| @@@ | JWH Book People's Voice Vol. 1 interview with Robert McGuire Chief Marketing Officer, One Peace Books, New York
L iving in a small island country in the Far East, we Japanese often dream of Europe and America. Ironically, thanks to our manga and anime cultures, these days the West considers Japan cool - yet our yearning toward western countries never ceases.This applies to the publishing world too: Japanese authors tend to dream that their books will be published in the occidental countries. But they donft know what they need to do to achieve this, and they face a huge obstacle: the language barrier. A few authors, such as Haruki Murakami, Natsuo Kirino, and Banana Yoshimoto, have managed to succeed in western markets. But obviously they are only one part of the Japanese picture. In fact, Japanfs publishing industry translates quite a lot of books for publication abroad, yet actually exports very few. This is like constantly inhaling more and more air without exhaling. It creates an unhealthy situation for the industry: But new hope is at hand. One Peace Books was jointly set up two years ago in New York by two Japanese publishing companies, Sanctuary Books and A-Works. Theyfve just launched their first five titles for the U.S. market, this September. We interviewed Robert McGuire, Chief Marketing Officer of One Peace Books. 
Q: When did you join Sanctuary Publishing? What made you come and work in Japan? When I was working as freelance illustrator in New York, a Japanese friend of mine told me that Sanctuary Publishing was looking for non-Japanese staff. So I sent my resume. And I joined Sanctuary Publishing in April 2008. Q: After you started working in Tokyo, was there anything that surprised you? As I said, I joined in April, and the following month I was sent to Los Angels to attend BookExpo America, without knowing much about the industry. Then, in September, I entered a big comedy contest called M-1 Grand Prix ? just because Ifd told everyone that I loved Japanese comedy, and somebody else had sent an application for me to M-1! I had no choice c Q: Will you try M-1 again? No! Definitely not. Q:What sort of books does One Peace Books publish? Mainly self-help books, but itfs a bit different from other self-help books on the U.S. market. Q: The official site says gvisual self-helphc Yes, gvisual self-helph and gmotivational literature.h Self-help books with a lot of pictures or comic essays ? theyfre Japanfs specialty. U.S. readers may be surprised to see these books, as they didnft exist in the States until now. ve also do non-fiction works, like gThe Worldfs Easiest Astronomy Book.h Q: In the U.S.A., translated books are said to be only 3% of total publications. What do you think? Japanese books that are already translated into English are either books written by famous authors like Murakami, or books about Japan. But I think the quality of other Japanese books ? what the Japanese read every day ? are not bad at all. They have potential on the U.S. market, I believe. Q: Youfre now on MySpace and Twitter. Yes, wefve also uploaded book trailers onto YouTube. 
Q: What is your ambition now?Not making mistakes. We should look into this business longer-term. One Peace Books launched five titles in September. Donft forget to check out their official site and trailers on YouTube! http://www.onepeacebooks.com/ »»» To read other interviews |
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