Bear in mind that (a) in trad publishing, it takes books YEARS to move from ms to query to sale to pub, (b) when I was querying SWBTS there were no big China-set (not secondary world) fantasies on the market, and (c) English-language fandom for cdramas didn't yet exist!
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In early drafts of SWBTS, I used traditional Chinese naming conventions. In typical fashion, my protagonist had six names that were used according to the situation: her original name, her brother's name, a nickname, a monk name, her self-chosen name, and a style name.
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As you can guess, feedback from people not used to Chinese names was that this was A Lot. But because I thought SWBTS deserved the chance to be trad published, I did what many diverse authors do to get their foot in the door: I made some compromises.
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It has been AMAZING to see that in the years since, the explosion of Chinese fandoms has meant more English-speaking readers are familiar with Chinese names, and are demonstrably hungry for authentic Chinese stories—either in translation, or written in English.
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But publishing is conservative, and change comes through establishing successful precedents. What I hope is that by having MADE the compromises that allowed SWBTS to reach a wide audience, it will contribute to a next generation of books that don't have to compromise at all
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ugh names. they are a CHALLENGE, but i think in the end we just have to make choices. (because honestly people will complain no matter what is what i've learned ha)
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Oh, you’re so right, Judy—it’s lose-lose
All we can do is try our best!
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Chinese
Russian
Confusing the Anglos with our many names -
I'm glad people are *finally* becoming more open to different naming conventions. I'm excited to see all the literature that comes next!
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