Publish Your Own Book with Chinese Social Media App, WeChat

So you have the idea of publishing your own book, but you don't have the budget or don't want to go through the complicated procedures - what do you do? The Chinese social platform WeChat addressed this demand and added a function that customises users' WeChat posts into a book. It is called "WeChat Book" (Weixin shu), which is increasingly welcomed by WeChat users white-collar ladies and tech-savvy moms.

In this social-media-driven society, people are used to sharing their thoughts and recording their life chronologically on social media. WeChat, as the most important social networking tool in China has the become a virtual space that witnesses the individual's growth over time. Customers of "WeChat Book" enjoy the concept of preserving and remembering the moments of their past in a well-decorated physical book.

Traditionally, people have to turn to a publishing company if they want theirworks on the shelves of bookstores. The minimum order quantity is usually 1000, which costs about 20,000 to 30,000 RMB. Self published digital books provide an alternative way for people who enjoy holding physical books in their hands but don't want to afford the high expense of the traditional publishing.

Ms. Huang, mother of a one-year-old boy, began to record her baby's life since the day he was born. Having heard from one of her friends that you can publish a book on WeChat, she thought "it is meaningful, so I made one with my son's pictures and my journals".

Publishing their WeChat book is also favoured by young couples. "It records the time when we held hands for the very first time, and the gifts he gave me…" Said Miss Wu. She  gave the WeChat book to her boyfriend as his birthday gift.

 

 

 

Making the WeChat book is convenient and low-cost. First, you have to follow a reliable official account on WeChat that offers book publishing service. Then, you authorise the account to access the content in "Moments" (the posting board in WeChat). You can choose your preferred editing, printing and binding styles of your book. Five minutes later, you can preview your digital version of you WeChat book on WeChat. It costs about 100 to 500RMB according to the length of the content and the decoration of the book.

 

In fact, WeChat is not the first one to tap into the self-publishing business. Weibo, QQ and some online shopping websites also provide the service of publishing customers' online writings and drawings. In a way, it reflects that the self-publishing industry is in huge demand in China nowadays.

 

It seems that the publishing industry has gained a new life by the rise of social media. Wang Xianfeng, founder of a digital book publishing company said, "we will continue to improve our platform in the future, to allow authors to write and publish their books in a more efficient way."

 

Source: uk.china-info24.com