YAO WENTAN, chief editor for China Publishing Group Digital Media Co., said he enjoyed his six years as a member of the selection panel for Shenzhen’s annual “Top 10 Books of the Year.” The selection is one of the most important events for Shenzhen’s Reading Month held every November.

    “I have been a judge for six years, and I really enjoyed it because it was an open and honest process. We gathered just to select great books and make recommendations to readers,” said Yao.

    Yao made the remark at a seminar about Shenzhen’s “Top 10 Books of the Year” selection process at the 24th National Book Expo on Aug. 1 in Guiyang, Guizhou Province.

    As the influence of Shenzhen’s annual Reading Month event grows, the top 10 book list is important for China’s publishers. Several judges from the selection committee attended the seminar to express their opinions about the selection process.

    Li Yang, a professor from Peking University, was the first one to bring up the idea of transforming the selection process.

    “I think that the list could change its name to ‘Top 10 Non-fiction Books of the Year’ since most of the selected books were non-fiction,” he said. “For example, on the 2012 list, there were only two fiction books, ‘2666’ and ‘Poem Collection of Szymborska.’ As a professor of fiction, I think that there are fewer people reading fiction books nowadays in China. The future of Chinese literature is in the non-fiction genre.”

    However, Li’s suggestion was not accepted by most of the other seminar members. Many thought the list should focus more on serving readers.

    “I don’t think that a transformation is necessary for Shenzhen’s book list. In fact, the list has been very successful at promoting great books to readers for years,” said Li Changsheng, a Chinese-Japanese scholar.

    In Li Changsheng’s opinion, the list has done well in terms of serving its purpose. “As judges, we have two responsibilities. The first one is to help readers select great books out of the 400,000 titles printed every year; the second is that we should let readers know what makes a great book,” he said.

    Li Changsheng suggested that instead of a transformation, the future of the list should focus more on serving readers.

    “This is a great idea, and this is one of the reasons why this book list has been so successful compared to other lists across the country,” Yao said.

    The judges also hope that the city will start sending them the nominee list every month. “This way, we would have more time to read the books and make our selections instead of having to rush through them at the end of the year,” Li Changsheng said.

    The judges also expressed their opinions on the transformation of traditional bookstores in the digital era.

    “I think that traditional bookstores must transform in order to survive in the digital era,” said Jin Weizhu, president of the popular bookstore Sisyphe Bookstore. In spite of the challenges of the digital era, Jin opened three new stores in Shenzhen in just one month.

    “Finding a balance between culture, dreams and business is crucial. As a traditional store, the keys to survival are lower costs, promotion of the brand and meeting readers’ demands,” he said.

    Chen Zishan, a professor from East China Normal University, also shared Shanghai’s experience in promoting traditional bookstores. “The Shanghai government has given financial support to traditional bookstores for about three years. Subsidies were given to both State-owned and private stores as long as the stores were specialized. This model was very successful in terms of helping the stores,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Shenzhen delegation to the Book Expo also launched a series of activities to promote the upcoming 15th Shenzhen Reading Month, including a seminar on “The Top 10 Children’s Books of the Year” and promotional events for Shenzhen Reading Month.

    “The Top 10 Children’s Books of the Year” list will be released during this year’s Reading Month for the first time. To promote reading among the city’s youths, experts and students will be invited to attend the selection event.

    (Wang Yuanyuan)