I think most soldiers don’t feel like reading about the army while they’re actually in the army. Plus I don’t think the bases just let anyone in.
Maybe not, but it’s true you have a tremendous ready-made market. Young men who are about to go in, friends and families of current soldiers, and former soldiers. Even current soldiers might get a kick out of it.
Well, maybe. I know before I went in I read books like Chen Wei-min’s “Military Ghost Stories” series and other similar books. But when I was in all I wanted to read was stuff like Tolkien, Asimov and the latest issue of Wired magazine.
The book does seem to be selling pretty well; I’ve seen quite a few places where it’s sold out. Or maybe the stores are just moving it back and telling me they’re sold out; I don’t really know.
yeh, Mr P, be careful, the booksellers propensity to tell a lie and say it’s MAI WAN when it’s really in the basement in a box or already shipped back to the publisher is big here. Maybe you could ask the pretty girl at the counter to look up your book on the instore computer and tell you how many copies they still have in stock. That way, you will find out the truth… did I say truth?
Poagoa, I saw your book on display at the big Eslite on Dunhua, just as it was over two weeks ago, on the far side of the new-stand as you walk in.
On a different topic, you may want to check out the “Canada through Taiwanese Eyes” exhibition at the art museum, seeing you’re into the “mirror project,” as there as 50 odd or so B&W reflection photographs by Yang someone or other on display.
[quote=“Alleycat”]Poagoa, I saw your book on display at the big Eslite on Dunhua, just as it was over two weeks ago, on the far side of the new-stand as you walk in.
[/quote]
someone go and push them a bit - it’s gone. My wife finished the book in one go.
With this SARS thing now hitting the news and taking up all available news space on TV shows and in newspapers, it’s a bad time to be publishing new books. But the timing couldnt be helped. Who couldof known?
Still. my guess is that all 3000 of Paogao’s books will be sold out by December 31… and a second edition will be printed for 2004. Then again, if the entire economy collapses due to SARS, aint nothing gonna matter anymore. Save yr books, they might become collector’s items down the road a bit…
Paogao: question 4 you: any chance of a sequel to this book, has the publisher asked for a second book at all? AND … any luck yet finding an English language publisher for us plebes like me who couldna read Chinese? Or could you put the entire book in English on the website for now, and then if you get a contract for a real English book, then take the free chapters down. In the meantime, we can read it. Deal?
[quote=“formosa”]Still. my guess is that all 3000 of Paogao’s books will be sold out by December 31… and a second edition will be printed for 2004. Then again, if the entire economy collapses due to SARS, aint nothing gonna matter anymore. Save yr books, they might become collector’s items down the road a bit…
Paogao: question 4 you: any chance of a sequel to this book, has the publisher asked for a second book at all? AND … any luck yet finding an English language publisher for us plebes like me who couldna read Chinese? Or could you put the entire book in English on the website for now, and then if you get a contract for a real English book, then take the free chapters down. In the meantime, we can read it. Deal?[/quote]
I went to the “Xin Xue You” bookstore in Nangang today and asked them if they had it. After checking the computer they said that not only were they sold out, all 30-odd Xin Xue You were sold out as well. I don’t know if they’ll order more or not, though. If no-one requests it, they may just not order any more.
No luck yet with the English publishing. I don’t think I want to put it on my website, though. I’d rather publish it myself, like Almas John and Steve Crook did theirs, if I can’t find a publishing company to do it.
I’ve been thinking of a sequel, or rather a prequel, about stuff that happened before the army, but nothing concrete yet. I’ve been busy with this movie I’m filming lately anyway.
The tradition of eating mantou for breakfast comes from the early days of the KMT army in Taiwan. A large proportion of the soldiers from the mainland that “immigrated” from China were from Shandong Province, and mantou (steamed buns) were/are a popular/common food from that region, and thus the tradition of eating mantou started in the Taiwanese military. You’ll find in Taiwan that most places selling mantou are run by people from Shandong.
Poagao, I’ve mentioned your book in most of my classes. More than a few Students seemed very interested, as many of them wrote down the name of the book. You could be getting some word of mouth in similar type situations.
I heard a figure batted around yes by a dude who works in book distribution here, and he said 90% of all books sold are sold in the northern part of Taiwan, and specifically the Greater Taipei area. Period. The rest, 10%, goes to Taichung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung.
Does this make sense to others on this board? That fully 90% of most books sold by bookstores in Taiwan are sold in the Taipei City and suburbs area.
I guess that means the rest of the country is flyover country…
Poagao,
Self-publishing is hard work. I did so because I had been jerked around for 10 months trying to find a publisher. I first tried SMC Publications in Taipei (the outfit that does the historical reprints); they sent it to an American “reader” who disliked it. Fair enough, but his suggestion that I aim for a New Zealand auidence and market it there under the title “A Kiwi does Taiwan” sent me through the roof.
I tried Asia2000 in Hong Kong, but never got as far as sending them a manuscript because they were playing musical chairs with their editors; different personnel every time i contacted them.
Lastly, I tried the Singapore publisher that does Chris Bates’ “Taiwan - Culture Shock” They liked the book but said that I should make each earthquake referred to in the book more exciting than the previous one. Given that I started the book with the 9/21 earthquake, that would have been rather hard.
To cut a long story short, I self-published and used a distributor, “Lai Lai Books” to get it into stores. For the second printing I will let them publish it and I’ll just pick up royalties. I get NT$30/per book.
Yes, Formosa, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a book store in a small town. I, in my travels here, have not seen too many, in fact, none at all.
Poagoa, I have an angle for the English version of your book.
Have you considered publishing it for the EFL market, here in Taiwan, or even worldwide? I thought of this tonight as I was looking over a cartoon novel (for ESL/EFL students) called “Where’s Taro?” It’s about a Japanese boy who gets lost in New York on his first day of school. The story is okay but it touches on a lot of common experiences second language students around the world share.
And then I thought that your book touches on these experiences in a much more dramatic and interesting way. While your experience joining the army is unique in details, many of the themes would be shared by anyone’s story of trying to adapt to another culture and language. It’s “foreigner expeiences a different culture” with that special twist that makes a story stand out from the crowd. It’s universal, yet individuated.
As you may or may not know the EFL market worldwide is enormous. Even in Taiwan it is huge. If you wrote for the senior high/university level the interest could be quite substantial here on the island.
If you’re interested in this idea you can pm me or post on this forum so others can give their suggestions. I don’t know if you have any teaching experience but there are more than enough people you could partner up with on this type of project (no not me).
Anyway, what do you think?
I’d rather not, not only because the English and Chinese versions are different in many ways, but also because it would mean a lot more work to create such a version.
Cute wording, Poagao. But we all know that what you really mean is that you’d have to take out all the dirty bits. 
Ok, you caught me. 
Such as the part that deals with the mass slaughter of diseased hogs? 
(really quite traumatizing to read as it recalls Upton Sinclair’s verbal picture of a Chicagoan packing house)
Would there be a market in the States ? I’m sure weirder and worse books have been published, and there is Taiwanese market there, and there must be some people interested in Chinese/Taiwanese culture…
Then we can import it 
[quote=“matthewh”]Would there be a market in the States ? I’m sure weirder and worse books have been published, and there is Taiwanese market there, and there must be some people interested in Chinese/Taiwanese culture…
Then we can import it 
[/quote]
Well, that’s the big question, innit? Is anyone in the states or elsewhere even remotely interested in what happens in Taiwan? Other than isolated pockets here and there, I mean.
I remember being quite disgusted when I read The Jungle in junior high school, but I think actually doing it myself was even less fun, if you can imagine something being even less fun than junior high school.