Hugh Howey

Bestselling author of Wool and other books. Currently sailing around the world.

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Okay, it’s another month away. But on February 1st, I’ll be spending the first day of the Chinese New Year flying to Taiwan to celebrate with my publisher, Nautilus Press, and do some book promoting. What will we be celebrating? Well, I just found out the following today, so my palms are still a bit sweaty, and I only feel like I can brag because this wasn’t my doing at all. Eric Chen, who founded Nautilus Press, translated the book himself. He’s a phenomenal writer, and I can only imagine his text improves upon my own. How else to explain the following email from my agent, Gray Tan:

As 2013 comes to a close, I’m thrilled to report that WOOL has officially become THE  bestselling new foreign novel in Taiwan of the year. See the lists below:

 

Eslite Books:

 

– #1 in the Foreign Literature & Fiction category (of the whole year)

 

– #4 overall and outsells any other fiction titles (#1-#3 are all non-fiction)

 

– 28 weeks on the bestseller list (including 12 weeks at #1) has never fell out of top 10.

 

Kingstone Books:

 

– #9 in the Fiction & Literature category (of the whole year), behind EL James, Dan Brown and Rick Riordan

 

– Chosen as one of the Ten Most Influential Books of the Year, and the only translated novel on the list (there’s another novel but by Taiwanese author, and eight non-fiction titles).

 

Books.com

 

– #11 in Foreign Fiction category (of the whole year), #7 if you count only titles published in 2013.

 

– 28 weeks on the Literature & Fiction bestseller list (highest at #4).

 

The e-book edition came out earlier this week and has not left  the top 20 overall bestseller list and is the #1 bestselling foreign novel.

 

19 titles cover the Top 10 bestsellers of the year of all three major chains, 9 of them are fiction, 8 of them translation, they are two Fifty Shades, Dan Brown’s INFERNO, Keigo Higashino’s new novel, Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI, Rick Riordan’s THE HOUSE OF HADES. All are books by repeat bestsellers. WOOL is the only debut.

 

Holy moly. Unbelievable. So thankful for the awesome work Nautilus has done. Really hope I’m not the literary version of Sugar Man in Taiwan, and they have legends over there of me being beaten to death on stage with a typewriter.

18 replies to “Happy Chinese New Year!”

Well earned! Just read ‘I Zombie’. For such a cliche topic it was another absorbing book. It was dark but so well thought out and written. You are lucky to have such talent. Damn, still wish you would right a follow up to dust. It is fertile ground that lends itself to a whole different set of challenges and twists.

Ouch, get ready for a long flight. I’ve made the trek to Hong Kong from the west coast many times, but I’m sure it’ll still be quite the haul from your end.

Remember that for three days following the New Year it’s bad form to wash your hair. On a more useful note, grandparents usually hand out ‘lucky money’ in red envelopes, so you might want to think about that if you’re considering giving anything out.

Well done… congratulations… I’m really, really, really looking forward to the movie. I think this is one story Hollywood can’t ruin. I’m sure WOOL will translate well to the silver screen. And the success of the book ensures it will do well at the box office.

Have fun in Taiwan!

Sweet! I lived for a year over in Asia. I love the people and the “cultures” that give Asia the beauty they’re known for, minus China’s pollution. I’ve been touting your books to everyone I know. I’m glad my touting finally made it over there. ;) You deserve everything you got. Keep up the good work.

Absolutely amazing!

“What are we going to do today, Hugh?” “The same thing we do everyday, Nikki. Try and take over the world!”

Taiwan? Check

That’s great! I look forward to seeing you at the book fair in Taipei – let me know if you need any travel recommendations. You should try to see something special (Chinese New Year is pretty neat, but you really need someone to invite you to their home, since it’s more of a family thing).

Hi! I’m fan from Taiwan and I’m so looking forward the book signing in the Taipei Int’l Book Exhibition!! Welcome to Taiwan and I hope you enjoy the CNY here!!

[…] There is no doubt that Howey’s success has informed Taiwanese readers – as well as publishers and authors – of the possibility of prosperity in self-publishing and digital publishing. However, as the great majority of readers in Taiwan are yet to embrace ebooks, Howey’s popularity there is still based on sales of print books, as detailed in his own blog article “Happy Chinese New Year!” […]

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