Ep 169 | Michael Cannings of Camphor Press Rescues Notable Books About Taiwan and East Asia

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Michael Cannings is the Publisher at Camphor Press, a British-Taiwanese publishing house focused on East Asia, that he co-founded with John Grant Ross and Mark Swofford, in 2014. Profit was not the motive for setting up Camphor Press, but promoting books, especially those about Taiwan was. Michael spoke with me about how they weathered the challenging, early years of Camphor Press, and shared some insights about the publishing industry. Camphor Press has been responsible for rescuing notable books such as Formosa Betrayed and A Pail of Oysters- among the must-read books for those wishing to understand Taiwan.

Here's a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• What brought Michael to Taiwan
• Michael's time in Taiwan
• How Michael met is Camphor Press co-founders
• What motivated him personally to start Camphor Press and why he saw the need for a publishing company that focused on books about Taiwan
• How he witnessed the re-election of Chen Shui-bian as President of Taiwan and the Sunflower Movement during the time he lived in Taiwan
• The Red Shirts Movement after the re-election of Chen Shui-bian in 2006
• The book that led to the idea to start a publishing company
• How they choose the name of the publishing company
• Michael's co-founders John Grant Ross, Mark Swofford and how they work together
• Advice on how to work with your friends on a business
• The initial challenges after setting up Camphor Press in 2014
• How Michael has been working on Camphor Press full-time since the beginning of the pandemic
• How the pandemic has affected Camphor Press
• How Camphor went from publishing e-books to also publishing print books
• How Camphor Press acquiredEastBridge Books and the rights to several previously out-of-print books about Taiwan including Formosa Betrayed
• The oldest book in Camphor Press' catalog
• How Michael and his co-founders were able to persist with Camphor Press during the most challenging first years
• Michael's book recommendations for people interested in learning more about Taiwan
• Joe Henley's book Migrante
• The new Taiwan-related books that Camphor Press will be publishing
• Discount code: talktw for Talking Taiwan listeners to get 15% off any online purchase from Camphor Press: https://camphorpress.com/
• Tin Gate, the hybrid publishing company that Michael is starting and how it is different from Camphor Press
• Michael's advice for authors wanting to get their books published
• The changing stigma of self-published books
• The podcast Formosa Files that John Ross co-hosts with Eryk Michael Smith
• Mark Swofford's website: http://pinyin.info/and his work with the Sino-Platonic Papers

Related Links:

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/michael-cannings-of-camphor-press-publisher-rescues-notable-books-about-taiwan-and-east-asia-ep-169/