Publishing book in China its own adventure A Chinese edition of my book, "The Pentagon's New Map," was published in the People's Republic last month, ending a three-year censorship battle that had twice derailed publication. The entire process was an education in how things get done inside China and how that regime slowly changes as it opens up to the outside world. My literary agent received several inquiries from Chinese publishers following the book's North American release in early 2004. We eventually settled with Beijing University Press for two reasons: 1) the prestige factor, and 2) unlike many Chinese publishers, the university actually pays authors their book advances -- in advance.