August 29, 2008

Literary Maverick Putting Asia on the Publishing Map
While New York and London are the current publishing powerhouses serving the US and Western Europe, there are millions of English speakers in developing countries who may be overlooked. The Telegraph has a profile of Philip Tatham, who is addressing this untapped market and tackling Asia from Singapore. Tatham established Monsoon Books in 2004 and currently publishes literary and commercial novels, as well as a wide range of non-fiction books.
One of Monsoon’s star authors is Nighel Barley, who has previously published through Penguin, Time Warner and Little, Brown. Tatham explains why Barley switched to Monsoon:
I think it was because we give him the freedom to write the books he wants to write, whereas the London-based publishers wanted him to write less humorous books. Also we’re better than the big London publishing companies at reaching his target markets in South East Asia.




