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Taiwan 2011: Huashan 1914 Creative Park
Sitting on a 4.5-hectare piece of land valued at US$1.3 billion, Huashan 1914 Creative Park is an oasis in the middle of Taipei. A sake distillery during the Japanese occupation, it was built in 1914 and named after the first Japanese governor-general of Taiwan. Rediscovered in 1997, the abandoned premises have gone through several changes, from a venue for experimental performances and galleries for artists to, today, an arts center filled with artists’ studios, galleries, bookshops, installation spaces, performance venues, and dining places.
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Publishing in Taiwan 2011: Government Intervention at Its Best
From promoting the Taipei International Book Exhibition and digital publishing to exploring overseas markets, the Government Information Office has been hard at work supporting publishers, retailers, and other players in Taiwan’s book industry.
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Publishing in Taiwan 2011
Ask any Chinese readers for their impression of books from Taiwan, and most likely they will cite meticulous editing and beautiful covers while reeling off the names of authors of literary gems, romance titles, and martial art novels. Turn to any American or European publisher, and chances are they will mention outstanding picture books with deceptively simple story lines that captivate kids and adults alike. And both sides are right on the money.
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Man Booker Shortlist Announced
Two debut novelists, Stephen Kelman and A.D. Miller, are among the six titles in contention for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. The shortlist is dominated by independent publishers, though not featuring any of the smaller indies who featured on the 13-title long list.
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Selling Abroad: Thrillers Rule In Fiction: International Bestsellers August 2011
Coinciding with his debut in the U.S., Danish bestseller Jussi Adler-Olsen landed in the top spot in Germany in July with Message in a Bottle, while an earlier novel, The Pheasant Killers, jumped to #2 from the seventh spot.
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The Time Has Come for Digital Printing: Printing in Hong Kong 2011
News of CTPS's acquisition of an HP T300 in March—the first in Asia—came as a shock to many in the industry. Although much has been said about the advantages of digital printing in recent years, Hong Kong/China's print industry relies mostly on offset. As such, CTPS's big-ticket investment sparked much speculation, interest, and debates within the industry.
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Amazing Projects: Printing in Hong Kong 2011
As a rule, wow-inducing projects do not come easy. The designer may hatch a fantastic, albeit abstract, idea that would fall flat during the dummy-making stage.
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Aiming for the Next Level of Excellence: Printing in Hong Kong 2011
Consider this: in 2010, imports of printed material and related products from Hong Kong and China to U.S. shores hit $2.397 billion (or nearly 45% of the category total). That is almost back to the pre-crisis level of 1998. Obviously, the outsourcing flow has not ebbed despite fervent calls for made-in-U.S.A. books. Then again, there is the slumping greenback and weak economy. For print suppliers, it is indeed the best of times and the worst of times.
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Looking Back—and Ahead: Printing in Hong Kong 2011
In 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Brothers, Commodore launched the Amiga personal computer, Steve Jobs founded NeXT, and Bill Gates issued the first version of Windows. It was also the year PW launched the first report covering the Asian printing industry, of which you are now holding the 25th annual issue. (In case you wonder about the calculation, we skipped one year at the beginning.)
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Dubai Publisher Makes U.S. Debut
Awakened Press, in Boston, the U.S. publishing division of Dubai's Dar-El Shams Books, just published its first book in the U.S., and the company's first book in English, Rise Up and Salute the Sun. This collection of writings by U.S.-Egyptian writer and filmmaker Suzy Kassem will be released worldwide in the late fall in both English and Egyptian Arabic.
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Selling Abroad: Mysteries and More
Mysteries led the way in new books hitting international bestsellers lists in June, especially in the land of the mystery, Sweden. Criminal defense lawyer and author Jens Lapidus landed at #2 in Sweden last month with the final volume in its Stockholm Noir trilogy, Life Deluxe.
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Global Publishing: Staying Put
With the global economy still struggling to get on a solid footing in 2010, the world’s largest publishers had a mixed performance in the year, although the majority of companies managed to post sales gains in the year.
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Book Exports Had Small Gain in 2010
Book exports rose 1.2% in 2010, to just over $2 billion, according to data compiled by the U.S. Commerce Department, while imports increased 5.8%, to $1.85 billion. Because of federal cutbacks, full-year breakdowns by book category are not yet available, and there is some question as to how the Commerce Department will conduct the statistics program in the future.
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Selling Abroad: Vargas, Lackberg, The Casts
In France, bestselling author Fred Vargas landed at #1 with a new Commissaire Adamsberg mystery, The Furious Army. Penguin will release a paperback edition of an earlier Adamsberg novel, An Uncertain Plan, in the U.S. in October, but has not yet acquired rights to the newest title.
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Just Don't Call Him Stieg... Or Do
In one of the first profiles on Jo Nesbø that appeared recently in the U.S., in April in the Wall Street Journal, the comparison was made right off the bat in the headline. The comparison was to Stieg Larsson, the Swedish crime novelist whose Millennium trilogy became a multimillion-copy bestseller in the States after exploding in Europe. Nesbø may not have much more in common with Larsson than a loose bit of geography and the fact that they write in the same genre—he is certainly not the first bestselling Scandinavian crime writer the publishing industry has tried to slap a "next Stieg Larsson" tag on—but he seems to be getting traction where others have not.
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Auel Hits in Europe
Jean M. Auel's The Land of Painted Caves was the big story on international bestseller lists in April. The book, "30,000 years in the making and 31 years in the writing," according to PW's review, is the sixth and final volume in the Earth's Children series. It landed high on bestseller lists in Europe: #1 in the Netherlands and Sweden, #2 in Spain, #4 in France, #5 in the U.K., and #9 in Germany.
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McClelland & Stewart Starts New Nonfiction Imprint
Canadian publisher McClelland & Stewart is launching a new nonfiction imprint this fall. Signal will showcase books by Canadian and international authors on important issues in politics, religion, culture, history, business and the environment.
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Content Services in India: A Special Report
Our special supplement on content services in India
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Lit Journal ‘APS’ Launches ‘Monkey Business’ in New York
Brooklyn lit journal A Public Space, along with author Roland Kelts and translator Ted Goosen have joined together to help launch Monkey Business: New Voices from Japan, an English-language edition of the Japanese literary magazine founded by prominent translator and professor Motoyuki Shibata. In fact, MB is based on APS and the new English version will offer a selection of cutting edge writing, poetry, manga, and interviews, culled from the Japanese magazine and will launch with a series of trans-cultural events in New York in April and May.
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International Bestsellers: Debuts in France, Spain, Sweden
New fiction on France’s March list included Harlan Coben’s Caught, the first two volumes of Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and Patricia Cornwell’s Port Mortuary. Also debuting was Katarina Mazetti’s The Family Vault, a sequel to the Swedish journalist’s Guy in the Grave Next Door, which sold 450,000 copies in Sweden.
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