A Good Mom Is Better Than a Good Teacher

The cover of the book A good Mom Is Better Than a Good Teacher [dangdang.com]

The book advocates against popular Chinese parenting styles of "tiger mothers" and "wolf fathers" by encouraging parents to listen to their children rather than strictly enforcing rules of their own accord.

She spent about a year writing her debut book. When she had completed about two-thirds of the book in mid-2008, Yin began looking for a publisher.

Several publishers refused to view Yin's manuscript because they considered family education an unprofitable genre. Yin's status as a little-known author also led some publishers to ignore her.

A couple of publishers did read her manuscript and saw the book's potential, but Yin felt their terms for publishing were unfair and declined to cooperate.

"I visited about 10 publishers in total, including the Writers Publishing House. In the beginning, most publishers didn't show any interest in my manuscript. But after a month, an editor contacted to say they had reviewed it," recalled Yin.

The book was an unexpected hit when it was eventually published in January 2009, shooting up the list of bestsellers. Five million copies have been sold to date, reviving the market for family education books.

(womenofchina.cn)