Taiwan Today

Taiwan’s publishers continue to turn out a surprising variety of foreign-language books.

A few decades ago, well before Taiwan had developed as a tourist destination, the island was a dream destination for bargain-hunting bibliophiles from English-speaking countries.

Phil Briggs, an Australian accountant who worked in Hong Kong between 1982 and 1994, describes how several of his business trips to Taiwan ended: “As soon I’d wrapped up my meetings, I’d head to the city’s booksellers and start browsing. One time, I took 26 kilograms of books back to Hong Kong with me. Taipei back then was especially good for dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference books.”

“I knew that, in many cases, these books were being reproduced without the publishers’ or authors’ permission. At the time, I did see the irony of doing something which, while not breaking local law, wasn’t exactly in keeping with the spirit of my profession,” adds Briggs, who is now retired.

Many of the businesses that published foreign-language books in that era have long since disappeared. One that continues to thrive is Bookman Books Co. Ltd. The Taipei-based company now has around 60 full-time employees, as well as bookstores in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung. Since its founding in 1977, it has put out approximately 2,000 titles, with almost one in 10 published in English.

“Before 1987, we did local reprints of US and UK publications with or without permission of the original publishers,” says Jerome Su, Bookman’s chairman. “According to the ROC’s copyright law of that time, any foreign works not registered with the copyright office here in Taiwan were deemed to be in the public domain, and therefore could be legally reprinted to facilitate education and spread knowledge,” Su explains.

Although book reproduction of the kind witnessed by Briggs has been almost totally eradicated in Taiwan, local publishers continue to produce a surprising variety of books in foreign languages. According to the English-language Publishing in China: An Essential Guide released by Thomson Learning in 2004, around one-quarter of the titles published in Taiwan are in languages other than Chinese, with English (19 percent) and Japanese (5.8 percent) dominating. On the face of it, the 24.8-percent figure is astonishing; few Taiwan bookstores stock more than a handful of items in languages other than Chinese. However, if one adds up books produced locally and aimed at ROC citizens studying English, titles put out by educational bodies such as Taiwan’s foremost academic and research institute Academia Sinica, and publications issued by official agencies such as the Government Information Office (the publisher of Taiwan Review), the tally becomes believable.

Even though Taiwan’s economy and society are much more internationalized now than in the past, demand for books in languages other than Chinese—with the exception of educational materials aimed at Taiwanese people studying English—seems not to have grown much since the 1980s. There are at least two reasons for this. According to industry figures, domestic publishers are adept at taking overseas bestsellers and producing fully legal local editions translated into the traditional Chinese characters preferred by Taiwanese readers. Also, local people, the young in particular, now turn to magazines and the Internet when seeking up-to-date information from other countries.

Bradley Winterton, a freelance writer who has been reviewing books for the last 10 years for the Taipei Times, a local English-language newspaper, points out that people who write about the ROC in languages other than Chinese get their work published in all corners of the globe. “Only a minority publish here in Taiwan itself. Some are academics published by university presses, which don’t need to show a profit,” says Winterton, himself the author or co-author of five books. “Some believe, probably rightly, that a book published in the US, albeit by a small press, will do better than one published in English in Taiwan.”

According to Winterton, the most important publisher of modern Taiwanese literature translated into English is located not in Taiwan but in New York City. “Columbia University Press’s Modern Chinese Literature from Taiwan series now contains most of the classics in the field,” he says. In fact, several Columbia University Press titles have been subsidized by Taiwan’s Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA). Since 1990, the CCA has offered grants of up to NT$600,000 (US$19,400) per volume to cover translation costs, royalties and printing expenses. According to the CCA’s website, this is being done to “improve the international image and visibility of Taiwan.”

Nevertheless, local publishers are aware that Taiwan is a small market for foreign-language publications. “The market [in Taiwan for English-language books] is very limited. Most of our English-language books are textbooks, with only a few being for general foreign readers,” Bookman’s Jerome Su says. “We currently publish about 80 titles per year. Ten percent are in English; the rest are in Chinese.”

The market for books in other European languages is even smaller. “To date we’ve published fewer than 10 titles in languages other than English and Chinese, among them several Spanish classics in Spanish-Chinese bilingual editions, an English-Chinese-Italian trilingual edition of Selected Italian Poems, and a couple of French works in bilingual form,” Su says.

Le Pigeonnier, the only bookstore in Taiwan to specialize in French-language books, was founded in 1987. “In the early days, we published postcards featuring the scenery, culture, and people of Taiwan. We were and continue to be the general agent of Réunion des Musées Nationaux (France’s National Association of Museums),” says Angélique Lin, one of Le Pigeonnier’s six full-time employees. Le Pigeonnier has produced just 21 titles since its establishment. “We don’t publish books every year, and to date we’ve published one that has no text, one that’s in English, four in French, six in Chinese and nine that are bilingual, French and Chinese,” Lin says.

One of the four French-language titles is Christophe Rouil’s Formose, des batailles presque oubliées, which translates as Formosa, the almost forgotten battles, published in 2001. The history book looks into the French military occupation of Keelung and the Penghu Islands in 1884 and 1885. Le Pigeonnier staff say their bookstore draws not only Taipei residents who hail from Francophone countries and Taiwanese people interested in French language and culture, but also visitors from Hong Kong, Malaysia and other places who do not have access to any similar bookstores.

Chasing Profits

Making a profit from non-Chinese books is not easy, Jerome Su confirms. His company’s print runs are normally less than 1,000 copies, and some titles are subsidized by private foundations or government agencies, he says. “If we do get support, it’s usually from the National Institute for Compilation and Translation (NICT),” he adds. The NICT is a government-funded unit that translates academic and cultural works as well as textbooks.

Works of fiction do not sell any better than academic titles, it seems. “My book sold around 700 copies, I believe, the great majority in Taiwan,” says Eric Mader-Lin, author of A Taipei Mutt, an English-language comic novel produced by Cheng Shang Publishing House in 2002. Asked how a foreign-language book published in Taiwan can reach readers outside the island, Mader-Lin responds: “I think it’s a matter of getting a distributor for the book in question. My book ended up with some limited circulation in the US through a distributor that mainly introduces English translations of Japanese works.”

Ben Chih-pin Wei, editor of SMC Publishing Inc., is unwilling to say what proportion of SMC’s turnover is accounted for by foreign-language books. Instead, he explains the company’s credo. “We do not value a book by its market value or face value. We look for the true value of a work and present it to readers. In terms of sales, the books we’ve published are definitely not very lucrative,” Wei says. He goes on to say that “economic profitability is merely a measure so we can balance our business operations. It’s not our ultimate goal.”

“Really, we concern ourselves with what we present to the world and our readers, and what we can do for this society, and for culture and education,” he explains. “In the beginning, SMC only published books about art, Sinology and Chinese medicine. Later, we shifted our focus to Taiwan because we’d like to present different perspectives of Taiwan.”

“Taiwan is in a very complicated position, in terms of geography, history, international relations, economics and society. English-language publications are necessary if we are to present the uniqueness of Taiwan,” Wei says. Most of the company’s titles are in Chinese, but as Wei explains, SMC also “publishes works in Spanish, Japanese, Tibetan, French, Dutch and German. Due to Taiwan’s unique geographical position, it has historical connections with Spain, the Netherlands, mainland China, Japan, France, the United States and other countries.”

Among Western expatriates in Taiwan, SMC—also known as the Southern Materials Center—is best known for reprinting foreign-language books about the island that first appeared in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, such as From Far Formosa: The Island, its People and Missions (1896) and Pioneering in Formosa: Recollections of adventures among mandarins, wreckers, and head-hunting savages (1898). The latter was written by W.A. Pickering, a British customs official and businessman who lived in Taiwan from 1863 to 1870. The author of the former was George L. Mackay (1844–1901), perhaps the best-known Christian missionary in Taiwan’s history.

Wei points out that when people visit online bookstores, “the first things to pop up are always the best-selling books. However, if we think about the mission of a true publisher, [we should ask ourselves] what should we publish for?”

Contributing to the Industry

Wei’s father, Wei Te-wen, founded the company in 1976. The elder Wei has won awards for his contributions to Taiwan’s publishing industry and for his avid collecting of maps, photographs, documents and other materials relating to the island. He has also been commissioned by the US Library of Congress to purchase Taiwan-related books on their behalf. Like Bookman Books and Le Pigeonnier, SMC has its own retail outlet—a bookstore near National Taiwan University. SMC’s books enjoy worldwide distribution through specialist partners overseas such as Cheng & Tsui Company, Inc. in the United States, Asia Bookroom in Australia, Hanshan Tang Books Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Librairie le Phénix in France.

Most of the companies that publish foreign-language books in Taiwan were founded by Taiwanese. An exception is Taichung-based The Creative Group, which came into being in June 2010, and its imprint, Wilsen Publishing. “The main mission of Wilsen Publishing is to make books that offer knowledge and ideas in a fresh, creative and fun manner. We want to make books that people read and use right now,” says Jenny Wilsen, the American owner and founder of The Creative Group. “We’re branching out in two directions: to the right are reference books on Taiwan for travelers and foreign residents; to the left are books to improve English ability through games, drills, puzzles, and practice tests,” the Florida native says.

Wilsen’s first offering in the former category will be The Foreigner’s Almanac, which she calls “a guidebook of sorts for Western residents of Taiwan.” It is due to be published early this year. “This will be closely followed by a title on adventure and nature travel in Taiwan,” Wilsen says. “Print runs are expected to be near 1,000.” Wilsen worked in publishing in the United States for nearly a decade before relocating to Taiwan in 2008.

“‘Why Taiwan?’ is a question I get asked fairly often,” she says. “I like to respond, ‘Why not?’ but that’s not the whole story. I like how people here readily try out new products, and how most people here crave learning new skills and abilities. Taiwan is the perfect environment for these kinds of books,” she says, adding, “I’m also starting my company here because I enjoy living in Taiwan.”

“The size of Taiwan is also a plus. Being relatively compact, it’s much more manageable for a start-up like mine than the US,” she explains.

Wilsen says she plans to expand slowly and steadily. “Currently, my efforts are focused on the domestic market, but I hope to expand to selling in the US and beyond in the coming years,” she says. “Most of the books will be primarily English. I plan to cater to the English-speaking and reading market in Taiwan.”

Conditions in Taiwan are conducive to private publishing and self-publishing, remarks one long-term foreign resident. “Taiwanese printing companies are incredibly flexible and fast, and surprisingly inexpensive considering the high quality of their products,” says John Ross, author of Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan Past and Present. Published by Taiwan Adventure Press in 2002, the book is an account of his travels in Taiwan and his take on the island’s history. “They are perfect for someone looking to self-publish as they’re happy to handle print runs as small as 500 books, and they can actually do a lot of publishing tasks in-house such as formatting the book, handling the artwork, applying for the ISBN and so on,” adds Ross, a New Zealander who has also written more than a dozen textbooks for learning English as a second language.

Some of the organizations that publish books in Taiwan in foreign languages do not expect to make a profit. Several government agencies, such as the Forestry Bureau, issue small quantities of lavishly produced English-language booklets that showcase particular aspects of the country. Bradley Winterton praises the Taipei City Government’s publishing arm. “It issues many titles in English related to the city, and its publications are far from being [just] the tourist brochures on a grand scale you might expect,” he says. The Cabinet-level Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, which is in charge of government efforts to build an English-language living environment and make life for foreign residents more convenient, issued the third edition of its Handy Guide for Foreigners in November 2010.

Taiwan’s Buddhist organizations engage in religious and charity work in several countries, so it is no surprise that they also distribute books internationally. In late 2010, Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), one of Taiwan’s leading Buddhist organizations, began offering free electronic versions of books that can be read online or downloaded from the Internet. By offering virtual books rather than paper-and-ink volumes, DDM can reach out to more people, cut costs and also protect the environment, says Ven. Chang-wu, who works in the special projects section of the DDM Cultural Center in Taipei City. At present, the e-books are available in English and Chinese.

The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, another Buddhist association, is taking a more traditional approach. It prints books in numerous languages, including English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, Thai and Indonesian. The books are sold wherever Tzu Chi is active. “Our content focuses on the teachings of [Tzu Chi founder] Master Cheng Yen. These are called ‘Jing Si Aphorisms,’” says Tracy Wu, an editor at Jing Si Publications Co., Ltd., Tzu Chi’s publishing arm. These titles, which are all printed in Taiwan, are sold at a fixed price. Unlike DDM, Tzu Chi does not offer free downloads, but as Wu points out, “You can find all those aphorisms on the Internet for free.”

Local foreign-language books may not be easy to find in Taiwan, but this is as much a reflection of the sheer number of Chinese-language volumes produced on the island as it is of the small prints runs and limited distribution that characterize foreign-language publishing efforts. “Taiwan publishes more books in Chinese than anywhere else in the world, as well as hosting Asia’s biggest annual book fair,” Bradley Winterton says. “For such a high-tech society, books remain remarkably popular. Books published in English are naturally only a drop in the ocean but, when the ocean is this big, the drop is often not insignificant.”

Steven Crook is the author of Taiwan: The Bradt Travel Guide.

Copyright © 2011 by Steven Crook