Carnival of Books
Book fairs showcase new trends in the publishing industry
At the 25th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), a copyright export signing ceremony took place on August 22, where it was agreed that the book Classics in Rhythm and Rhyme for Children would be translated into seven languages.
The New World Press (NWP), a subsidiary of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), and People’s Literature Publishing House (PLPH) cohosted the event, where NWP signed contracts with publishing houses in Russia, South Korea, India, Poland and Albania.
The book will have a new title, Classics in Rhythm and Rhyme: The Beauty of Chinese Poetry, after being translated into Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Korean, Hindi, Polish and Albanian.
Published by PLPH in May, the book incorporates 30 poems from a China Central Television show that aired from February to April, which invited primarily famous singers and actors to sing ancient poems in the form of popular music. Another 10 poems not included in the show were added to the book along with explanations.
New technology is also employed, as readers can scan a QR code in the book to listen to recordings of popular song versions of the poems as well as the poems read in standard Chinese. Moreover, augmented reality technology is used so that readers can watch clips of the show by scanning photos in the book.
Going global
Zang Yongqing, President of PLPH, said that selling the copyright to Classics in Rhythm and Rhyme for Children overseas marks a successful attempt at collaboration between NWP and PLPH. He said that in the future he hopes that the two publish- ing houses can work together to promote the release of more titles in the Classics in Rhythm and Rhyme series abroad in order to spread traditional Chinese culture.
Thanks to NWP’S overseas cooperative partnerships built over the years, it managed to sell the copyright to the translation of the book into seven foreign languages in one month, according to NWP President Li Chunkai.
The project is only one example of CIPG’S efforts toward internationalization. The media giant presented over 2,000 book titles in more than 40 languages at this year’s BIBF which ran from August 22 to 26. The books on display covered a wide range of topics including Chinese leaders’ works, literature, traditional culture and China’s reform and opening-up achievements.
Another CIPG subsidiary, the Foreign Languages Press (FLP), signed contracts with publishing houses from six countries, namely, Spain, Albania, Sri Lanka, India, Singapore and Poland, to publish some installments of the Understanding China series.
Published by the FLP and written by renowned scholars from both China and abroad, the Understanding China series focuses on China’s ongoing historical transformation and national rejuvenation and explains the secret behind China’s social and economic progress.
In addition to CIPG, a number of other publishing houses also eyed internationalization at the book fair. For instance, the Commercial Press sold the copyright to its Xinhua Dictionary to Georgia.
The BIBF has become one of the three largest copyright trading platforms along with the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair.
This year’s BIBF attracted the participation of 93 countries and regions, with Panama, Venezuela, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon taking part in the event for the first time. Over 2,500 publishing houses participated in the fair, with 1,520 from