Earth, the new out-sized atlas from Millennium House, has been printed in Hong Kong to avoid a possible embargo by China, Millennium House managing director Gordon Cheers told WBN.

Cheers said he could not risk the new title being embargoed by the Chinese government because of objections to the way the title treated certain regions. ‘We had published some books in China last year that were embargoed,' said Cheers. ‘We know what the problems are but as a publisher we choose to treat Tibet and Taiwan in the way we do.'

Instead of publishing in China, Cheers had Earth published in Hong Kong, where he admits the costs were 20% higher. But, given that he estimates the atlas as representing 90% of his company's income for the year, Cheers said he had no other choice.

We had a book printed [in China] and there were fifteen maps spread in different sections. Each were marked up by the Chinese government to be changed, and that was a book on geology, so you can imagine the impact it would have on an atlas,' he said.

Cheers said objections to certain print jobs in China was ‘only recent--the last 18 months'.

Putting Queensland on the Map by Felicity Jack (UNSW Press) was turned down by a Chinese printer earlier this year for the way it addressed Tibet.

source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2008/10/09769/

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: felicity jack, gordon cheers