Picador plots Asia expansion

Starting in autumn 2006, Picador Asia will publish up to six titles a year from new and established Chinese authors living in China and the West. Eventually the Hong Kong-based venture also plans to source writers from Southeast Asia and to publish in those territories in local languages.
It will acquire worldwide rights to all works and distribute throughout Asia, Australia, the UK and other English-language markets. Toby Eady, the literary agent who "discovered" Jung Chang, will act as publishing consultant.
Daniel Watts, m.d. of the division, said: "Economics aside, there is so much culture and history in China that’s been kept under wraps for some time. We’re taking that to the West."
The agreement was formally signed at a ceremony in Frankfurt, attended by the Chinese vice-minister for the general administration of press and publication, Wu Shulin. It was set up in China in partnership with the State-run publisher, The China Publishing Group.
Watts said: "We’re taking an inside-out approach rather than top-down. We want to be close to the market and close to the talent."