I realized recently that we had just about everything needed to publish an English language version of Journey to the West. Each of the 31 books in the Chinese language series already included English translations. So all we had to do was combine those 31 texts into a single manuscript, clean up the text so it read as a single work instead of 31 different works, add the illustrations, do all the usual layout and design work, and publish it. Once that was done, we had to convert it to ebook format, since about 1/3 of all our book sales are now ebooks. Altogether, the project was finished in about three weeks.
Fortunately we already had really nice cover artwork, courtesy of Yu Jin and the incredibly talented team at NextMars Media.
I honestly think this little project turned out great. The book is attractive and easy to read. And it occupies a nice “sweet spot” in the JTW translation space, between the 2,000 page, 4 volume scholarly translation by Joseph Yu, and the various mini-versions that others have written. Our book is a bit heavy at 650 pages, but despite the thickness it’s really quite readable.
The book is available on Amazon in both paperback and ebook formats. Check it out!
