‘The Year of the Backlist’ Rolls On

During the May 4 presentation of the Jerusalem International Book Forum, the Taipei-based literary agent Gray Tan of the Grayhawk Agency, talked of the last year as a pandemic “year of the backlist” in the Chinese market, with many of the books on the bestseller lists titles that “have been there for years.” And regular readers of our China bestseller lists will know exactly what he means.

Here in our charts for April, we again find Liu Cixin’s 2008 Three-Body Problem (Chongqing Publishing House) at No. 1 in fiction, and Liu Cixin’s The Dark Forest (also from Chonquing) at No. 3. As in so many markets, of course, such perennials are often referred to as “classics,” but when placed in context of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic—and also in many markets, not just in China—there’s an indication of how hard the past year may have been for emerging authors and newly introduced work.

The moving sector in China continues to be work that has begun life as “online literature,” the preferred market phrase for serialized fiction eked out on huge reading-and-writing platforms. In April, our associates at Beijing Open Book point to three of the only four books newly arriving on the fiction charts as having first appeared as online literature:

• You are My Desire by Xi Jian, ranked No.22
• Douluo Continent Ⅳ (29) by Tang Jia San Shao, ranked No. 25
• When Rumor Becomes Truth by Man Man He Qi Duo, ranked No. 27

The one newcomer to the fiction list is, actually, a book published in 2005, Distant Savior by Dou Dou, from the Writer’s Publishing House. It turns out that this is a book on which a television series, The Way of Heaven, was based. The book, it seems, spent some 13 months of primarily online-retail sales to work itself onto the list in April at No. 9.

In nonfiction, however, there’s something of a shakeup, the almost perpetual No. 1, Tara Westover’s Educated: A Memoir at last slipping and landing at No 3. Taking its place at the top of the list: Counseling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure by Robert de Board. The book is said to be “a classic introductory text in psychology.

Below, then, are OpenBook’s overall lists from April of bestsellers in fiction and nonfiction, followed by its lists of bestselling fiction and nonfiction in China by authors from outside the country.

In August 2020, Guomai redesigned the latest edition and planned a series of marketing promotions on social media platforms including Weibo, WeChat, Douban, Xiaohongshu, and TikTok. it all seems to have worked, with sales rising and making a first appearance on the chart.

And in kids’ books, the Top 30 in April were “nearly all ‘old friends'” as our associates put it, with those “classics” being spotted on the list up and down the chart.

But in fact, 24 of the Top 30 children’s books last month in China were all part of several sets of series from Bei Mao, the Mi Xiaoquan books, most from Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House. Within those multiple series, the Mi Xiaoquan School Experience held down 15 spots on the list in April, half the total 30 on the list, and Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain Teaser was next with eight titles on the list.

Author Bei Mao is at times likened, at least in scale of popularity, to Jeff Kinney, the talent behind the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in the West. Suffice it to say, if you’re writing children’s books in China, it is good to be Bei Mao.

Below, then, are OpenBook’s overall lists from April of bestsellers in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books, followed by its lists of bestselling fiction and nonfiction in China by authors from outside the country.

At the end of our article, as always, you’ll find notes on how the lists are constructed.

OpenBook’s Fiction Bestsellers, April 2021

March 2021 Ranking	April 2021 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787536692930	2008-01	The Three-Body Problem	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
4	2	9787229030933	2010-11	Death’s End	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
3	3	9787536693968	2008-05	The Dark Forest	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
7	4	9787500601593	2005-08	Red Crag	Luo Guangbin, Yang Yiyan	China Youth Press
5	5	9787540487645	2018-06	Moments We Shared	Zhang Jiajia	Hunan Literature & Art Press
2	6	9787530221099	2021-02	Wencheng	Yu hua	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
10	7	9787559452788	2020-12	First Frost	Zhu Yi	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
9	8	9787544291170	2017-08	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	9	9787506331746	2005-05	Distant Savior	Dou Dou	The Writer’s Publishing House
11	10	9787530215593	2017-06	To Live	Yu hua	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	11	9787506344791	2008-12	Street Wizards	Feng Jicai	The Writer’s Publishing House
16	12	9787530216781	2017-06	Ordinary Word (3 Volumns)	Lu Yao	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
6	13	9787020002207	1998-07	Dream of the Red Chamber	Cao Xueqin	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	14	9787530216774	2017-07	Ordinary Word	Lu Yao	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
12	15	9787506365437	2010-06	To Live	Yu hua	The Writer’s Publishing House
13	16	9787544291163	2017-08	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Edition)	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
8	17	9787555285298	2020-03	Hidden Love	Zhu Yi	Qingdao Publishing House
Not Ranked	18	9787521208740	2020-01	Street Wizards (3)	Feng Jicai	The Writer’s Publishing House
14	19	9787550032071	2019-02	White Olive Tree	Jiu Yuexi	Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House
15	20	9787521210033	2020-09	Sit for a While Tea House	Jia Pingwa	The Writer’s Publishing House
24	21	9787544766500	2017-01	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	Yilin Press
Not Ranked	22	9787550032859	2019-07	You are My Desire	Xi Jian	Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House
21	23	9787020090006	2012-07	Fortress Besieged	Qian Zhongshu	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	24	9787557023225	2020-12	The Antidote	Wu Zhe	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	25	9787556257775	2021-03	Douluo Continent Ⅳ (29)	Tang Jia San Shao	Hunan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
20	26	9787544285148	2016-10	Malice	Higashino Keigo	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	27	9787559446886	2020-09	When Rumor Becomes Truth	Man Man He Qi Duo	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
27	28	9787500680239	2009-01	Pioneering	Liu Qing	China Youth Press
Not Ranked	29	9787229100605	2016-07	The Three-Body Problem (Collector’s Edition)	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
Not Ranked	30	9787530219218	2019-02	Life is Like Ocean	Mai Jia	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House

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OpenBook’s Nonfiction Bestsellers, April 2021

March 2021 Ranking	April 2021 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
Not Ranked	1	9787201161693	2020-08	Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure	Robert de Board	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	2	9787572201882	2020-08	The Value	Zhang Lei	Zhejiang Education Press Co.,Ltd
1	3	9787544276986	2019-10	Educated: A Memoir	Tara Westover	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	4	9787549632725	2020-09	30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (5)	Chen Lei	Wenhui Publishing House
7	5	9787550268517	2016-07	Positive Discipline	Jane Nelsen	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
2	6	9787539999883	2017-03	30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon	Chen Lei	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
10	7	9787559640246	2020-04	Gag Reel (Signature Edition)	Li Dan	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
4	8	9787544382052	2018-05	30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (3)	Chen Lei	Hainan Publishing House
5	9	9787544382045	2018-05	30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (2)	Chen Lei	Hainan Publishing House
6	10	9787544387866	2019-09	30 Minutes of Chinese History in Cartoon (4)	Chen Lei	Hainan Publishing House
9	11	9787508095226	2018-09	Nonviolent Communication	Marshall B.Rosenberg	Huaxia Publishing House
8	12	9787559418111	2018-04	30 Minutes of World History in Cartoon	Chen Lei	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
11	13	9787559639134	2020-06	The Rise of China	Jin Yinan	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
18	14	9787108063106	2018-06	We Three (Third Edition)	Yang Jiang	SDX Joint Publishing Company
Not Ranked	15	9787557023041	2020-10	If History were a Group of Cats: Sui and Tang Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	16	9787559313652	2017-09	If History were a Group of Cats: Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Heilongjiang Fine Arts Press
12	17	9787540489304	2019-01	Danshari	Yamashita Eiko	Hunan Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	18	9787559330260	2018-06	If History were a Group of Cats: The Spring-autumn and Warring State Period	Fei Zhi	Heilongjiang Fine Arts Press
15	19	9787508660752	2017-02	Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind	Yuval Noah Harari	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	20	9787557017477	2019-02	If History were a Group of Cats: Qin, Chu, Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	21	9787557021856	2020-05	If History were a Group of Cats: Wei, Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	22	9787557020149	2019-09	If History were a Group of Cats: Three Kingdoms	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	23	9787557020132	2019-09	If History were a Group of Cats: The End of Eastern Han Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
20	24	9787201088945	2014-12	No More Than Skins	Cai Chongda	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
14	25	9787540487850	2018-08	Guo Degang on Chinese Cultural History	Guo Degang	Hunan Literature & Art Press
16	26	9787508689586	2018-07	Economics Lecture Notes	Xue Zhaofeng	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	27	9787505748736	2020-03	Grow Up with Your Child	Fan Deng	China Friendship Publishing Company
Not Ranked	28	9787540498627	2021-01	Guo Degang’s View: Jianghu	Guo Degang	Hunan Literature & Art Press
22	29	9787559436184	2019-05	30 Minutes of Tang Poetry in Cartoon	Chen Lei	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	30	9787559435552	2019-09	30 Minutes of Tang Poetry in Cartoon (2)	Chen Lei	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press

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OpenBook’s Children’s Bestsellers, April 2021

March 2021 Ranking	April 2021 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787521726473	2020-12	A Dog Named Money	Bodo Schafer	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
10	2	9787536593749	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Game of the Wise	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
9	3	9787536574397	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Clever Little Prodigy	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
7	4	9787536574366	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Stratego	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
12	5	9787536593756	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Password Discovery	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
15	6	9787536593459	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: ‘Have a Meal’ Restaurant	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
2	7	9787534633362	2005-05	Bronze and Sunflower	Cao Wenxuan	Jiangsu Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
13	8	9787536574380	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Who’s the Smart Guy?	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
16	9	9787536593442	2020-05	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: The Magic Lamp	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
14	10	9787536574373	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: The Great Adventure of the Castle	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
5	11	9787536587694	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: I am a Pupil	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
6	12	9787536587724	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Look at This Family	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
8	13	9787536587717	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: A Dog Called Rat	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
11	14	9787536587700	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: My Good Friend Tie Tou	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
20	15	9787536587762	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: If I Have a Time Machine	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
22	16	9787536587755	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Secrets of Nature	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
21	17	9787536587731	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Trouble of the New Deskmate	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
23	18	9787536587748	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: A Lot of Fun	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
19	19	9787544288590	2018-06	Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (2018 Edition)	Kuroyanagi Tetsuko	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	20	9787559706522	2018-05	The Foolish and the Unhappy (With Chinese Pinyin)	Ren Rongrong	Zhejiang Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
28	21	9787536587793	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Comedy King Comes	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	22	9787536587809	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Cheers, Soccer Boy	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	23	9787536596313	2019-12	Mi Xiaoquan’s Idioms Comic Games	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	24	9787536587786	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Naughty Boy and Grandpa	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	25	9787536587779	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: I Have a Super Follow	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
24	26	9787536588103	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: The Future Me	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
25	27	9787536588110	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Undercover Deskmate	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	28	9787536588202	2017-11	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: Meet Mr. Cat	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
4	29	9787533299224	2018-10	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake	Tomorrow Publishing House
18	30	9787558900648	2017-07	Winter of Three Hairs (With Chinese Pinyin)	Zhang Leping	Juvenile & Children’s Publishing House

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Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers, April 2021

March 2021 Ranking	April 2021 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Author nationality	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787544291170	2017-08	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
2	2	9787544291163	2017-08	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Edition)	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
6	3	9787544766500	2017-01	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	United States of America	Yilin Press
4	4	9787544285148	2016-10	Malice	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
5	5	9787532776771	2018-03	Norwegian Wood (30th Anniversary Edition)	Haruki Murakami	Japan	Shanghai Translation Publishing House
12	6	9787532175512	2020-05	13 Steps	Kazuaki Takano	Japan	Shanghai Literature & Art Press
8	7	9787544267618	2014-06	The Devotion of Suspect X	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
11	8	9787544298995	2020-09	Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2020 Edition)	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	9	9787208061644	2018-02	The Kite Runner (2018 Edition)	Khaled Hosseini	United States of America	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
15	10	9787544297059	2020-03	Love in the Time of Cholera (3 Million Sold Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
9	11	9787506394864	2017-09	Sophie’s World (New Edition)	Jostein Gaarder	Norway	The Writer’s Publishing House
10	12	9787544291224	2017-08	After School (2017 Edition)	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	13	9787532786831	2021-03	Klara and The Sun	Kazuo Ishiguro	United Kingdom	Shanghai Translation Publishing House
16	14	9787201116693	2017-05	My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry	Fredrik Backman	Sweden	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
7	15	9787539983295	2015-10	Foundation	Isaac Asimov	United States of America	Jiangsu Literature & Art Press
14	16	9787544281102	2016-01	Newcomer	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
13	17	9787544280662	2020-03	Silent Parade	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	18	9787544280020	2019-08	What Life You Want to Have	Yoshino Genzaburo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
17	19	9787555910749	2020-12	The Silent Patient	Alex Michaelides	United Kingdom	Henan Literature & Art Press
20	20	9787544270878	2014-04	Miracles of the Namiya General Store	Higashino Keigo	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.

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Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers, April 2021

March 2021 Ranking	April 2021 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Author nationality	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787201161693	2020-08	Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure	Robert de Board	United Kingdom	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
2	2	9787544276986	2019-10	Educated: A Memoir	Tara Westover	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	3	9787111495482	2020-03	The Courage to Be Disliked	Kishimi Ichiro	Japan	China Machine Press
4	4	9787550268517	2016-07	Positive Discipline	Jane Nelsen	United States of America	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
5	5	9787508095226	2018-09	Nonviolent Communication	Marshall B.Rosenberg	United States of America	Huaxia Publishing House
7	6	9787540471194	2019-02	Relationship: Bridge to the Soul	Christoper Moon	Canada	Hunan Literature & Art Press
6	7	9787111635574	2019-10	The Working Methods of Kazuo Inamori	Kazuo Inamori	Japan	China Machine Press
8	8	9787520711531	2019-11	A Compass to Fulfillment	Kazuo Inamori	Japan	Orient Press
9	9	9787540489304	2019-01	Danshari	Yamashita Eiko	Japan	Hunan Literature & Art Press
14	10	9787508660752	2017-02	Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind	Yuval Noah Harari	Israel	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
12	11	9787508687216	2018-08	Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty	Abhijit V.Banerjee, Esther Duflo	United States of America	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
11	12	9787220114045	2019-07	Rich Dad Poor Dad	Robert T. Kiyosaki	United States of America	Sichuan People’s Publishing House
10	13	9787115536198	2020-05	Heart: Kazuo Inamori’s Philosophy of Life	Kazuo Inamori	Japan	Posts & Telecommunications Publishing House
15	14	9787547734315	2019-09	Life is Worth Living	Nakamura Tsuneko	Japan	Beijing daily publishing house
16	15	9787508684031	2017-12	Principles	Ray Dalio	United States of America	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	16	9787508672069	2017-01	Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow	Yuval Noah Harari	Israel	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
18	17	9787108009821	2014-03	1587, a Year of No Significance	Ray Huang	United States of America	SDX Joint Publishing Company
19	18	9787535732309	2001-11	A Brief History of Time	Stephen W. Hawking	United Kingdom	Hunan Science & Technology Press
20	19	9787521713305	2020-03	What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence	Stephen A. Schwarzman	United States of America	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
17	20	9787020116133	2017-06	Red Star Over China	Edgar Snow	United States of America	People’s Literature Publishing House

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Notes on the Charts

OpenBook is a privately owned industry-data research firm based in Beijing. It functions somewhat as Nielsen and NDP do from the West, and Nielsen Book Research International has worked with OpenBook in Asian operations. With authoritative data and information resources, OpenBook is able to deliver consulting service to partners who would like to explore the Chinese book market and identify suitable partners.

As of January 1, 2020, OpenBook monitored more than 10,000 online and offline bookstores.

The online channel includes digital retailers such as large self-operated online stores, platform stores, and small- and medium-sized stores. The offline channels include 4,495 bookstores. Coverage includes most of the state-owned and influential privately owned bookstores in 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet are not included in OpenBook’s system.

In 2019, OpenBook tracked around 71.72 billion RMB in sales (US$10.1 billion).

Retail outlets include:

• Traditional bookstores
• Supermarkets
• Campus bookstores
• “Professional” stores, said to be small stores with a specific industrial or trade focus
• Airport stores

In addition, OpenBook is drawing data from online bookstores of three main types:

• The “Tmall” stores of Alibaba (Tmall is described as a marketplace of companies that create storefronts online to sell products including books)
• The “JingDong” Stores of JD.com (similar to Tmall as a marketplace of both individual companies and bookstores operated by JD.com)
• Ten independent online bookselling retailers

China has 500 or more publishers in operation today. Most of them, Jiang Boyan CEO James Bryant clarifies, are government-owned. Private publishers are required to generate ISBNs for their titles from a publishing company that is government-owned—which, in other words, creates a system in which all ISBNs are in one way or another registered through government channels. The government approves each book published in China.

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More China bestseller reports from Publishing Perspectives are here. And more from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.