Last year, the three bestselling original works at Jieli were Han Xu’s Mr Octopus Sells Umbrellas, Volume 20: The Thundering Four-God Base of the Monster Master series, and Li Qiuyuan’s Zhong Nanshan: The Guardian of Life, which sold 61,100 copies, 54,700 copies, and 44,800 copies, respectively.
Leon Image’s Monster Master series has been a runaway success since its 2012 debut. To date, the 22-volume series has sold more than 25 million copies, and both the comic edition and the first season (26 episodes) of the animated series will be released later this year.
While the above titles are mostly fantastical and mysterious, the success of Jieli’s publishing program is based on facts and meticulous efforts. “We publish for the readers and so it’s about meeting their reading needs,” says general manager and senior editor-in-chief Bai Bing. “We explore their reading psychology and habits, monitor market development and trends, and conduct detailed market research. We analyze the situation of similar titles and, in some cases, show manuscripts to distributors and readers to obtain feedback.”
But first, manuscripts have to survive Jieli’s tough selection system. “The topic selection pass rate is between 6% and 8% to screen out mediocre and generic topics,” Bai says. “Then the proposed title goes through a three–tier argumentation framework, involving various company divisions and levels to evaluate aspects such as the content, price point, sales forecast, author contract, and lastly, the print run.”
Sometimes, the whole process can be downright simple. “Take Gerelchimeg Blackcrane: he wrote short animal stories based on his real-life experiences in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia—which is so unique and vastly appealing to us—that we commissioned him to write the full-length novel Black Flame. We have since published more than 20 of his works,” Bai says.
Then there was the chance encounter with Han Xu, who was then studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. “We were instantly captivated by her graduation work, Little Red Riding Hood from the Forest, which we published in 2016,” Bai says. “It went on to win numerous awards and was sold to countries such as France, Italy, and Sweden. We then encouraged her to build her own IP, which resulted in the Mr. Octopus series that has sold 500,000 copies and translated into nine languages.”
This year, two special series take the center stage: a unique picture book set on Chinese pioneers in various industries, and the My Moon Exploration Plan series that covers astronomy, mathematics, and physics. “Our publishing program is always a reflection of readers’ needs, current events, and market trends,” Bai says. “It was our recipe for success in the past 35 years and will continue to be so going forward.”
