Home » Feature » Art and Culture
Children’s book publisher sees bold new era
Print Edition
CHINA’S leading publishing house of children’s books remains optimistic about the future of paper books despite the rise of the e-book market. And it plans to use technology to improve its competitiveness, the publisher said at the ongoing Shanghai Book Fair.
“Paper books and digital books will exist side-by-side for a long-time and sales of both will increase,” said Zhang Qiulin, founder and director of 21st Century Publishing House, the top seller of children’s books in the country.
Founded in 1985 with only 100,000 yuan (US$15,639) in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province, 21st Century Publishing House now ranks first in the children’s book category in terms of sales nationwide, according to the Press and Publication Industry Analysis Report for 2014, released by the State General Administration of Press and Publication, Radio and Television.
The group has launched a cluster of new children’s books including “Geronimo Stilton,” “A Vertical World” and “The Little Era of the Octopus” at the fair. Some have been written by Chinese authors and some are translated from best-selling books in the West.
Zhang attributes the group’s strong sales to the company’s quick upgrade of its technologies and expansion of online sales platforms. It has cooperated with online booksellers Dangdang.com and Amazon.com, and opened its own online store on Tmall.com. Its online stores earned a combined 230 million yuan last year.
The group also uses big data to analyze the reading habits of children to help find books suitable for each customer.
“US President Barack Obama once called big data the ‘new petroleum of the future,’ which in my eyes, is a perfect metaphor,” Zhang said.
The group also has launched a mobile phone app to create a personalized book list for users.
A joint venture with Macmillan Publishing Group has also been established to introduce overseas books such as the “Tuck Everlasting” and “Scrawl” — both made the top 100 books recommended to teenagers by the State General Administration of Press and Publication, Radio and Television in 2014 and 2015.
The 21st Century Publishing House has also been named Best Publishing House in Asia at this year’s Bologna Book Fair.
It’s the first time a company on China’s mainland has won the award.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
