Press
Interview with Chou Yih-fen
1. Ms Chou, what have you been busy with lately?
I’ve been busy finalizing a 12-episode children’s TV program lately.
2. Which year did you begin producing picture books? How did you begin at the time? What are the most significant changes in the picture book segment during this time?
I began producing picture books in 1998. I used to compile and edit school magazines and faculty journals when I was a student, and found the process of editing quite enjoyable. I also had a lot of excellent paintings at home when I was little. These imperceptible influences had long shaped my ambition to edit books. When I returned to Taiwan from the US however, my husband was working at (the high-tech city and cultural desert of) Hsinchu Science Park. Taiwan’s publishing houses, on the other hand, were all located in Taipei. So I had to create a job opportunity for myself in Hsinchu, hence the founding of Heryin Publishing Corp.
In the 20 years of producing picture books, the first decade (1998-2007) was the development phase, while the second (2008-2018) was when picture books began to progress steadily; in particular, original picture books grew considerably in terms of quality, quantity and reader acceptance. For instance, when Heryin published its first original picture book in 2002, a lot of accompanying lossmaking measures were taken to ensure acceptance and sales. As original works gradually improved, we began to remove lossmaking measures from 2005.
In terms of sales model, Taiwan’s picture books have moved from a (direct sales) boxed set model from around 2000 to a single volume sales model at bookstores (including online bookstores). This means that the quality of each book must be able to withstand meticulous viewing and inspection by readers book by book.
3. How should we understand picture book crossovers? What attempts has Heryin made in terms of children’s music and animation, and what are the results?
Everyone has a different mission at a different stage of their life.
For Heryin, the first decade was simply publishing good books.
In the last 10 years, however, with picture books as the center of the circle, we’ve leveraged crossovers to increase the radius, so that we can draw a larger circle and do the things that some of the others (because there’s no profit) are unwilling or are unable to spare the effort to do.
The process of crossovers is very slow. For instance, it took 10 years to complete Evergreen Nursery Rhymes: Mimi Listens to Folk Music, which won the Golden Melody Awards for Best Children’s Music Album; Yang Huan Forever, which was nominated for four Golden Melody Awards categories (Best Composition, Best Singing Performer, Best Performer, and Best Album); and Mimi’s exquisite animation, which caught the eye of an international European group with which we will develop in-depth cooperation.
4. Is illustrated poetry an original creation of Heryin’s? After A Coin won the Grand Award at the 2017 Frankfurter Buchmesse “Global Illustration Award”, have sales of the relevant picture book increased?
There have long been plenty of excellent illustrated poetry works in Europe and America, such as Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (famous poem of Robert Frost translated by Mr Yu Kwang-chung). In the Chinese language world, I’m not sure if it’s an original Heryin creation, but there are definitely more works with “one painting to one poem” out there, but it appears harder for this form to evoke emotions and bring to play the unique attributes of illustrated works that embodies the “instant sense of beauty like diving”.
After Caver Zhang won the award for his illustration, A Coin, both the sales and popularity of Yu Kwang-chung's Poetry and Illustration rose significantly. We leveraged on this, and promoted aggressively on Facebook. I’m so glad Mr Yu was able to personally witness the illustration for his poetry winning an award.
5. Do you think traditional picture books will retain its current market position as far as the post-2010 generation or generations far into the future are concerned?
To answer this question, I’d have to recall my original intention for producing children’s picture books some 20 years ago. I majored in child development psychology, and I care about the needs of children. I’ve always believed that children’s picture books are just a media. The drunkard’s (child) intention lies not in the wine (book). What a child really needs and really wants is to have the warmth and love of his or her parents hugging and reading together with him or her.
This need of the child will not change even well into the future. Therefore, traditional picture books will still have their current market position, but the form of reading picture books together as a family will become more diversified.
6. Can picture books be digitized?
Under a specific set of conditions, picture books can be digitized. Digitizing picture books is premised on it not being the entrée of a little child, but a snack (i.e., a supplement). A little child has to have adequate sensory experience and activities each day, such as playing with clay, stacking building blocks, playing with swings and sliding down slides. After they’ve eaten the entrée, then they can have an appropriate dose of supplement.
Heryin has created many crossovers for children’s music and animation. These are “basic equipment” in the international arena, as well as “source materials” for producing musicals for children. For instance, parents bring their children to a children’s musical, which feature large human puppets (or hand puppets) playing the role of the characters in the picture books. The background of the stage is multi-media animation. The lead characters act out the story in the picture book, and sing wonderful children’s songs. This sort of family fun is an indispensable and precious experience during childhood years.
I still remember asking a bestselling picture book artist some 15 years ago whether I could print 5,000 copies of the picture book he created (published by Heryin), and donate them to disadvantaged children in the rural regions. He refused. So I began to plan a series of books with proprietary copyright and attempted to write them myself. Later, I allocated more than TWD1 million to print the picture books I was to donate. I exhausted my entire budget printing just one type of book. At the time, I thought to myself, if I had donated a CD (with 50 books in it), wouldn’t a lot more disadvantaged children from the rural regions be able to enjoy the wonders of picture books?
Chou Yih-fen will be speaking at the StoryDrive conference in Beijing (28 May - 1 June 2018).