Lit lite
Serious literary and cultural works from Taiwan need time to be absorbed into the mainland market, meaning that short-term sales are slow. Putting out such a book is often like throwing a stone into the sea-it's already quite an achievement to spark some discussion, much less enjoy broad sales. The result is that little cross-strait effort is devoted to works of this nature.
Given this reality, the types of books from Taiwan that have made the biggest splashes in the PRC the last two years have been in the genres of "inspiration" and "urban lit." Of these two, it has been urban lit-books focusing on the problems of romance in contemporary urban life, written by such figures as Tsai Chih-heng, Wang Wenhua, and Jimmy-which has gotten the most attention, with sales so high that even a figure like 200,000 would be at the low end of the range.
Tsai Chih-heng's The First Intimate Contact swept the PRC in 2002 as an online novel, becoming the breakthrough book in the PRC for Red Ink (a subsidiary of Cite Publishing). Over the past few years, a fixed model has taken shape for the spread in the PRC of online literature and light fiction, a model that includes joint promotion, autograph sessions, press releases, and adaptations of works to the stage.
Jimmy and Wang Wenhua are seen as symbols of the fact that urban consumers in mainland China are nearly keeping up step for step with their peers in Taiwan.
In 2000, Jimmy's illustrated books were released in the PRC as part of series called World Masters of Illustrated Books. But not even the paltry 5000 volumes in the initial printing sold out, causing mainland publishers to suspect that the mainland market had not matured to the point where people will pay to purchase illustrated books for adults. But Wang Dong of Alpha Books in Beijing ignored the accepted wisdom. She was convinced that sales would be no problem if only the printing and texture could be brought up to the level in Taiwan. As she predicted, Jimmy then went large.
"There is a very modern feel to Jimmy, but the stories also take into account Chinese-style refinement," says Wang. "This fits right in with the consumer behavior and sentimental orientations of the newly rising class of petty bourgeoisie in the PRC, so these books have been very popular." There is a saying current among young people in the mainland: "If you want to be in love, you'd better read Jimmy first." In crossing the Taiwan Strait, Jimmy has taken on a role he has never played and never intended to play in Taiwan-an Oracle of Romance.
Wang agrees that there is definitely an element of chance or serendipity in catching on with the latest fads, but that doesn't mean books can be chosen at random. A book must still conform to three principles: It must be a good read, satisfy market tastes, and meet the personal standards of the editor and publisher. In sum, quality and taste are still decisive. By way of example, she says that when they published three books by Taiwan author Eric Wu, despite the timing being right during the SARS epidemic and the lack of any advertising or promotion, sales were still off the charts. Wu will go to Beijing in October for a book signing, and his star is on the rise in the mainland.
On the other side of the equation, authors must choose the right publishers in order to get their books marketed effectively.
Sun Xiaoning, a reporter in Beijing who covers the publishing industry for the Beijing Evening News, states that given Beijing's status as the center of the industry in the PRC, book reviews in the Beijing media have an opinion-maker effect across the country, so it is only logical that one should choose to have one's book come out in Beijing first.
Wang Wenhua's Protein Girl, on the other hand, was first published by Shanghai's Cenury Publishing, which has lots of experience marketing youth literature. Shanghainese have a special knack for playing to popular tastes and setting the standards for what becomes fashionable. The book has only been out for a month, but has already sold 150,000 copies. It seems that both the author and the publisher got an added boost in this case.
(left) The mainland publishing market is vast, so vast that even a trade paper like China Book Business Report has a print run of more than 60,000.