MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller List
for the week ending 20 January 2008
1. Kuasa Di Sebalik Solat by Syaikh Jalal Muhammad Syafi'i
2. Chronicle of Malaysia by Philip Matthews
3. Ahmadinejad: Singa Baru Dunia Islam by Muhsin Labib and Ibrahim Muharam
4. Xuan Kong Flying Stars Feng Shui by Joey Yap
5. Teh Hong Piow: A Banking Thoroughbred by Paddy Bowie
6. Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things Vol 1. by Amir Muhammad
7. Feng Shui For 2008 by Joey Yap
8. I Am Muslim by Dina Zaman
9. Juara Lelongan Hartanah by Azizi Ali
10. Common Cents Managing Your Wealth by Andrew Chua
# This is the 11th non-consecutive week in the chart, and the first time it is charting in 2008.
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Why 'New Malaysian Essays 1' will not be in most Malaysian bookstores
What a difference a day makes.
At 3pm Tuesday, I reached a verbal agreement with a large distributor in PJ to handle New Malaysian Essays 1. We agreed on the quantity, retail price, some modest promo stuff.
At 9am Wednesday, I got a call from the printer. This printer is also part of the same corporate family as the distributor. I was told that the corporation is "unable to associate itself with the book". It refuses to print or distribute it.
Why?
I was told that this is "the Datuk's orders." A hastily convened meeting the day before (which ended at 10pm) came to the conclusion that New Malaysian Essays 1 is somehow 'politically sensitive.' There's also the business of 'the vulgar words.'
I explained that while there are certainly some bits in the essays that are pointed and provocative, there's nothing that can be construed as libel, slander or sedition. Thus, there should be nothing wrong from the legal standpoint. (As for the vulgar words in my essay: I was being educational).
Ah, but these are difficult times. (The word 'elections' was used).
I should have been dismayed or upset by this act of corporate self-censorship but the main thing I experienced was panic: The launch would be in less than 4 weeks (which would include the protracted Chinese New Year holidays) and I didn't have a printer!
Phone-calls. Emails. Checking of bank balance.
Luckily, later in the afternoon, I managed to get a printer. But I still have no distributor.
Without a distributor, I would not be able to get into the main bookstores.
Well, I have since decided something.
I have decided that it's no big deal.
So what if the book doesn't get into the main shops? I will just distribute the thing myself. I am sure there will be a few independent bookstores/venues that will stock it. For sure it will not be in any MPH, Times or Popular, though.
I reduced the print run to 1,000. The fact that I don't have to surrender such a large cut (55%) to this distributor also means I can now price the book at RM30.
Where exactly will it sell after the launch day? Well, there's always Kinibooks, that plucky online shop run by Malaysiakini.
After the Thaipusam holiday (which now spreads to KL, thanks to the efforts of Hindraf to push the government to think of the Hindus for a change*) I will speak to a few other retailers too. Can't promise anything at this stage but you shall be updated!
* I wonder if this sort of sentence qualifies as 'politically sensitive.' There are quite a few of them in the book. Ah well. It's not something that a certain corporation in PJ will have to worry about now.
At 3pm Tuesday, I reached a verbal agreement with a large distributor in PJ to handle New Malaysian Essays 1. We agreed on the quantity, retail price, some modest promo stuff.
At 9am Wednesday, I got a call from the printer. This printer is also part of the same corporate family as the distributor. I was told that the corporation is "unable to associate itself with the book". It refuses to print or distribute it.
Why?
I was told that this is "the Datuk's orders." A hastily convened meeting the day before (which ended at 10pm) came to the conclusion that New Malaysian Essays 1 is somehow 'politically sensitive.' There's also the business of 'the vulgar words.'
I explained that while there are certainly some bits in the essays that are pointed and provocative, there's nothing that can be construed as libel, slander or sedition. Thus, there should be nothing wrong from the legal standpoint. (As for the vulgar words in my essay: I was being educational).
Ah, but these are difficult times. (The word 'elections' was used).
I should have been dismayed or upset by this act of corporate self-censorship but the main thing I experienced was panic: The launch would be in less than 4 weeks (which would include the protracted Chinese New Year holidays) and I didn't have a printer!
Phone-calls. Emails. Checking of bank balance.
Luckily, later in the afternoon, I managed to get a printer. But I still have no distributor.
Without a distributor, I would not be able to get into the main bookstores.
Well, I have since decided something.
I have decided that it's no big deal.
So what if the book doesn't get into the main shops? I will just distribute the thing myself. I am sure there will be a few independent bookstores/venues that will stock it. For sure it will not be in any MPH, Times or Popular, though.
I reduced the print run to 1,000. The fact that I don't have to surrender such a large cut (55%) to this distributor also means I can now price the book at RM30.
Where exactly will it sell after the launch day? Well, there's always Kinibooks, that plucky online shop run by Malaysiakini.
After the Thaipusam holiday (which now spreads to KL, thanks to the efforts of Hindraf to push the government to think of the Hindus for a change*) I will speak to a few other retailers too. Can't promise anything at this stage but you shall be updated!
* I wonder if this sort of sentence qualifies as 'politically sensitive.' There are quite a few of them in the book. Ah well. It's not something that a certain corporation in PJ will have to worry about now.
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Index
I really like indexes (indices?). I don't understand why Malaysian non-fiction books tend not to have 'em. I would someday like a more specialised one but since we lack the skills at the mo, we came up with this bare-bones index that lists names and titles. Reading these four pages alone is to celebrate some incongruous juxtapositions.
Friday, 18 January 2008
Postal pre-orders now open
Hmm. I was gonna announce this only next week, but since Howsy asked, I might as well open it now.
Yes! You can pre-order New Malaysian Essays 1 for RM30 each. The price includes shipping anywhere within Malaysia. If you are outside Malaysia, kindly make friends with a Malaysian resident who can then post it to you.
You can send the money to my Maybank account: 014105120512. Once you have done so, send me an email at matahari.books@gmail.com to let me know your address. If you'd like an autograph, let me know to whom it should be addressed :-)
Closing date is Thursday, Feb 14. The books will be posted on Feb 15.
Have a good weekend!
Yes! You can pre-order New Malaysian Essays 1 for RM30 each. The price includes shipping anywhere within Malaysia. If you are outside Malaysia, kindly make friends with a Malaysian resident who can then post it to you.
You can send the money to my Maybank account: 014105120512. Once you have done so, send me an email at matahari.books@gmail.com to let me know your address. If you'd like an autograph, let me know to whom it should be addressed :-)
Closing date is Thursday, Feb 14. The books will be posted on Feb 15.
Have a good weekend!
The bare details
Synopsis:
New Malaysian Essays 1 is the first of a planned annual series concentrating on local non-fiction writing. From polemic to ode to memoir, this series invites Malaysian readers – and writers – to notice, analyse and interpret the living, throbbing, squelching vitality around them. Multi-disciplinary, multi-tasking and best appreciated on multi-vitamins, this first collection takes us from Brian Yap's election-era critique to Amir Muhammad's alternative lexicon by way of Burhan Baki's elegant deconstructions, Aminuddin Mahmud's seminar on branding and Saharil Hasnin Sanin's knockabout ruminations on language before rounding off with Sonia Randhawa's stirring call for national (and therefore personal) self-realisation.
Writers: Brian Yap, Aminuddin Mahmud, Burhan Baki, Saharil Hasrin Sanin, Amir Muhammad & Sonia Randhawa
Length: 256 pages.
Size: 21cm (height) and 17.9cm (width)
Language: English (80%) and Malay (20%).
Published by Matahari Books
Design & Layout by Bright Lights at Midnight
Printed by Academe
Retail price: RM36
ISBN: 987-983-43596-1-4
National Library Catalogue-in-Publication
Launch date: 16 February 2008 (8pm; Central Market Annexe, top floor)
Thursday, 17 January 2008
The paper
One of the joys of publishing books: getting to choose paper! And one of the sorrows: realising how limited our choices in this country really are...
After weeks, I finally decided upon acid-free Japanese cream 84gsm paper. It ain't so cheap but it's nice. The close runner-up was actually this paper that me and the printer started calling "the Shahrizat paper" because that's what the politician is using for a hardcover puff book about herself. But the Japanese cream trumps it because it won't yellow with age. (It's already cream, anyway...)
Since this book is going to be in a "weird shape" (as I have been told often), it was also extra-difficult to get paper that came in the right size, without too much wastage. But I am glad I chose this format; a normal-sized paperback would not have been as fun to work with.
Thanks to Chuah Guat Eng who introduced me to the paper supplier! Her name is Fallon, which of course brought back fond memories of Alexis, Blake, Krystal, Adam, Stephen and the rest of the gang*
The first print run is gonna be 1,500 books, which requires 14,000 sheets of paper.
* Some of you may be too young or too serious to remember. Ah! Too bad.
After weeks, I finally decided upon acid-free Japanese cream 84gsm paper. It ain't so cheap but it's nice. The close runner-up was actually this paper that me and the printer started calling "the Shahrizat paper" because that's what the politician is using for a hardcover puff book about herself. But the Japanese cream trumps it because it won't yellow with age. (It's already cream, anyway...)
Since this book is going to be in a "weird shape" (as I have been told often), it was also extra-difficult to get paper that came in the right size, without too much wastage. But I am glad I chose this format; a normal-sized paperback would not have been as fun to work with.
Thanks to Chuah Guat Eng who introduced me to the paper supplier! Her name is Fallon, which of course brought back fond memories of Alexis, Blake, Krystal, Adam, Stephen and the rest of the gang*
The first print run is gonna be 1,500 books, which requires 14,000 sheets of paper.
* Some of you may be too young or too serious to remember. Ah! Too bad.
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
"A Manifesto for Independence: Fifty Years to Merdeka?" by Sonia Randhawa
(The sixth and final essay).
Synopsis:
Malaysia is in crisis. This essay raises worrying questions about both our present and our future.
Length:
45 pages
Trivia:
The wordiest essay (15,000 words) but Saharil's pips it for page numbers by having more illustrations!
Sample page:
Synopsis:
Malaysia is in crisis. This essay raises worrying questions about both our present and our future.
Length:
45 pages
Trivia:
The wordiest essay (15,000 words) but Saharil's pips it for page numbers by having more illustrations!
Sample page:
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