I’ve been wanting to blog about this for some time but haven’t got round to it. The animated discussion at Sharon’s blog (What we need – April 29) prompted me to hammer this out.
What sells books? That’s the million dollar question on every author’s lips. Nobody wants to pour sweat and blood over a book to see it waddling out of book shops like a pregnant duck.
From my experience of authoring three books, it all boils down to three things – B.D.P
1. Write a book readers want to buy
2. Get a good distributor to put your books in the bookshop
3. Court the media for publicity
Book 1 : Congratulations! You have won – A guidebook on how to maximize your chances of winning competitions, 2001
I had some publicity in the press but this book didn’t sell. I think I didn’t meet criterion no. 1. This book is too niche. It is targeted at people who love to enter contests. Since consumer contests attract entries in the hundreds of thousands, surely there is a market for such a book, I thought. Well, it turns out that these folk want to win the book and not fork out the money for it. Or perhaps they just don’t read, they’re too busy entering competitions. Criterion no. 2 was not met either. I can’t find my book in some stores.
Book 2 : Life’s Like That – Scenes from Malaysian Life, 2004
For this book, no. 1 and 2 are okay. But no. 3 was a bummer. I tried to court the press to give me coverage but met with very limited success. New Straits Times wrote a short and sweet review. The Star only gave the book a short capsule review under the Book Compilations page. Cronyism doesn’t work in my case. Though I had been writing for The Star and most of the articles in this compilation had been published there, I got nada publicity from them. Nobody wanted to do an author interview.
Sales is slow and steady but far from spectacular. Anyway, since I’d already earned the paycheck for the published pieces, it’s not so badlah. That’s just me consoling myself.
Book 3 : Honk! If You’re Malaysian, 2007
All three criteria are met and the books flew off the shelves. Honk! hits the bookshelves Christmas week of 2006. By April 2007, it’s into its third print run. Woohoo! 5,000 copies have been printed thus far, and still counting, I hope.
For once, things are going in the right direction. MPH, my publisher, is a one-stop centre for books. They publish, they print, they distribute, they sell. And I must say their distributing arm is doing a good job. Books move from warehouse to bookstores very quickly. I’m told it’s a case of in-today-out-tomorrow. I can find Honk! in all the bookshops I visit, unless they happened to have sold out.
And I’ve been getting some great media coverage too. Magazines, newspapers, radio and TV have featured Honk! The media loves to have an angle. Give them one. Mine is in its timeliness. 2007 is Visit Malaysia Year. It’s our 50th Merdeka.
A good example of a book that has done extremely well due to its awesome PR work is The Sky is Crazy. Yvonne Lee was an absolute media darling as you can see from her media gallery.
Of distribution, launches and talks
I can’t stress enough the importance of good distribution. You may have a fantastic book, you may have the media eating out of your hands, but if your books aren’t in the shops, they’re all for nought.
MPH organized a launch for Honk! It was piggy-backed on the Share-A-Gift carnival to raise funds for under-privileged children. Anything which can give that bit of publicity is good. But if I have to fork out my own money for a book launch, I’d say ‘No, thanks.” A launch alone isn’t enough to propel it into the best-seller lists.
I once attended a grand book launch officiated by a cabinet minister no less. The media was there, the big literary names were there, a long queue snaked up to the autograph table, and the buzz was fantastic.
Guess what, I can’t find the book in any bookshop. The book was killed by poor distribution. And of course, the fact that it was a hardcover and rather pricey didn’t help either.
Earlier, Xeus was asking the question of whether book talks help to move sales. There is no clear cut answer for this. I’ve conducted book talks for all three books and none of them had garnered anything resembling a crowd. Unless you’re a celebrity or a foreigner, you have to rely on friends, family and the odd fan or two for support.
I’ve never sold more than a few books at these book signings. Nothing in the double digits, I tell you. If you’re an egomaniac, conduct a signing. There’s nothing better and faster to bring you crashing down to earth.
But, when you’re scheduled for a book talk, the store will put up posters to promote the event. They will order more of your books. They will give them a prominent display. And these help to catch the eye of readers who’d then hopefully buy your book.
Of ringgit and sense
Authors get only 10% royalties. (If you’re JK Rowling – I love to quote her name – this is a great deal.) When my daughter saw my last royalty cheque for Life’s Like That, she remarked, “Authors are so poor one!?” Yes, dear, unless I can sell thousands and thousands of books, I’m afraid you can’t depend on mummy’s royalties to send you to university.
I’m not earning big bucks at all and I have to be circumspect in how I spend money in the PR machinery. Things have a way of adding up – petrol and toll to get to the book talks and interviews, studio photos, review copies and postage, stationery, computer and Internet connection etc.
For Honk! I’ve spent more than I ever did for Congratulations! and Life’s Like That. It’s paying off but I don’t want to spend more than I can earn. Right now, costs are still in the 3-digit bracket, not counting review copies and the ‘bribe’ I’ve offered my kids to help me honk at the book talks.
In a nutshell
Being an author is easy. Selling lots of books is not.
congrats, i guess it is a start to a happy ending story..hehe….but in my opinion, malaysian author issn’t well paid as population is so low in Malaysia, but on the other hand writing a book for international reader would be hard as we will require to have exposure.
Good constructive points, Lydia!
And thanks for the mention of my website. If there’s one thing I can add, something I just recently learnt, is the fact that a good credible author needs to ride along with the wave of his/her first successful book to create more new waves.
To make a book successful is not that illusive anymore, thanks to all the points highlighted by you, Xeus, Sharon, Tunku Halim, Dina etc.
But, to make your name as a constant best-selling author, that’s the challenge.
I’m very frank in telling people that my first book has opened up lots of opportunities for me but the bigger challenge now is to continue creating new waves, and as you personally know, am working real hard on it.
Wise man said, reaching to the top is not hard, it’s harder to remain on top.
Wish me lots of luck, my mentor!
Lydia – very helpful comments indeed, all in a nutshell. As I’m also with MPH I’ve to 1 and 2 covered. 3 might be more difficult due to distance. But will do what I can from here. Certainly the Star article will help. Trying to do another one with The Sun. Maybe going to copy you too with blog review competition. Worthwhile or not?
nicely written lydia and very true
but how sad for other writers (as in the e.gs i mentioned) who perhaps don’t have distributor pushing. often the books are v. deserving but just don’t have the support they need. bookshops have to be proactive when it comes to stocking books by local authors.
I hope this could be some reliable insider’s view that I had gathered.
According to some sources, many stores are tightening their belts, hence the smaller orders.
I was told that’s part of the domino effect of consumers tightening their belts.
As someone who likes to hide behind shelves (ahem, ahem) and observes purchasing power of readers in MPHs, I’m also sad to say that many are not that generous with book purchases. It’s worse when the book is thin, the parents will ask the kid to finish it up there. Or the adult potential buyers will lap it up at the lounge:(
Distributors are working hard too and I was told, they need concrete stuff like good reviews from the media, press releases to convince bookstores to increase re-orders. Sounds like chicken and egg story laa.
At the end of the day, it’s really business and everyone, whether publishers, distributors and book retailers are concerned about profit margin, on whether it’s worth it or not to make a huge order. Or for publishers, to even publish a book.
Hello, hello, any publisher or distributor to comment?
Anyway, if one is not too concerned about money at all, one can easily e-publish a book and give it all for free. Or print out the book and distribute for free.
alas, more notes to be jotted down in black book!
thanks Lydia.
A little trivia here: According to the New York Review of Books, 450,000 English-language books were published in 2006. And around 70,000 titles were published in Britain alone, out of which 6,000 are novels. Any large British publisher will receive more than 2,000 unsolicited manuscripts in a year. The average sale of a hardback book by a first-time writer is 400 copies! These are just some of the realities of the publishing business. Yes, like I have reiterated countless times, not everyone makes as much as Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling.
Eric, that’s really some hard bitter pills we have to swallow! On the other hand, that means we’re doing not too bad, in comparison to the new first time writers that sold 400 copies.
I was told before by one small time publisher that to even sell one thousand copies here in Malaysia ( for a local book) is no easy task.
Malaysians are not voracious readers, he said.
Yes, I do think that we are doing not too bad. It is getting better compared to the past. In the past, just to sell a thousand copies of a title was considered monumental a task. I think things have improved. Five thousand seems very achievable now. The next bar to attain is 10,000 copies. But we must create more quality books. Malaysians must learn to appreciate more good books and be discerning in their habits. And yes – lots of promotion of well.
Well said, Lydia! Not to mention your extremely hard work in getting Honk promoted. Author promotions do count for a lot.
I too suffer from distribution problems. Not in the initial stocking, but when the stocks run down, my distributor is not good in restocking. I have to keep on telling them to supply to this shop and that, and after a while, I gave up.
On the media side, if initially no one seems interested in reviewing your book or interviewing you, you need to find someone in the organisation who is sympathetic to your cause — and then maybe there is some ‘jalan’. This is where networking and being friendly with journalists help.
As for magazine reviews, you need to be very conscientious in contacting the respective editors or ‘person in charge of the book page’ or getting references and recommendations to other editors.
Publishing is a business as we all know. Publishers bring out a certain number of titles a year and so, once your book is out, will move on to the next title. That’s life I suppose. So Xeus – hence problems with distribution begin to occur as the focus is not as strong as before.
Eric – I agree with Yvonne, we local writers can take some heart in your statistics. At least we’re matching or out doing international writers in some cases. But I’m sure paper back sales must be a lot higher?
More literary trivia: There probably aren’t more than 80,000 regular readers of literary fiction in the United States. A successful book of poetry might sell no more than 2,000 copies in the U.S. And we are talking about a U.S. population of a little over 300 million! Think about it.
Tunku Halim – Yes, paperback sales are usually higher than hardback sales for obvious reasons. Malaysian writers can take umbrage from these statistics. Some local writers actually outdo their foreign counterparts. It is less costlier to reach 25 million people than 300 million people. Distribution is very costly and in most cases not worthwhile to pursue. I think book appearances, radio and television appearances, newspaper and magazine interviews, prominent displays in bookshops, etc. will do wonders for local books.
I am a firm believer that Malaysian books, especially nonfiction, written by Malaysians for Malaysians (and others) will one day take off. Perhaps the day has come. I think that if all Malaysian bookshops support and promote local books as a long-term strategy, this vision is quite attainable. We need more writers who are able to write excellently and at a faster pace to keep up with demand. The whole infrastructure must be in place: publishers, distributors, retailers, media, etc. There must be more investment in editing and graphic design skills. All the ingredients for a delicious apple pie are right in front of our eyes if we only choose to do it the right way.
Ok… I’m terrified now… It’s going to be a inspiration killer if I finally got my first book out and nobody wants to buy it. I’m still working really hard on my first book, it’s into its third chapter now… all I can say is that all your opinions and lessons learnt will be dilligently studied by me.
I guess wannabe authors like myself have a lot to learn from the people who have done it before. We could not thank all of you enough for the experience you’ve shared with us.
Dear Lydia,
My husband used to spend all his free time writing books when we first got married. I was even the editor for his first book. Manually propagating his cross references! He sells technical text books.
After 3 books, he realized that profit does not equate his time spent writing these books. Like you said, the author only gets 10%. And after tax, 10% really doesn’t pay for all the expenses incurred, especially when gas prices are so high.
What he gains though is popularity. People in the same industry as him, know him by his first and last name. And I think that is more valuable than money.
Will he write another book? Probably, but not any time soon. If he does write, it will be fiction.
It is also important to develop and maintain good relationships with the press and book reviewers if you want your book or books reviewed or highlighted. You must also space out your promotions throughout the year to maintain consistent sales rather than going all out within a month and neglecting the rest of the year. A book launch is usually not worth it unless it is a press launch it with all the right people there.
Now that we have a few recently published Malaysian writers, I would like to suggest that you all turn up at one another’s events – readings, signings, etc. – for various reasons.
One – to show support for fellow Malaysian writers.
Two – to show the Malaysian public that it’s not just one Malaysian writer who has published but a growing group.
Three – to make yourselves more accessible to the public; this helps sales of your books!
Case in point – at the recent MPH LitBloggers’ Breakfast Club, Kam Raslan, author of Confessions of an Old Boy, was present. Someone recognised him and went looking for his book in the shop. In the end, all copies were sold out that morning. Unfortunately, it was only 5 copies.
If the public doesn’t recognise you, the writer whose event it is can help by mentioning so-and-so is here, too, and has recently published a book.
BTW, Kam will be reading at Kinokuniya on Friday, 4 May 2007, at 7:30 p.m. Dina Zaman will be reading at Borders the Curve on Saturday, 5 May 2007, at 3:00 p.m. Show up and see what happens!
Malaysian writers must write more new books to keep the industry thriving. More new writers must be developed. There are not many new names in the local publishing scene. However, I must agree that the situation now is very much better than in the past. We can take comfort in that. Despite the negatives, it is still very challenging to develop Malaysian publishing.
With regard to royalties: a writer of such stature as J.K. Rowling commands only 11.25 per cent! It is VOLUME OF SALES that really matters. She’s has the volume of sales which most writers do not have. As of now, she has sold some 350 million copies of the Harry Potter books. The whole series is worth something like 500 million copies. Imagine! Do some mathematics and you’ll know what I mean!
11.25%? That’s huge for a writer still. But yeah, I guess it is the volume that matters. Do we have a large enough reading market for that though?
I didn’t know it was that tough. I personally love to write although I find that ideas come and go real quick. Or as you try to build up on one you think its awfully stupid and you can’t help but feel you suck. I have quite a few friends in school who write brilliant stuff and I feel really put down. I’ve always wanted to be the youngest kid to write a book not for the money but for the passion. Check out my blog some time? Thanks
Oh, by the way, excellent song. Vienna Boys Choir did that one. Its heart wrenching.
Wahlau, writing books for an international market is many times harder.
Yvonne, thanks for sharing your insider info.
Tunku Halim, yes, I think it’ll be good to do a book review contest for 44. It’ll help generate some buzz in the blogosphere. Go for it.
Xeus, sorry to hear about your distribution problems. It’s true what you said, how many times can you call up your distributor before you get fed-up?
Argus, networking does help, but only to a certain extent. In approaching editors, one needs to have a very thick face.
Bib, ‘proactive’ – yes!
Kak Teh, you’re welcome. Now work on your book, okay?
EW, you’re on your 3rd chapter? That’s good. Keep going, Philipp. You have youth on your side.
Eric, thanks for sharing your insight and statistics. Authors, let’s bake our ‘apple pie’ right.
mrshbt, point taken. An author may not have monetary rewards aplenty, but his books help build a name. I hope your husband won’t forget his writing dream.
Chet, well said. We need to support one another, like how you’re supporting writers. Thanks for contacting your DJ friend for me. I hope Kam’s book does well. I do enjoy his writing in OTE.
Kenny, you’re right. It is volume that counts.
Roshni, I face the same problem, ding-donging between various ideas when all I need is to work on ONE. This song is by Mike Strickland. Will be removing it soon, got complaints that it’s irritating. Am also getting a bit tired of it
Checked out your blog. You’re only 13? Way to go! Keep writing, kid.
Lydia – I think you should be replacing the music with some of your singing. I’m sure it’ll be a hit with all of us. Promise
Yes, will do the blogger review thing, going to curi from you.
Tunku Halim, LOL you don’t know what you’re asking. It’ll hit you all right, you will pengsan! No problem. Good ideas are meant for stealing, hehe.
Ya, that’s a good idea… replace the music with your own singing… sure attract more fans one… I can see the headlines di…visit Lydia Teh‘s blog to hear her SING!
O No! From my POV, it should be B.P.M (Book, Pricing, Marketing). a book should be of good value, reasonable pricing and the author should be given a push and opportunity for vast exposure. If more people are talking and writing reviews about a particular book, the particular book will sell. Packaging is another issue. Says buy 3 books for a bonus of Spider 3 ticket; or let credit card company for example, to package the book in term of points exchanging etc.
Kenny, let me take up singing lessons first.
picatho, you brought up some valid points. Pricing is also important. As far as I know, MPH and Pelanduk’s pricing policy is to give value for money. Getting book reviews is part of the author’s PR blitz because they do sell books. Now about the marketing of books, publishers have to lead the way and come up with innovative ways of promotion. I like the ideas that you mention and I think they will help push sales, but authors have no say in such matters, unless they’re self-published.
Hello Lydia! I’ve bought your recent book, “honk if you’re Malaysian” and it’s fun! What you’ve written is true about Malaysian. I cant stop myself from laughing.
Keep on writing and I’ll support you!
curryegg
curryegg, thank you for the vote of confidence! You have some lovely pictures on your blog, especially those of the green, green trees.
Lydia, I’m sure you don’t need singing lessons. Maybe your first song should be “Honk! If you’re Lydia!”
Hi Lydia, you are the media guru! Twan Eng, Kak Teh, Halizah and I were all referencing you when we met for dinner in London on Friday night re how to get publicity for books. Congrats!
Tunku Halim, Honk is a nice way to begin a title. The NST article last Sat is titled Honk! if you’re a housewife.
Yang-May, thanks. No wonderlah my ears were itchy on Friday night – you guys were talking about me ah. I bet you had a great time talking about books.
Hi, Lydia. Your blog inspired me to write the following article and while I was at it to start a blog on my writing experience in Malaysia which I had been thinking about for years, and several people, including ex-students, have been pushing me to do. But considering how much time it took me to write this, will see…
Publishing Books in Malaysia/Singapore by Robert Raymer.
Yesterday, I was visiting bookstores in Kuching in order to convince them to stock my book, Lovers and Strangers Revisited, since tomorrow 20 May 2007, there will be a profile of me and a review of my book in The Borneo Post. I was told by Times and Popular that the KL office does the ordering for them, so they faxed a copy of my NST review (16 April 2006) with some cryptic notes written by me, which I followed up today with a lengthy email to lobby my books into their Kuching stores (hopefully all over Sarawak and Malaysia, tool). Having the interview/review coming out boosted my confidence and gave me credibility, too. Plus I had an Ace up my sleeve. One of my short stories from the collection, “Neighbors” was selected by the Ministry of Education to be taught in 2008 SPM Literature, thus guaranteeing a lot of interest among teachers and students, who will be discussing that story. Already there is an online discussion on the MELTA website (as of today 2692 hits on my story alone, with 241 comments (feel free to add to this): http://www.melta.org.my/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=510&forum=5&jump=1 ) Also, particularly, since only a few of the writers are from or based in Malaysia and I’m sure I’m the only one from Sarawak ( I could be wrong)! In fact, many of the authors aren’t even alive!
I was also told by my publisher, Silverfish Books, that their distributor was making excuses about sending my books to Sarawak because of the shipping costs. Having a good distributor is imperative. Even getting the books into the stores in Penang (where I lived for twenty years) and on campus at USM (where I taught for ten years), took forever and a lot of arm-twisting and follow-ups on my behalf! Now I have to start all over again in Kuching! Hopefully something will come of the contacts I made yesterday, the emails I wrote today, and phone calls I’ll be making on Monday to follow up. One bookstore did agree to take 25 books on consignment basis. The publisher said, because of shipping costs, it wouldn’t be profitable for them, so I used my own stock and cut a deal with the bookstore, who agreed to wrap all the books except one in plastic to protect them. He also requested that his bookstore be mentioned in the review tomorrow to direct customers his way, which I thought was a good idea. In fact, it was The Borneo Post reporter’s idea and she had even approached the bookstore on my behalf (bless her heart!); I merely sealed the deal with a phone call and delivered the books, a win-win situation for both of us. Finally I have some of my books in Kuching, and before the profile/interview hits tomorrow. Timing is everything. Just wished they were in all of the stores!
Previously, the original version of my book was published by Heinemann Asia in Singapore back in 1993. 75 copies of my book were sold by a Times Bookstore in Penang, which is a lot for local fiction. So when I asked them to restock the book, the manger said no. He said their policy was not to stock second editions except their own (Times Editions) books. I looked at him as if he had a hole in his head. They sold 75 copies, I was in the store regularly to buy books and to browse, my office was located right behind them, I even did a successful autograph signing in their store. I thought we were friends. But he refused to make an exception – that was Times Editions policy back in 1993!
Lydia Teh said that MPH published her third book and that’s great. The publisher has its own bookstores all over Malaysia (but not in Sarawak), they are distributors, so the book will get out to all major stores (I saw a copy yesterday in Kuching). They also get good media coverage, promote within their own stores and through their magazine. But will the books get out of Malaysia/Singapore market, a lament I’ve had since my first experience in Singapore! The answer to that is mostly, no. At least Silverfish has a website (shipping is free all over Malaysia including Sarawak and Sabah) and an online newsletter. Last I heard, they were trying to set up a distributor in the US. But so far, most (if not all) publishers in Malaysia and Singapore only sell here, not around the world. This is their market. But Malaysian and even expat writers have to start somewhere.
As authors, you have to promote your own book any way that you can – through your website, through blogs, through readings, through networking with other writers. Last year, I sold more books on my own through book launches and creative writing workshops than I did in bookstores and online orders. By the way, for book launches, you don’t just have one and expect everyone to show up to buy your book. You got to turn it into an event. In Penang, I asked for Penang Players help (we have been friends for years) and they agreed to sponsor the launch, read excerpts from four short stories, and gave an animated reading of my play, “One Drink Too Many” a comedy I wrote based on the story, “Neighbors”. I was told I’d be lucky to have 30 people show up; we had over 100! But that took a lot of emailing, publicity, a great full page review in the NST mentioning the launch, and creating an “event” where people came and laughed!
But first you have to write a book that people want to buy (and hopefully read!), then do some homework to see who is the best publisher for you and made sure they have a good distributor or your friends will be complaining, I went all the way over to so-and-so to buy your book and they didn’t have it! Then court the media. NST did a full page review, with color and my photo. The Expat Magazine also did a full page review. Had a few online reviews, too. I was grateful for all of them! The Star did not review the book, even though my publisher and I sent them books in KL, I sent them books in Penang, I met with Star reporters (even a former student), and a friend who even does book reviews for The Star who initially said yes — she would review the book, but never did. (I believe she was overcommitted with other projects and the timing for her was bad. I know she feels guilty about it, too, and I forgive her – she’s still a friend!) But I’m not giving up on The Star either. I will be contacting them again as soon as The Borneo Post comes out…It’s all about persistence. Believing in your work. But it better be good, too! I can’t be a judge of my own work – I’m biased. But so far the individual stories from Lovers and Strangers Revisited have been published 54 times in nine countries, four of the stories have been taught in four universities in Malaysia, and in a high school in Canada, too. And next year “Neighbors” will be taught all over the country! And I still have a hard time getting bookstores to stock (and restock) the book, and it only came out in 2006! So good luck!
Better yet, create some controversy or write on a controversial subject, then the media will gladly cover it. Of course, this can backfire too; it could get banned in Malaysia. Then you can say to your friends, if the book hadn’t gotten banned, it would have been on all of the bestsellers’ lists.
Robert Raymer
http://www.BorneoExpatWriter.com
http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/
For those interested in seeing the SPM list:
SPM Literature Text (6th cycle)
SPM 2008: Titles for study
Poems
Theme: Relationships
1.Tonight I Can Write – Pablo Neruda
2. Ways of Love – Chung Yee Chong
3. A Prayer for My Daughter – Yeats
4. The Way Things Are – Roger McGough
5. For My Old Amah – Wong Phui Nam
6. How Do I Love Thee? – Elizabeth Barret Browning
Theme: Perception of Life
1. Birches- Robert Frost
2. I Am – John Clare
3. This Is A Photograph of Me – Margaret Atwood
4. Waiting to Go On – Hugo Williams
5. Daring Tears – Craig Romkema
6.The Traveller – Muhammad hj Salleh
Theme: Conflicts
1. Dulce et Decorum Est- Wilfred Owen
2. The Man He Killed – Thomas Hardy
3. Death of A Rainforest – Cecil Rajendra
4. The War Against Trees – Stanley Kunitz
5. A Quarrel Between Day and Night – Omar Mohd Noor
6. “Crabbed age and youth cannot live together “- Shakespeare
Short Stories
1. Naukar – Anya Sitaram
2. Cinderella Girl – Vivien Alcock
3. The Landlady – Roald Dahl
4. Neighbours – Robert Raymer
5. Harrison Bergeron – Kurt Vonnegut Jr
Novels
1. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
2. Fasting, Feasting – Anita Desai
3. Holes – Louis Sachar
Drama
1. Julius Caesar – Shakespeare
2. The Lion and the Jewel – Wole Soyinka
3. An Inspector Calls – JB Priestly
Thanks for the frank disclosure. It’s tougher going for Malaysians as well because our reading market is small. But well done on your book.
Robert, Thanks for listing the books for lit students.
Eliza, thank you. But as Eric Forbes and Tunku Halim as pointed out, we’re actually quite lucky – it’s easier for us to be published here than in the States.
Robert, I’m sorry I missed out on your article – because it was so long, WordPress sent it for moderation. Usually I don’t bother with such comments because they’re spam. I only noticed it when I was deleting the spam comments just now. Thank you. I will direct readers to your post.
ummm…I see…is it the same for Children Storybooks and Storybooks on legends?
I kinda want to illustrate for these kind of books (other than comics hehe) and my mom said she wants to write a few stories. If the market is not good…perhaps I have to turn to online marketing like LuLu.com?
Emerald, I’m not sure what’s the market like for children’s books. But if your book is good, a children’s publisher will take you on. You could team up with your mum, you draw, she writes. Come up with something and pitch your book.
Okay, I’ll try my best! But that can only happen after college…
Emerald, it’s good to have a dream to work towards.
Lydia first of all thank you for suggesting me to go through this blog. It has been very informative and motivating. Up until now I thought that these things only happens to me especially as I am a new writer and have not made any name yet. I have been contacting people about my book since day one it had been published in September 2007. Not much impact so far but I believe that hard work will be pay off someday and that thought keep me going. Hope that you all will guide me through this and hope that all of us will be like JK Rowling one day insya’allah
Khadijah, you’re most welcome. Do persevere. Usually success comes after much hard work. JKR wasn’t an overnight success either. She slogged for several years before making it big with Harry Potter. My first book tanked, second was so-so and it was only the third book which took off. So hang in there.
my voice sucks on karaoke that is why i am taking sining lessons now from professionals -~-
My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.