Kevin Sullivan and how publishing works in China

I was walking in search of the English language bookstore yesterday and happened upon this:



Kevin Sullivan (best Canadian distance runner, trained in Ann Arbor for a long time and went to U of Mich. for the un-running knowledgable) is famous here?! No...

Big scandal in the office today: all the doors are locked and we have to use ID cards because two "suspicious" characters have been walking around the reception area and the bottom floor but have not gone upstairs. "They are maybe stealing something from the company!" says Denmark, the fun receptionist.

In China, publishers apply for approval from the government. I'm sure most of the approvals are a result of guanxi (Party connections). Once approved, publishers can produce as many publications as they want or can afford to. Our publisher is Ismay, and they publish the magazine I work for and a Chinese language newspaper. They're trying to launch another newspaper right now, too. If foreign publications want to sell in China, it's much easier and faster for them to partner with an already-approved Chinese publisher. This is what Rolling Stone tried to do in 2005 but were shut down after the first issue hit the stands. The "backlash" must have been too strong because even when a publisher is approved, each individual issue must also be approved. The next month's issue of our magazine is submitted to the "Publishing Bureau" on the 20th of the month. We get it back within a few days and are made aware of anything that needs to be pulled (this is what happened to my book review on "Madame Chiang Kai-shek"). Most of the censorship is an exercise in predicting what won't make it through and changing it in advance. This happened to my busker piece. Busking is technically illegal here and the first thing I submitted, I was informed, did not put enough (or any) of a "this is a bad thing to do. Don't support it." spin on the practice. No reasons are ever given for official censorship.

I think I have some graphic design friends... speaking of our publisher, they are looking to hire a foreign designer for both graphic and product design. So, if any of you artist types want to come to Shanghai, here's a chance!