This year’s ranking of China’s richest authors has been released, and Guo Jingming is in first place for the second year running.
The list was started in 2006 by Wu Huaiyao (吴怀尧), who was a young reporter with China Business Post at the time. The Chinese media now identifies him as a “professional list-maker,” and his annual author income list appears in the Chengdu Business News.
In the three months after the Olympics, Wu interviewed over 100 people working in the publishing industry in a number of major cities throughout the country to determine author incomes and identify general trends during a year when the cost of paper skyrocketed.
This year, the top ten positions have a combined income of 71.3 million yuan, 9 million more than last year. However, the value of the remaining 15 slots contracted from 43.5 million to 27.9 million.
Author income was estimated based on an average author royalty rate of 10% multiplied by the number of copies of new books and additional printings of older books between November 2007 and November 2008. The resulting figures are inaccurate for a number of reasons:
· Film and TV adaptations were not taken into account because, according to the newspaper, “those are trade secrets.” A few authors on the list, such as Shi Kang and Hai Yan, would rank considerably higher if that income was included.
· The authors are credited with income they may not have received yet. The newspaper cites Wang Liqun (14) as a case in point:
Lecture Room presenter Wang Liqun says he hasn’t received 2.5 million yuan in royalties because his three books, which together have around 600,000 copies in print, haven’t sold out yet: he won’t receive the total amount until they do.
Thriller author Cai Jun may be in a similar situation: he noted on his blog that his income in 2008 will likely be higher than in 2007, but according to the rankings, he made twice as much last year. Li Ximin, another author of thrillers who was propelled to national attention in May when he was trapped in a collapsed building for three days after the Wenchuan earthquake, told Chengdu Business News that he’ll only be getting his hands on his full amount a few months from now.
On the other hand, publisher Larry Lu Jinbo, whose stable of authors includes Sharon, Girlneya, Shi Kang, and Han Han, told the newspaper that their numbers roughly agreed with his own figures.
· The influence of magazines on author income is unclear. Most of the YA authors who occupy high rankings on the list have launched their own branded magazines. Guo Jingming edits Top Novel, Sharon edits M-Girl, Girlneya (6) edits a self-titled magazine, and Ming Xiaoxi (11) is attached to Princess. Some observers suggested that Guo landed at the top of the list last year because of revenue from Top Novel and the I5land book series. The other YA titles were launched after Top Novel, so perhaps we are beginning to see the same effect for other authors.
Zheng Yuanjie (2) also runs his own magazine, King of Fairy Tales. The newspaper ascribes his high ranking to royalties from his considerable back-catalog, but the magazine might also have something to do with it.
Sichuan authors made a good showing this year: Guo Jingming, Yang Hongying (3), Sharon, and He Ma (7) are in the top 10, and Mai Jia (17) is one of the only literary authors to make this year’s list. The paper notes with regret that these authors all work with publishers based outside of Sichuan.
The Rankings (with last year’s rank, if any):
- (1) Guo Jingming (郭敬明) – YA books and magazines: 13 million yuan
- (4) Zheng Yuanjie (郑渊洁) – children’s fairy tales: 11 million
- (7) Yang Hongying (杨红樱) – children’s lit: 9.8 million
- (5) Sharon (饶雪漫) – YA books for girls: 8 million
- (-) Ma Weidu (马未都) – Collector and Lecture Room author: 7.45 million
- (-) Girlneya (郭妮) – YA author: 5.5 million
- (2) Yu Dan (于丹) – Lessons from Zhuangzi: 5 million
- (-) He Ma (何马) – breakout author of the Tibet Code series: 4.4 million
- (-) Shi Kang (石康) – novelist and screenwriter: 3.6 million
- (-) Cang Yue (沧月) – YA fantasy: 3.55 million
- (-) Ming Xiaoxi ( 明晓溪) – YA romance: 3 million
- (-) Wang Xiaofang (王晓方) – political intrigue: 2.8 million
- (10) Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨) – essays on culture and history: 2.65 million
- (-) Wang Liqun (王立群) – Lecture Room author: 2.5 million
- (22) Dangnian Mingyue (当年明月) – popular history about the Ming Dynasty: 2.3 million
- (11) Cai Jun (祭骏) – thrillers, the Mysterious Messages (天机) series, 19th Level of Hell: 2 million
- (-) Mai Jia (麦家) – literary spy thrillers with sales driven by a popular TV adaptation; Mao Dun Prize winner: 1.8 million
- (13) Han Han (韩寒) – YA fiction and essays; the author has a high-profile blog: 1.7 million
- (24) Yang Zhijun (杨志军) – Tibetan Mastiff series: 1.6 million
- (17) Hai Yan (海岩) – crime fiction and TV adaptations: 1.55 million
- (-) Chi Li (池莉) – literary fiction; this year’s Come, Child (来吧，孩子) is a non-fiction work describing how she raised her daughter, who’s now attending college in the UK: 1.35 million
- (15) Annie Baobei (安妮宝贝) – literary romance: 1.3 million
- (3) Yi Zhongtian (易中天) – Lecture Room author: 1.2 million
- (14) Bi Shumin (毕淑敏) – mainstream fiction, Female Psychologist: 1.15 million
- (-) Li Ximin (李西闽) – thriller writer who was trapped for three days in the Wenchuan earthquake: 1 million
For comparison, the newspaper also called on ten literary critics to draw up a separate list of influential authors. There’s no overlap whatsoever this year, although a few of the names popped up on last year’s rich list:
- Mo Yan 莫言
- Shi Tiesheng 史铁生
- Yan Lianke 阎连科
- Yu Hua 余华
- Bei Dao 北岛
- Han Shaogong 韩少功
- Jia Pingwa 贾平凹
- A Lai 阿来
- Wang Anyi 王安忆
- Su Tong 苏童
- Bei Cun 北村
- Zhang Chengzhi 张承志
- Duo Duo 多多
- Tie Ning 铁凝
- Ge Fei 格非
- Wang Shuo 王朔
- Chen Zhongshi 陈忠实
- Yu Jian 于坚
- Zhang Wei 张炜
- Han Dong 韩东
- Lin Bai 林白
- Can Xue 残雪
- Zhai Yongming 翟永明
- Li Rui 李锐
- Liu Liangcheng 刘亮程
In addition to the lists, Wu Huaiyao wrote up interviews he conducted with five authors, each from a different generation. Qin Qing (秦青) represents the 1990s (just barely, though), Guo Jingming the 80s, Shi Yuanxi (施袁喜) the 70s, Yang Li (杨黎) the 60s, and Yan Lianke (阎连科) the 50s.
- Chengdu Business News (Chinese): 2008 Chinese Author Rich List, List, Author rich list creates a stir, Fortune and dreams for five generations of authors
- Cai Jun’s blog (Chinese): No substance to the author rich list
- Image from Dangdang
- Earlier on Danwei: Author Ranks 2007, 2006, Colorful mooks for Chinese teens