Sales that speak volumes

J.K. Rowling tops the latest list of best-selling foreign authors in China. Mei Jia reports that this market is growing.

Anew foreign writers' "richest list" documents Chinese readers' preferences and also offers clues to foreign writers and publishers about what kinds of titles grab the attention of readers in this huge market.

"Chinese readers buy what they love to read," says Wu Huaiyao, who produces the list based on royalties generated from the sale of authorized Chinese editions of the books.

"World best-sellers, biographies and books for and about children are the three categories that are most popular in China," Wu says.

It's the third year Wu has released a "richest list" of foreign writers and top-selling titles, calculating the writers' copyright gains in the country. He has also released a similar Chinese authors' list.

A former finance reporter, Wu has been compiling the lists for seven years to promote the idea that writing can make one rich in the country. He now runs his own workshop in Shanghai to publish and support budding writers.

"I started the list for foreign writers in 2010 because I noticed their works hold a large portion of market share in the country's book business," Wu says. "And I wanted to find out why."

J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter series' creator, topped the 2010 list and again tops 2012's 15 foreign writers with $2.4 million in sales. In 2011, she was surpassed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his first authorized Chinese version of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

"The lists reveal the fact that the majority of readers in the country are children and teenagers," Wu says. But Rowling's new adult novel The Casual Vacancy is still popular among Chinese readers.

Wu says the younger generation of Chinese parents thinks highly of education and reading, so they're willing to spend on books for their children and on books that teach them how to educate.

In the cases of Rowling and Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, books that are best-sellers globally are also popular in China's market, with proper marketing strategies, Wu says.

He also believes Chinese readers love biographies, especially about people who changed many lives, such as Apple founder Steve Jobs. Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson is listed second richest this year.

Book critic Zhi An notices five Japanese writers listed among the top 15 foreign writers.

Although many Western writers enjoy good sales, Zhi says, "Chinese readers feel they're closer to Japanese literature and culture".

"Detective stories, serious literature and children books are what Chinese readers like to read from Japanese writers," he adds.

"Fairytale King" Zheng Yuanjie, Nobel laureate Mo Yan and children's literature writer Yang Hongying are on top of the 2012 Chinese Writers' Rich List.

Wu says he hopes that by publishing the two lists together, when foreign publishers notice the foreign writers' list, they'll get to know more about the Chinese writers, too.

"The foreign publishers and readers might know Mo Yan.

"And then they can move on to get better knowledge of the other Chinese writers," he says.

Contact the writer at meijia@chinadaily.com.cn.