Q: Who are the primary users of your services? What do your services mean to them?
A: The primary users of our services here at eBook Dynasty are emerging and established authors in both English and Chinese, and readers across the Chinese World. To authors writing in English, our professional and high-quality translation service helps to promote their writing as both digital and print books, across major social media platforms in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and English, without having to depend on literary agencies and publishers. To authors writing in Chinese, we offer an independent and affordable publishing service and promote their writing across the Chinese World, so that they enjoy ultimate freedom of expression, without fear of censorship, discrimination and state-sanctioned persecution. We strive to look after authors and their intellectual properties, as well as familiarising them with the trends and achievements of the Chinese publishing industries.
To our Chinese readers, we provide diverse, original, fresh and affordable content in multiple formats that are easily accessible to all Chinese communities across the world. Our personalised Chinese ebooks, with a limited application of digital rights management (DRM) mechanism, encourage a sense of ownership while deterring any attempt to illegally modify and duplicate. We strive to protect the privacy of our readers and request that they, too, respect the intellectual property rights of all authors.
Q: What inspires you in your work and on a day-to-day personal basis?
A: As a bilingual writer, translator, journalist, editor, publisher and independent scholar. I have been dealing with words all my life. I am a firm believer of the Power of Words and how it can impact on the lives of individuals and communities. Like people, books have unlimited potential. Both can help to change the world if given a chance.
It is a privilege, an amazing gift, to be able to accurately appreciate an author’s voice and to faithfully and gracefully convey it in another language. I am a person with that gift, and with it comes an incredible sense of honour and responsibility. Whenever an author entrusts me with a book, they are granting me an opportunity to speak on their behalf, for them, as them. It is this feeling of being trusted with a precious part of someone’s literary life – someone’s dream – that inspires me, both in my work and on a day-to-day personal basis.
Q: What is next for eBook Dynasty?
A: We will continue to promote our services to emerging and established authors, literary agencies and publishers in both English and Chinese Worlds, to build bridges across linguistic and cultural boundaries, and to uphold the idea of freedom, independence and diversity in writing and publishing. Apart from that, we aim to have an additional website for associate translators, as a go-between for authors seeking translation and translators seeking substantial freelance work. This will help us to promote professional translation and the Code of Ethics designated by the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIC), and to enhance the amount of translated books we can provide.
We also plan to set up a readers’ forum online, to encourage open, direct and civilised communication among readers regarding their favourite authors, books and literary topics. More importantly, we aim to publish more books of diverse and multicultural content, including a series of ebooks on Coding for Kids, initially in English and Chinese, combining our key skill sets, and involving our children’s education. Our CTO and Managing Director Steve Goschnick has recently published articles on Coding for Kids at TheConversation.com (example here), giving some precursor of what’s coming to eBookDynasty’s range.
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 