Star power publishing

When celebrities dip their toes in the world of publishing, they can harness thousands of fans into an energetic promotional force. Liu Zhihua reports.

When singer-actor Jimmy Lin from Taiwan attended a promotional event for his autobiography Have Patience for Time, in June, thousands of people crammed into the bookstore to meet their idol and buy his book. When news broke late last year that the star, widely known as Lin Zhiying on the Chinese mainland, was writing a book about his life, including his 22 years in the entertainment industry, the country's social media went wild with speculation. Fans snapped up 200,000 copies of the book within a week of its release.

Publishers have noticed the power of fans in promoting books by celebrities and are making good use of this to sell the books.