Jimmy Liao, and Children's Books in Taiwan

me, Jimmy Liao, and Locus Editor-in-Chief Levin Liao (no relation)

Well, I got back from my family reunion vacation to Taiwan last week, and although it was not as relaxing as I hoped it would be, I enjoyed my time there. One of the highlights of my trip, was on my last full day there where I had the opportunity to meet author/illustrator Jimmy Liao (Sound of Colors) for the first time (I wrote about the acquisition of this book here).

I had arranged the meeting with Levin Liao, the Editor-in-chief of Locus Publishing, Jimmy's main Taiwan publisher. I had met Levin when he and his colleagues were in the states a few years ago on business, and since I was going to be in Taipei for a few days at the end of our Taiwan tour, I jumped at the chance to meet with the both of them. My parents were eager to meet Jimmy as well, and so I arranged for them to come along, which was a good thing because they helped serve as the translators between my rusty Mandarin and Jimmy and Levin's halting English.

We were having coffee at Joyce Cafe, and when my parents and I walked in, I saw Jimmy already seated at a table--although I had never met him, I recognized him from his author photos. He was an adorable man, and when I walked towards him he jumped to his feet to greet us, all smiles. I felt awkward at first, and it was frustrating not to be able to communicate fluently and say everything I wanted to say, but it was still a lovely time. We talked about children's publishing in Taiwan, and I commented that when I went to a bookstore a few days before, I was surprised that there were so many American picture books there, in English, not translated. I saw very few picture books of what seemed to be original Taiwanese books. Jimmy and Levin confirmed that this was in fact the case, and that most of the children's books (picture books, at least) in Taiwan were supposed to teach children English. I guess this also explained why, when I went to the Jimmy Liao section in the store (yes, he has a whole section! About three shelves-full) I found so many copies of out edition shelved there!

I was surprised because our edition is different and very much abridged (80 pages to their 128 pages), and if you could choose between the original book in you native language and a shorter book in English, wouldn't you choose the original?

Jimmy also said that most Taiwanese kids liked more cartoony art, and as Japanese manga. He said even his own daughter (who is now 10) was not a fan of his art. As a side note, very few of Jimmy's books are actually children's books--most of them, including Sound of Colors, were created for the adult audience.

The state of children's books in Taiwan shouldn't have been surprising to me. When I was a senior in college, I wrote my senior honors thesis comparing English-language picture books with Chinese-language books, and one of the main thing I discovered is that most of the Chinese-language books seemed intent on teaching something. For example, there was a whole picture book about automatic/electric doors (elevators, stores, etc.) and why you should be careful around them!

I'm glad that they have our books available over there--including a few of Grace's books!

One is a Drummer, Fortune Cookie Fortunes, and I think Kite Flying was tucked in there somewhere.

But at the same time, I'm sad that there aren't more that originate from Taiwan. As has been my experience growing up in the States without many Asian-American characters in the books I was reading, I would think that at least for a child growing up in an Asian country that would not be the case. At least they're seeing Asian role models on television and in movies, and of course in at least some books, but how strange to think that many of the Asian characters in the picture books they were reading were from the States.

On a somewhat related note, as I commented on my personal blog, many Taiwanese (and other Asians) consider it more beautiful to have whiter/paler skin. My aunt who lives in Taiwan, upon seeing me, commented that I was paler this time than I was when I lived there nine years ago, and therefore prettier (and, of course, why wasn't I married?!). I think many of you who have traveled to Asia can attest that there are many skin-whitener products over there. Ironic that while some cultures try to have whiter skin, so many people here try for darker skin by artificial tanners and tanning salons. I guess people will always try to be something they're not.

Do you remember your second?

"The work of Liao, a beloved Taiwanese cartoonist, offers a meditation on blindness that will stay with readers long after they have closed the paper-over-board book."--Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

I'll always remember my first, and I'll always remember my second, too. After that things get fuzzy.

My second book acquisition, back when I was still an assistant editor, was The Sound of Colors by Jimmy Liao. This book was unlike anything we had ever published, and it took a long time for us to figure out how to publish it the right way, which is why, even though it was acquired back in early 2003, it didn't come out until March of this year. I meant to write about this back then but never got around to it, and since I was casting around for a topic to write about today, I thought I'd take the opportunity.

Sound of Colors was originally published in Taiwan as a 128-page graphic novel for the adult market. Jimmy Liao is somewhat of a superstar in Asia, and his books have been made into major motion pictures (Wong Kar-Wai!), plays, and all kinds of licensed materials (bookmarks, toys, mugs, snowglobes, etc.). But he was virtually unknown here in the states, with just one book published in English, A Chance of Sunshine published by a graphic novel publisher for the adult audience.

The agent thought that Sound of Colors would make a wonderful children's book, and gave the original Taiwanese edition to my boss to review. My boss, knowing that my family is from Taiwan, passed it on to me to review. This was right during the crazy time after our move to New York, so submissions were the last thing I was concerned about. I glanced through it quickly and loved the illustrations which I thought were similar to one of my favorite illustrators, Peter Sis. But because of its length, I didn't think it would be something we could publish on our list, and so I added it to my reading pile to deal with later. Eventually the agent called to tell us that there was an offer on the table from another publisher. So I sat down with the book and took a closer look. And...wow! I was mesmerized by the illustrations, page after page. I read the rough translation the agent had supplied, which didn't seem quite accurate, and also didn't really make sense, but it was haunting, and melancholy, and beautiful. It was about a young blind girl dealing with her recent disability. She travels through the subway system with her little white dog, and each stop is a different and magical world. She lies on the back of a whale, swims with the dolphins, flies in the air like a bird, and even travels to the end of the world. I knew I had to publish this book, and so I wrote a long memo to my boss about why I loved the book and why we should sign it up.

The next day my boss brought the book and my memo back to me and said, "I'm not going to say no, but you're going to have to figure out how to publish this. Show me your vision for this book, and then we'll see about bringing it to pub comm." I said okay, and got to work.

I spent hours color copying the entire book, then deciding which spreads to keep. I had permission from the agent to cut the book down to 96 pages, so I chose the images carefully--it was so hard, though, because I loved every illustration. I rewrote the text myself (not very well, but good enough for now), cut it out, and taped it to the color copies. When I was satisfied, I showed it to my boss who gave her approval to bring it to our acquisition meeting, but I could tell she was skeptical about its chances. This was to be my first of many attempts to use pure passion to get a project passed.

I spent hours...days, even, on the proposal. Writing the cover letter, honing the text, making copies, writing and practicing my presentation, getting costs and running different P&Ls (profit and loss). Well, I needn't drag out the suspense, since obviously you know we published the book. Everyone loved it, knew it would be a risk, but wanted to publish it anyway. One of our Sales managers, who is now a Sales Director, went absolutely crazy over the book, and she had just been looking at a black and white copy.

As I mentioned earlier, it took a long time to figure out how to do it right. We needed to figure out the production costs--how to publish this long, full-color illustrated book in hardcover, and be able to charge less than $17 so that it could go on the picture book wall. We finally settled on an 80-page, paper-over-board book. We hired an adapter to help choose the illustrations and shape the text and make it sing poetically in English, and also make it appropriate for the picture book audience while retaining the tone and message of the original. Sarah L. Thomson did a wonderful job, and I think this book is just as much hers as anyone's. Credit also goes to the designers: art director Alyssa Morris, and the freelance designer, Sue Dennen (who used to work in our Boston office).

I am incredibly proud of this book, partially because it was such a challenge. And I'm even more thrilled that we've gotten such a great response to it: a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, a Book Sense pick, and a Borders Original Voices nominee. And perhaps best of all, it received a glowing review from Fuse#8, before I knew who Fuse#8 was! (I first read her review on Amazon.com, and it wasn't until a month or so ago that I connected the two.) It's doing quite well, and is in its second printing. We've signed up two more books, with The Blue Stone set to come out in Spring 2008.

One of my favorite things about this book is that it works on so many levels. Young children will just delight in poring over the illustrations. Older children will understand that this is about a young girl overcoming her disability. And adults will have their own interpretations. There are so many layers to the work.

I hope you guys don't mind that I occasionally write about the books I edit. I enjoy telling the behind-the-scenes stories, and want to help introduce the books to the world. And so hey--if this inspires you to go out and buy the book, I'm not gonna stop you! You won't regret it. As I said in the back cover copy on the book, "Jimmy Liao celebrates the power of the human spirit. This is a moving, magical journey readers won't soon forget."