Chinese books harder to sell than spring rolls
- Source: Global Times
- [21:40 October 28 2009]
- Comments
One Chinese publishing company in San Francisco went bankrupt. Evergreen Bookstore in Los Angeles, which has a long history, was also sold three years ago. The new boss, who is a physician, is running the bookstore as a hobby, not as a business.
In the overseas Chinese community, Evergreen Bookstore won its fame by leasing its space for events, including exhibitions and seminars.
A friend of the bookstore's manager told me that only selling books was not enough. Sometimes she helped the manager deal with businesses and look after the store. Once she asked her son to cover her shift. In the evening, her son complained that not a single book had been sold and she had to pay her son the day's salary out of her own pocket.
Chinese books, audio and video products seem to be in great demand overseas because of "China Fever." But Chinese books are not as lucky as Chinese food, which many enjoy.
They are for Chinese immigrants and foreigners who love Chinese culture. It is difficult to achieve success within a limited market.
Although the population of Chinese immigrants is large, those who love reading are only a small proportion. And people can buy books when they return to China.
The globalization of Chinese books should not be limited to the scope of Chinese immigrants. We need to further study foreigners' reading habits and demands. To sell books only based on our own imagination and tastes will prove a dead end.
An American-born writer and poet at the University of California, Los Angeles, told me that it is quite difficult to publish works for Asian Americans. Mainstream society shows little interest in what Asians think.
Hollywood magazines would rather publish a superficial article on Chinese female movie star Zhang Ziyi than deeply explore the world of male Asian directors.
Which kind of Chinese books might be popular in overseas markets? In Arcadia, a city in the metropolitan Los Angeles area where I live, there are about 18, 000 Chinese immigrants, accounting for over one-third of the city's population. But the city's library has only a small quantity of Chinese books.
Many books by Chinese writers have been translated into English. But their books are limited to institutes and university libraries. They rarely appear in community libraries, not to mention bookstores.
Chinese publishers need to look for targeted US markets, and seek cooperation opportunities with US distributors.
Let's take the example of Chinese food again. Beijing Quan Ju De Roast Duck failed in foreign markets when it was launched a few years ago. It targeted Chinese consumers, but most of them found it too expensive, and mainstream Americans weren't attracted to a new dish.
The globalization of Chinese culture and Chinese books cannot simply depend on cultural exhibitions.
We should also learn from the lesson of Quan Ju De Roast Duck, and carry out careful market research to determine the right US markets.
Building a real audience for Chinese books in the US will take much more efforts to sell spring rolls.
The author is a US-based journalist
