If I had an idea for a book, what would I need to send in the way of a proposal?

First of all, we only publish books about acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Secondly, we only publish books by professional practitioners who have been in practice A) not less than five (5) years, and B) read at least one Asian language. We prefer our authors to be native English-speakers, but this is not a hard and fast rule. What we like to see in the way of a proposal are the following:

• A query letter stating the concept of the book, why its needed, and identifying its target audience
• The book's outline or Table of Contents
• At least two sample chapters, usually the introduction and at least one technical chapter
• The author's resume or curriculum vitae
• If the book is a translation, then we also need:
• The name and author of the source text
• Date and place of publication and original publisher's name
• Some description of copyright status, e.g. public domain
• Several sample pages of the original language text for comparison
• A description of translational methodology, whether denotative, connotative, or functional

These materials should be sent to:

Bob Flaws, Editor in Chief
Blue Poppy Press
5441 Western Ave, #2
Boulder, CO, 80301

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How come Blue Poppy Press books use words like vacuity and repletion, which are different from those that many Western acupuncturists use?

Books on acupuncture and Chinese medicine are essentially technical instructional manuals. If you do this and that, then your patients can expect this or that result. Therefore, if one gets these instructions wrong, its logical to think the outcomes may also be different than hoped for or expected. Most books we publish are either translations or the material they contain is based on Chinese language sources. Chinese and English are completely dissimilar languages, and it is very difficult to accurately convey Chinese language medical instructions in English. To do this requires a very special vocabulary in order to accurately convey the technical implications of technical Chinese medical terms. Many of the more commonly used translational terms were coined by French-speakers who were writing for Western MDs during the first half of the 20th century. These then were translated into English by people who did not know Chinese and did not question, indeed had not grounds to question, their correctness.

Having spent a number of years wrestling with this problem as both translators and editors, we believe that Nigel Wiseman's Chinese medical translational terminology as it appears in English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, Hunan Science & Technology Press, Changsha, 1995, is the best, freely available, standard Chinese-English medical glossary available in the world today. That is why we have chosen this book as our "house" standard. By using this book, any reader can immediately know what Chinese character we are translating as what English word and its Pinyin romanization. This makes cross-referencing information from book to book using this same terminology simple and consistent.

While some of Nigel's word choices initially sound strange, they are all based on sound Chinese language, Latin, Greek, French, and English language semantic principles and reasons. Happily, now English readers can look up the English language definitions of such Chinese medical technical words as disinhibit, glomus, and counterflow and find out their technical meanings and implications in Nigel Wiseman and Feng Ye's A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine published by Paradigm Publications, Brookline, MA, 1998. We at Blue Poppy Press agree with Nigel and the folks at Paradigm Publications that standardization of our translational terminology in English is one of the most important steps in founding this profession on a stable footing.

For more information on the rationale and methodology of behind Wiseman's terminology, please see his excellent essay at Paradigm Publications. This essay should convince every reader that, although it sometimes sounds peculiar, Nigel's terminology is head and shoulders above the rest.

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Why does Blue Poppy Press publish so many books on Chinese herbal medicine as compared to acupuncture?

In China, Chinese medicine primarily means the internal administration of water-based, multi-ingredient decoctions. If one studies nei ke, internal medicine, fu ke, gynecology, or er ke, pediatrics at one of the provincial Chinese medical colleges in the People's Republic of China, one only learns to prescribe Chinese medicinals. Chinese medical schools are usually comprised.of three colleges or divisions. There is the acupuncture-massage college, the pharmacy college, and the Chinese medicine college. Graduates of the acupuncture-massage college only learn one of these two arts which then comprise their scope of practice after graduation. Graduates of the pharmacy college go on to work as pharmacists within the Chinese medical pharmaceutical and dispensing industry. They do not diagnose or treat. Graduates of the Chinese medical college are taught to diagnose and treat disease via so-called herbal decoctions, and internal medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics are courses within this training. This tripartite health care delivery system is then carried over to Chinese clinics and hospitals where each member has their duties and scope of practice.

According to this system, acupuncture-moxibustion is actually an adjunctive therapy similar to physical therapies relationship to physician-practiced modern Western medicine. Since the prescription of internally administered Chinese medicinals is the more important and widely practiced modality within Chinese medicine, most books and journal articles written and published in the People's Republic of China are about Chinese medicinals and not acupuncture. For instance, only 10% or less of the articles in the typical Chinese medical journal deal with acupuncture, while all the rest deal with Chinese "herbal" medicine.

Here in the West, it is a historical accident that has led practitioners of Chinese medicine to be primarily labeled as acupuncturists and to be taught and try to practice acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in a single, unified practice. Although we at Blue Poppy Press recognize that the lowest common denominator in terms of modalities among Western practitioners is acupuncture, there simply are less acupuncture materials available for translation than on Chinese herbal medicine. Especially when it comes to information on such specialities as internal medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics, the Chinese literature is almost 100% focused on this modality. Likewise, most information on the Chinese medical treatment of specific Western diseases is primarily written from the point of view of Chinese medicinals. Therefore, Blue Poppy Press's seeming emphasis on Chinese medicinals over acupuncture-moxibustion is simply a reflection of the relative importance of these two modalities within Chinese medicine as taught and practiced in its homeland.

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How can I get copies of out of print Blue Poppy books?

Once Blue Poppy lists a title as out of print, there is no way to purchase a copy of that book from Blue Poppy Press. You might try www.abebooks.com , a large consortium of on-line used book sellers.

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Does Blue Poppy Press sell the Chinese language originals from which its translations are made?

Sorry, we don't. We only sell books and materials in English. However, in Teach Yourself to Read Modern Medical Chinese, there are addresses and fax numbers for Chinese language bookstores located in a number of North American cities as well as the address and numbers for the Chinese subscription and fulfillment source for all Chinese language Chinese medical journals published in the People's Republic of China.

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How can I get in touch with one of Blue Poppy's authors or translators?

Any letters or faxes sent to one of our authors or translators c/o Blue Poppy Press will be forwarded to that individual.

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How can I return a Blue Poppy book?

Any time within 30 days from the date of the invoice you may return any Blue Poppy book for a credit or refund of the purchase price, minus shipping charges. However, you must call our Customer Service first for approval at our toll free 800 before sending the book back to us.

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What should I do if a Blue Poppy book arrives damaged or defective?

It happens. Printers make mistakes and FedEx sometimes crunches packages. In order to get a replacement, call Customer Service at our toll free 800 number. They will send you a new book and a FedEx call tag for the damaged goods. However, you must contact Customer service within 30 days of date of invoice.

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Are Blue Poppy CDs returnable?

Yes, but only if unopened and within 30 days of their sale. Please call our 800 number for approval.

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Can anyone submit articles for publication in Blue Poppy's Quarterly On-line Chinese Medical Journal?

Yes. We accept articles from anyone. If an article meets our requirements and is accepted for publication we will pay the author $20. Submission deadlines are Mar. 1, Jun. 1, Sept. 1, and Dec. 1, for the April, July, October, and January issues respectively. Research Reports are primarily articles providing clinical treatment protocols and treatment outcome reports.

If you would like to have your own articles and translations appear in Blue Poppy's quarterly Journal, you can submit these to Bob Flaws, Editor-in-Chief, at bob@bluepoppy.com. We'd also like to hear what you think of this new quarterly service.

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Is it possible to request Blue Poppy Press to create Recent Research Reports on specific subjects and diseases and how can I do this?

Yes, it is. However, we cannot guarantee every topic or how long it will take before the report is available. Our cadre of Blue Poppy translators is growing day by day. So we have more and more help in creating new Recent Research Reports. When you tell Customer Service that you'd like us to create a report on a specific disease, that request is passed on to our Editorial Department and from there to potential translators. However, readers should also understand that some diseases current in the West do not show up in medical literature from the People's Republic of China. For instance, there is little or nothing on cervical dysplasia since routine mass screening with Pap smears does not seem to be done in the PRC. Therefore, our ability to create Research Reports by request is limited to what is available in the Chinese journal literature.

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