Sunday @ Amcorp, jom!

Did a phone interview with Bissme S of The Sun today. I told him that I will be selling the book personally at the Amcorp Mall flea market this Sunday (10am-5pm). He was shocked as he'd never interviewed a writer who would do such a thing: "The rest of them are kinda snobbish, they only do readings at bookshops or book fairs..."

Actually, there are quite a few writers, mainly those who write in Malay, who sell books personally. Their books are often not in the shops but are literally carried around. 'Snobbish' is hardly the word for them.

But I want it both ways: I want it to be in major bookshops, and I also want to push the thing myself, damnit!

So I like the idea of non-bookish venues. By sheer coincidence, the very format of Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things is meant to appeal to non-readers. And non-readers are everywhere!

I am glad that I now have a distributor (MPH) who will stock it at bookshops in Malaysia by this weekend, and then Singapore. (In the meantime, the only place you can get it is here). But it would be so boring to just dump it at the shops and not do anything else. Where's the fun in that?

Maybe it's because I am involved in movies and all, but I do enjoy the vulgarity of promotion. Plus, I get to meet some interesting new folks that way. I was at our launch-day flea market stall for only an hour on Sunday morning, but chatted with the son of a prominent political figure (who expressed cautious support but didn't actually buy the book, the cheapskate).

So, do come to Amcorp Mall this Sunday and we can meet. Shahril Nizam will be there too, with his book If Only.

And I am always on the lookout for alternative venues. I want to sell it at the UMNO General Assembly later in the year. I am told there are many stalls outside. How do I get access to one? (I only hope that not all UMNO members are like Muhammad Muhammad Taib, who cannot read English, or the book won't sell at all!)