advanced civilization. During his trip which lasted 9 days, he learned the history of earth, ancient civilizations (with ET visits), facts about reincarnation and afterlife, the construction and the purposes of the Great Pyramid, the statues on Easter Island, the stories in the Bible., etc..
After contacting a dozen publishers that published similar books, he learned that all the publishers rejected the book because of the "sensitive" content, which describes the life of Jesus Christ. One publisher even advanced $2000 royalties payment to the author but decided to wait until the censorship in China became more relaxed, which only became stricter as years went by. When asked to publish the book, Samuel was told that they couldn't because otherwise "all of them would lose their jobs."
Undeterred, Samuel thought about his childhood friend whose mother was formerly the chief editor of the Writer's Publishing House, one of the largest publishing houses in China. After pitching the importance of the content of the book to her, she presented the book to the decision makers of the publisher. She also sought opinions from her friends at the China General Administration of Press and Publication, a government supervision agency responsible for regulating and distributing news, print and Internet publications, on whether the content of the book could be published in China. After receiving confirmation, the book was finally decided to be published as a science fiction, with "sensitive" content removed from the published book.
Although the above example is an exception, not the norm, it emphasizes the importance of personal relationships in China. Even though most foreign books are published in China through the representation of literary agencies such as Big Apple Agency, Bardon Chinese Media, or Andrew Nurnberg Associates, having a connection with people in the publisher helps. It is especially true in recent years when the number of books allowed to be published is reduced by almost half and that many foreign books are "discouraged" to be published in China.
Finding the Right Publisher in Taiwan - Presentation is the Key
Following his success in China, Samuel contacted publishers in Taiwan where traditional Chinese is used. Unfortunately, publishers were not interested citing content compatibility reasons and Samuel had to put his efforts on hold.
One day, a friend of his asked him to contact Oak Tree Publishing Company for the publication of the second book written by Barbara Brennan, whose first book and third book were published by the same publisher. After establishing contact, he decided to also pitch for the book "Thiaoouba Prophecy."
Knowing that Taiwan was influenced by Japanese culture sometime in the past, Samuel emphasized the popularity of the book in Japan. Learning that Oak Tree Publishing mostly published books related to Buddhism, he presented it as a book that supports the teachings of the Buddha from a unique perspective, with convincing and verifiable evidence regarding past lives and reincarnation. More importantly, he informed the publisher that the content of the book was so unique that more than 8000 copies were sold in China in just a few months without any promotional activities. Within a few weeks, he received the good news and Oak Tree Publishing decided to publish the book.
Becoming Bestsellers in Both China and Taiwan - Social media has an important role
Because of different reading habits and ideologies, it is rare for a book to make it to the bestseller's list in both China and Taiwan (even though they speak the same language). "Thiaoouba Prophecy" is an exception, and social media has an important role to play.
Because of its unique content, many influencers on social media started to discuss the book. First, Xiaohan with 740,000 subscribers on Youtube started to make short videos discussing the content of the book. Then, many other social influencers began to follow, making their own videos on different platforms. People started to show interest, and the sales of the book went up dramatically in both China and Taiwan. Many started to urge "Mr. and Mrs. Gao", a famous Youtuber couple with 5 million subscribers, to discuss the book. When they finally made a video, people were so interested in reading the book that the book was sold out in all the bookstores in Taiwan, and it took the publisher weeks to catch up with the demand.
Within a year, it sold 30,000 copies in Taiwan. In China, it has sold more than 400,000 copies, a magical number, according to the editor at Writer's Publishing House, in which a book automatically becomes a bestseller without the need of any promotions. A hard cover version of the book is expected to be published in China sometime in June 2022.
An interesting fact is that neither the publisher in Taiwan nor China had any budget for promotions and the author, Michel Desmarquet, could not do any promotions on his own because he passed away before the book was published. Thus, no money was spent on advertising or promotions.
"With the success of the book in China and Taiwan, I am still working hard to have the book published in Spain and republished by a major publisher in the US. It is an important book, and there is a long road ahead." says Samuel.
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