'Rich List of Chinese Writers'

       China Newsweek has published its popular annual 作家富豪榜 -- 'Rich List of Chinese Writers' --, determining which writers made the most money from Chinese book-sales in the past year.
       China Daily sums things up in English, in Guo Jingming tops rich writers' list.
       郭敬明 -- or rather: Guo who ? you say ? Yes, popular Chinese writing still doesn't make it into English quickly -- or at all ..... (Sure, his work sounds pretty dubious; nevertheless .....)
       But good to hear that:

Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is Guo's foreign counterpart to have earned the most in the mainland's book market, totting up 11 million yuan

       And:

Britain's J.K. Rowling and Austrian Thomas Brezina finish second and third on the foreign writers' list.

       Always fascinating to see how differently foreign authors are taken up abroad -- after all, Brezina seems to have been a complete dud in the US/UK kids' market.

       Of course, not everyone is convinced by the figures thrown around here:

"Wu's lists may not be accurate in terms of figures. But the top 15 foreign writers are indeed the 15 most-loved by Chinese readers," Li said. "And it shows reading classics has become trendy in 2011."

       And others have greater objections -- see Shi Yanping's opinion piece from China Newsweek, arguing China needs literary giants, not bestsellers -- and claiming:

Empty, profit-oriented works from Chinese authors have indeed contributed to the literary superficiality that exists in the mainland today. Even with relentless promotion of their works, authors who lack strong personal convictions can only write bestsellers; they can never be literary giants. If culture is downgraded to merely a consumer good, it is doomed to vanish through time.