26 January 2023

The Blacksmith Books story: a short film

2023-01-26T21:46:42+08:00January 26th, 2023|media attention, publishing|0 Comments

Nine River Films is a Hong Kong-based production company which makes feature films and short documentaries. I was pleased to be interviewed by them about the challenges and pleasures of book publishing. I picked a few of the books we have published over the years and explained what they tell us about Hong Kong's people and history. You can watch [...]

11 May 2009

Monthly book giveaway — May

2016-11-24T01:14:47+08:00May 11th, 2009|book giveaway, china|0 Comments

Beijing-based dealmaker Jack Leblanc's book Business Republic of China has just been reviewed by the South China Morning Post: It has been just under 20 years since Belgian Jack Leblanc heeded a call to go to China and arrived in Chongqing with a suitcase of science books to teach at a university. The freshly minted nuclear physics graduate had abandoned [...]

5 June 2008

How to get published in Hong Kong

2020-12-13T09:10:40+08:00June 5th, 2008|hong kong, publishing|16 Comments

This is an article I wrote for Reading Matters, the in-shop newsletter published by Bookazine.   HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS: Hong Kong has a thriving industry of independent publishers. Here is even better news: this is not London or New York, and most (if not all) presses are happy to receive manuscripts directly from authors. So, assuming you’ve written [...]

15 February 2008

Amazon availability

2016-11-24T01:14:50+08:00February 15th, 2008|publishing|2 Comments

We're celebrating the Year of the Rat by announcing that many of our fiction and non-fiction titles are now available through a wider set of online retailers: Amazon's network of websites, Barnes & Noble, Target, Blackwell, Waterstones and many others. This is made possible by advances in print-on-demand technology; each book is printed to order. A few years ago, the [...]

25 January 2008

The Dragon’s Back

2008-01-25T11:19:19+08:00January 25th, 2008|authors, hong kong, new books|0 Comments

Chinese fung shui tells us there is a dragon inhabiting every green valley, protective of the mountains and its route to the sea. Hiking into the hills of Hong Kong for a weekend picnic, Siu Ming and his parents suddenly find their path blocked by a forest fire. Can the mountain dragon help? Or is the mythical creature equally at [...]

12 January 2008

Look Inside the Book!

2016-11-24T01:14:50+08:00January 12th, 2008|publishing|2 Comments

Or: Try before you buy. We're emulating Amazon and Google by offering a sneak peek inside Blacksmith Books titles. Just click on the links on each book's webpage to see sample spreads pop up in PDF format. Try it now by going here.