July 28, 2008
Biggest celebrity endorsement
Chinese basketball star Yao Ming was catching up on his reading this weekend while in the Beijing airport, waiting for his flight to a basketball tournament in Nanjing.
Yao Ming Mania!, a site devoted to -- what else? -- the obsessive study of the Chinese superstar, was curious what he was reading, so they took a closer look.
Say, something about that cover looks familiar. Wait a minute! It's the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem!
Not that, dummy -- check out the title and the authors.
I had no idea my publisher had sold the Chinese-language rights; that's a huge market, and a heck of a celebrity endorsement if Ming's countrymen are inclined to read a book about famous American civil rights trials.
Who knows, maybe Ming'll be inspired to become a rabblerouser. And I can add a Chinese-language edition to my collection of books I've written but cannot read.
I'm still not sure about the photo they picked for the cover: Orthodox Jews at the Wailing Wall? My people have always had a long-standing affinity for Chinese food; I had no idea the fondness was reciprocal, law and literature for moo goo gai pan and kung pao chicken.
Seems like a fair trade.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 28, 2008 11:43 PM
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Comments
Perhaps the Great Wall would have been just a little too on-the-nose.
Posted by: Dan at July 29, 2008 08:01 AM
Well maybe royalty increase is in order? You might be able to get out of that crappy, stressful environment sooner than you think. Lets see, as of today there are over 1.319 Billion people in China. Lets dvide that total by 4 persons in a household--which leaves us with 329.8 million families. Lets say, one in fifty familes might buy your book--that is 6.5 million people.
Wow, even if your royalty is only $1 per copy, you will be set for life; heck .50 cents per copy would do it as well. I'm thinking that Yao reading your book could start a trend. It wont be long now my friend....better learn some Mandrin for the book tour. How about a book signing in Beijing during the Olympics????
Posted by: Ah Yep at July 29, 2008 01:46 PM
You see an American copyrighted work published in Chinese, with an odd photo on the cover, and you assume it's not a pirated copy? If your naïveté weren't so charming, I might call you a rube.
Posted by: LT at July 29, 2008 09:57 PM
Ah, LT, you assume that a man who works as a prosecutor and has filed criminal charges for selling pirated DVDs -- many produced in China -- hasn't considered the possibility that the book was an unauthorized version?
May I quote you?
"If your naïveté weren't so charming, I might call you a rube."
Besides, even if it is a pirated copy, it's still kinda cool that he's reading my book.
Posted by: Mike Lief at July 29, 2008 10:16 PM
I think my brother is incredibly cool. :)
Posted by: April at July 30, 2008 12:41 AM
Mr. Lief is corrupting the mind of a hero of the Chinese People. If Mr. Lief steps foot in China, he might be arrested and put against the wall for crimes against the People. Mr. Lief should skip the Olympic games.
Chinas is the enemy of the free world.
Posted by: Buck Dooly at July 30, 2008 10:50 PM
Nice!
Posted by: Anwyn at August 1, 2008 07:32 PM