Chen Music
by Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 9/26/2005
After years in the book industry doing marketing for Simon & Schuster, Viz Media and Alibris, Oliver Chen has launched his own company, Immedium, a publishing house specializing in illustrated kids' books and selected adult titles on Asian-American and general cultural topics.
Chen, who is also the author of two books, will team with a number of top comics illustrators to write several titles on his list. "We're looking to create a list of original characters with the potential to license them to other mass media formats," said Chen.
Located in San Francisco, Immedium will publish two books this fall and four in 2006. U.S. distribution is by Consortium. John Reed Book Distribution will distribute Immedium titles in New Zealand and Australia.
The first two books are Wonderbaby, a picture book written by Chen and illustrated by Joe Chiodo, and Robot Stories, a collection of screenplays by the award-winning Asian-American film director Greg Pak.
Chen said he's recruiting comics artists and writers for future titles and plans books that will exploit pop culture influences from Asia and the West. "We want to do children's books that have the contemporary visual appeal of comics and animation," he said.
