By Liu Meng

Rao Xueman's Li Ge

The lines between print and film are increasingly being blurred in China, where children’s authors are incorporating photos, movies and other media into their books more and more.

Youth writer Rao Xueman is one of the pioneers of this growing genre.

“My stories mostly depict real life in school. Cartoon figures are not suitable for the style of the stories, so I got the idea to invite real people for the accompanying images in my book,” says Rao.

But for Rao, there is more to it. The appearance of books bundled with DVDs or VCDs on the book market proves that the advantage of incorporating less-traditional media styles is not confined simply to illustrations.

Rao wants to include more encompassing visual and sound effects to give her story life, which opens the door to movies and other media.

According to Rao, influenced by the popularity of electronic media, today’s young readers are unsatisfied with reading word by word. Pictures, music and video can not only provide enjoyment but also help readers further understand her works. Rao’s Left Ear, a two-volume edition, has been compacted into a short TV play which is also bundled with her book and is for sale alongside.

“Nice music and vivid characters help young readers to appreciate story’s implied meanings,” Rao explains.

To draw the attention of readers, popular stars are even invited to make appearances. Zhang Yihan, a well-known TV actress and Yi Hui, a past winner of Hunan TV’s Super Girl show, have both appeared in Rao’s video products.

In Feburary, 2008, Li Ge, another novel by Rao, was made into music video. The film was directed by Han Han, a celebrated writer born in the 1980s, while the video’s soundtrack was composed by popular singer Hu Ge.

In the competitive book market, making one’s work stand out is becoming more and more important, especially in an era when new media is increasingly challenging traditional print media.

While Rao is the first to try incorporating such media in her works, she is not the only one. Many writers are considering taking advantage of the new media to promote the sale of their books.

Guigui, another youth author also adopts photographic media in her novel Goodbye, Ferris Wheel. The book’s illustrations feature models wearing fantastic clothes and exaggerated expressions, similar to the anime characters that are familiar to many readers.

Lu Jinbo, a well-known publisher in China, thought that such hybrid books are not practical for all authors, as only those writers whose books have considerable circulation can afford such additional features. For Rao, it is the successful circulation of her book that brings her confidence.

“It costs me RMB 60,000 or so to shoot the book cover and inset pictures. A circulation below 100,000 makes me no profit. Until March, my three-volume novel Sandglass has got a circulation of 1,800,000,” Rao says.

In today’s book market segmented along age, gender and other categories such as income, whether these hybrid books will become a major trend is still a question. Some publishers believe that such books only caters to young readers and is not suitable for other groups of readers.

“Whatever becomes mainstream depends on the market demand. Only if desired by most reader groups will this form dominate the market,” says Jin Lihong, deputy editor of Changjiang Press Group Beijing Book Center.