Beijing Review

http://www.bjreview.com APRIL 20, 2017 BEIJING REVIEW 43

CULTURE

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

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Fiberead shot into prominence when its
Chinese version of Sugar & Spice by British
author Saffina Desforges, a psycho-thriller
based on the life and crimes of a British serial
killer, became a bestseller on Amazonís Chinese
Kindle e-booklist in 2014. Till now Fiberead has
produced more than 400 titles, and has about
1,000 registered foreign authors and 10,000
translators.
Runa Jiang, co-founder of Fiberead, told
Beijing Review that they are also considering ex-
panding business by translating Chinese books
into foreign languages so as to enable Chinese
literature to go global.

The Chinese experience

ìMy experience has been that Chinese transla-
tors are very open-minded and accurate and
very keen to get the work technically correct,î
Ferran said. ìI take my hat off to them!î
Dong Yang, who translated Too Bright the
Sun into Chinese, became a fan while reading
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as the concept about the universe is so large,î
Dong said. ìIt can also capture the hearts of arts

students like myself because the protagonistís

emotions are described so exquisitely.î

Ferran said the reason he chose China

as a place to publish his books was because

he wanted them to reach as many people as

possible. He hopes to inspire people to think

that they can make a difference to the world.

If they should go out and try, he would find it

rewarding.

ìI can see from my Chinese reviews that

Chinese get it when they read my books. I have

never had the same strength of feeling from

the United States or Europe,î he said. ìI donít

know why this should be, but I am very grateful

for the opportunity to interact with a culture

that so understands what I am trying to do.î

To get more feedback from Chinese

readers, Ferran, who has a large number of fol-

lowers on Facebook and knows the power of

social media, has set foot on Sina Weibo, the

Twitter-like Chinese microblogging platform. He

discovered Weibo when he wanted to promote

his first book translated into Chinese, Ordo

Lupus and the Temple Gate. Although restricted

by the language barrier, he still has Weibo fol-

lowers who can understand him and want to

interact with him.

ìI love using Weibo because the Chinese

are so friendly,î he said. ìI would like to set up

discussion groups for my friends there.î

The total volume of Chinaís business-to-

consumer publication market in the fourth

quarter of 2016 alone reached 6.29 billion yuan

($913 million). It was an 18.5-percent increase

year on year, according to Analysys, a Chinese

Internet big data analysis and service provider.

With the countryís online publication sector ex-

panding fast, the vast Chinese market appeals

to foreign writers.

Virtual interactions are, of course, not

enough and Ferran plans to have an adventure

in China. Like many other foreigners in the

country, he is planning to teach English in the

near future.

ìI havenít yet set a book in China, but I

would like to do so if I get the chance to visit

and learn more,î Ferran said. ìI would be happy

to live among people that understand my work

so well.î Q

People enjoy reading at a bookstore in Shenyang, northeast Chinaís Liaoning Province, on August 18, 2016

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