News: Young Authors, Random House, And An Apple Settlement?

The Writer Games
A new trend appears to be emerging. Publishing parents, ushering an era of authors who are too young to drink, drive, frequent bars and buy prescription drugs.

It's heartening to see kids actually write books. They may be emulating favourite writers or striking out on their own. It might also bear hope for literacy, which is slumping like the economy these days.

Kids, however, also have a lot to bear while growing up and, often, don't have enough shoulders for the job. Soon, instead of just looks, clothes and choice of idols, a typical schoolyard dust-up can be sparked with a, "Your book stinks."

From what I've read so far, even adult authors don't always respond to bad reviews with grace. We can't expect kids to do any better, though one can hope. And some author spats can get really nasty. Will parents be filing lawsuits on behalf of their feuding literary proteges some day?

Also, how will editors handle kid authors? Or their parents? It'll be a new set of challenges, managing their expectations and going through the manuscripts. I've personally reviewed several 'scripts by writers below 18, and it's hard to be the bad guy.

By all means, let kids write and publish books. Just don't let things get ugly among them.


Canadian libraries staying out of Random House
Libraries in Nova Scotia, Canada are boycotting Random House over "unfair" e-book pricing.

Some weeks back, Random House bumped up prices of its books for libraries, believing, I assume, that people won't buy books if they can borrow them for free. But going by that logic, publishers might as well campaign to have libraries closed so people would have to buy books if they want to read them.

Tempus fugit, and now it's libraries that are threatened by the explosion of e-published books. At least publishers can revamp their business model to stay afloat. When anyone can tote around a virtual library in notebook-sized devices, who needs a real one?


Other news

• Apple and the publishers targeted for "collusion" by the US Department of Justice appears to be heading for a settlement with the feds. Some observers think this will mean lower e-book prices, but also the possible strengthening of Amazon's grip over book selling and publishing.
• A Q&A with Jodi Picoult. But why did you say "DO NOT SELF PUBLISH", ma'am? The Sydney Morning Herald, meanwhile, says "yes" to self-publishing.
• From The Maid and the Queen: Yolande of Aragon, Joan of Arc's secret backer? And the author of the book debunks seven Joan or Arc myths.
• The American Library Association's list of the ten most frequently challenged library books of 2011.
• Robert Silvers, founding editor of The New York Review of Books, takes us back in time to its early days.
• Amanda Hocking answers some questions on the varying degrees of success among self-published authors, and the responses to her input.
• Three costly cuppas: Greg Mortenson has to repay (at least) US$1 million to his former charity.
• Because you can't have too many writing tips: Here are some from CS Lewis.
• Cathy Clamp, one half of the writing duo known as Cat Adams, Guest blogs at Writer Beware on why (some) small publishers fail.
• 20 per cent of US is reading digital books, says Pew E-book Survey.
• Mightier than the sword: Shiva Rahbaran's Iranian Writers Uncensored.
• Anthony Bourdain's Ecco will be publishing the online restaurant reviewing phenom known as Marilyn Hagerty.
• New York City school tests will get more boring with a ban on 50 words being mulled.

Chasing Camels On The Karakoram Highway

This post had been sitting as a draft copy for about three weeks. Someone suggested giving this to The Malaysian Insider, so I did. Once again, TMI has been very kind.

Also, special thanks to an ex-colleague who introduced me to this band via a copy of their first album, Into... AkashA, back in... nuts, I can't remember when. ...I didn't do anything with that album back then, so I'm glad I could do something for this album now.

---

Chasing camels on the Karakoram Highway
first published in The Malaysian Insider, 06 April 2012


When I heard it, my jaw dropped. "Returned?"

"Cannot sell, so the boss said, 'Return them'," said the store assistant who looked overqualified for his position. With the beard, glasses and ponytail he might as well be the store's walking catalogue and go-to guy... he probably is.

"I put them everywhere," he added. "But cannot sell." His reply was no comfort.

In the end, it was at Rock Corner, The Gardens that I found a copy of AkashA's Karakoram Highway, going for RM38.90 each.

AkashA's Karakoram Highway, from Rock Corner, The Gardens.
Shop at Rock Corner for all your musical needs.

My appetite for things AkashA began from a borrowed CD, what I believe was their first commercial CD, Into... AkashA. The promise of more of such delights as "Bourbon Lassi", "Esperanto", "Brickfields Blues" and "Ants in My Turban" in the next then-rumoured second album were whetted further by a YouTube sampling of a lively number called "Ipoh Hor Fun".

Until my first slurp of "Bourbon Lassi", I didn't think a sitar could stand in for a sape or a gu zheng, or even fit into a blues band or an Irish ensemble a la Riverdance. It just works.

How many of you who've seen Amir Muhammad's Malaysian Gods were stunned by the Indian fellow playing local rock group Search's "Isabella" on an er hu? That's what AkashA does. Nowadays some of my better writings were done under the influence of this group's piquant and sometimes playful compositions.

Named for the highest paved cross-border road in the world, the album's contents represent fine examples of cross-culture interaction facilitated by its namesake, which traces part of the ancient Silk Road.

Come in - a cross-cultural musical adventure awaits

The CD starts with the fast-paced, jaunty "Chasing the Camel" which sends the listener on such a pursuit from 00:01. The composition switches fluidly between Middle Eastern and Indian, punctuated with violin solos by musical wunderkind Wang Lee-Hom. Just as animated is the title track, which sends one careening across a dusty highway that snakes along mountain ridges on a packed, rickety bus ... are those deftly plucked notes coming from the roof?

Similar out-of-body experiences may happen with the beguilingly mystical "Qawali Dhun" or the soulful Sarawak-inspired "Santubong". The festive "Bafana Bafana", with the shrill of what sounds like a vuvuzela at the beginning and the end of the track, conjures a carnival-like celebration of football's thrills and spills; the track is named after the Zulu epithet for the South African football team. "Zapin Untuk Mariam" and "Bison Blues", meanwhile, are the guys' trademark nods to the respective musical genres. "Rondo Kirwani" didn't quite work for me, though.

I was also a bit disappointed that the unmistakably Chinese "Ipoh Hor Fun" wasn't carried by a whole sitar solo like in the YouTube video, but the feeling disappears quickly and by the third repeat, who cares? Every time I play it, it's Chinese New Year, Chap Goh Meh and the Mooncake Festival all over again. ...Is anybody hungry?

No sophomore slump here. AkashA still delivers the goods - better than FedEx even. And you come away thinking, maybe, you can make an Ipoh hor fun with an Indian accent, or a real bourbon lassi.

"...cannot sell..."

The words of the assistant at the store which shall never be named still rings in my head. It stings. Like the pain a dedicated, OCD single origin coffee grower feels as he watches customers add sugar (gasp!) and milk/cream/soy (hrrk!) to his product ... and puts it on ice (Medic!).

It's a paradox isn't it? The money we throw at foreign acts who are already famous, making millions or both could be used to further the dreams of our own home acts who really, really need our help.

But perhaps it's only after wandering in the wilderness for a while that we develop an appreciation for what we have back home.

...Now, if you'll excuse me, gotta go. The "Karakoram Highway" beckons.

Regular Programming Interrupted

For this late announcement:

Musician Alda Evan Tan reportedly suffered a brain aneurysm and is now in a coma. He and his family need help with medical expenses. More info on the Facebook page and his sister's blog, including ways you can help.

News: April Fool's Day, Publishing Landscapes And Books

April Fool's Day is an exceptionally dangerous time to believe everything you read on the web.

I avoided the pitfall that was Twitter shrinking its character limit, only to fall flat for the alleged John Scalzi manga project. Who wouldn't want that to be real? And The Shadow War of the Night Dragon sounds like something Scalzi would write.

And I bet some of us were thinking as we stared, enthralled, by the cover images, "WHEN CAN WE HAZ ANDROIDZ DREEM TREELOGEE MANGA?"

Other news

• Chinese book publishing becoming more global as revenues of US$9.5 billion are expected this year. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, book sales are likely to remain poor. And here's a bit about the publishing landscape in Russia expected for this year.
• A look at one year at publisher House of Anansi. And a bit about a quirky Canadian indie known as Invisible Publishing. Also, meet Concord Free Press, a new non-profit publishing model that gets "buyers" to donate to their favourite charities.
• Quick fingers filch stuff at Bologna Children's Book Fair, Italy.
• In The Star, a writer and avid reader ponders the "50 Shades" phenomenon and a publishing world where popularity appears to eclipse quality. I just needed to use the word "eclipse".
• I'm a little bewildered by the apparent racism in the tweets that can be collectively summed up as, "ZOMG HUNGER GAMEZ HAZ BLACK PPLZ?! WHY??!!" If that sounds absurd, it's because I think it is. Do I need to explain why?
• On Cuba's Book Day, a publishing house plays a leading role.
• James Patterson on his books and stuff.
• Vook, a "digital publishing house in a box".
• Enid Blyton classics to be brought into the 21st century?
• Even with the bad news about the US' education system, this is surprising: US highschoolers are reading books beneath their average reading level.
• About that missing post: due to uncontrollable circumstances, I had to remove it. Lessons learnt: Never blog when your sick or sleepy, and never blog, post or tweet anything on April 1st.

Around The Peninsula In 37 Days

“Four corners of West Malaysia, 2,664 kilometres in 37 days... Are you two nuts?”

...Well, those were probably not the exact words. However, nothing could keep outdoors enthusiast Sandra Loh and her friend Mak Shiau Meng from their goal to travel to the four corners of Peninsular Malaysia on bicycles in early 2009. The tour was Mak's idea, and he had invited Sandra along for the ride.

For Mak, it was the fulfilment of a dream; for Sandra, a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Braving exhausting uphill roads in the scorching sun and freezing rain, daredevil lorry drivers, unhelpful road signs and the occasional cow, the two intrepid cyclists made their way to the designated four corners: Padang Besar, Kedah; Tanjung Piai and Sg Rengit in Johor; and Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

As they rode past small towns and big cities, friendly and helpful locals, old and new friends, new and familiar sights and (mostly) good food made the trip more interesting ...and bearable. And Sandra, the chronicler of the expedition, wrote it all down in her chirpy inimitable style.

...This was a really challenging book project.

Several months into my job, I received a bunch of huge Word documents, a manuscript for this woman's cycling travelogue. No, too bloggish. So we sent it back. Being new to this, I added some recommendations.

A few months later, it came back to us. More detail now, but ... rather flat. And still a bit bloggish. Bounce.

I never thought we'd see it for the third time. She's persistent ... well, she did cycle around the peninsula. We took it on. The meeting was scheduled around the middle of last year and at the end of it, an agreement.

G*d, the amount of text I had to chop off. About 14,000 words, by rough estimates. No shortcuts. After looking through it for perhaps five to six times, I could no longer spot the minor typos. So the author pitched in.

The layout people suffered more than I did, however. Though similar to the last book project, there was a lot more material to work with.

The last several weeks before the book went to the printers was (for me, at least) nerve-wracking. We ended up with a slightly trimmer version of the original manuscript. Had we kept most of it, the book would be too thick and too expensive.

(For the author's account of the publishing process, go here.)

About a month later, the first copies arrived at the office. A book looks a whole lot better and more real once it takes on three dimensions.

The tentative launch date for Pedalling Around The Peninsula is on 14 April, 3pm at MPH Subang Parade. Date, time and venue may be subject to change. We're hoping it'll be in stores by then.

"It's gonna be big," she kept saying.

I wasn't sure. But that teacher's blook surprised us, despite being the easier project.

Fine. Let's see what surprises this book would hold.

---

Pedalling Around The Peninsula

A Malaysian Girl's Two-wheeled Adventures

Sandra Loh
MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd
349 pages
Non-fiction
ISBN: 978-967-5997-82-2

Buy from MPHOnline.com

Ghostwritergate, Publishing Tips And "Literary Broccoli"

Ghostwriter Gripes
Julia Moskin's New York Times piece on cookbook ghostwriters stirred up quite a hot pot. Rachael Ray and Gwyneth Paltrow have denied using ghostwriters for their cookbooks. Some ghostwriters also spoke up. Moskin later explains her definition of ghostwriting in that article's context. Rachael Ray was not pleased.

Eater compiles several responses to what they call "Ghostwritergate". As usual, a chef (Eddie Huang of BaoHaus in New York) gives good advice on the matter, while defending Moskin and several other NYT food writers whom he says are "tearing down an industry built largely on lies."

In The Daily Beast, Regina Schrambling says almost every celeb cookbook these days is (sort of) ghostwritten and brushes off the whole thing as a "tempest in a tasting spoon."

Yeah. How many of us really cares if a celebrity cookbook was in fact ghostwritten?


Wanna publish a book?
Writers, power up your bio for (slightly) better publishing success.

Also: some PC Advisor advice on publishing an e-book. A computer/IT mag dishing e-book publishing advice? Books are becoming software.

While you're upping your CV, here are some resources on publishing industry terms and contracts. Hey, you learn the jargon with IT, too.


Other news

• It seems you still have to queue up to check out library e-books online. Plus, other challenges.
• Are the bells tolling for the Canadian publishing industry? Meanwhile, Canadian author Clare Marshall stays indie with digital self-publishing. "...it's not a sprint, it's a marathon."
  
• Was Oprah a boon to or bane of literature? This piece says "bane", apparently.
• An author reached out to a book pirate who shanghaied his "English Monster" - and gets a response.
• "Broken English": The rise of the imperfect narrator in fiction. Did the writer forget about Moira Young's Blood Red Road (which a commenter mentioned)? Or does it not count?
• When tradition threatens: Liberian writer Mae Azango's story on female genital cutting forces her into hiding.
• The life cycle of words, identified by science?
• Did a missionary turned researcher find something in the Amazon that threatens modern linguistics?
• Why it's a bad idea to think of translated foreign books as "literary broccoli".
• Some medieval marginalia said to be from old manuscript copies written by monks. Drudgery of tedium, carpal tunnel, and complaints about equipment, handwriting, etc. The more things change....
• Know your snark from your ad hominems.
• France suggests taxing online giants such as Amazon to help indie bookstores. So French, right?
• Someone has called Hemingway literature's Nike swoosh - and says Hemingway would be appalled. Not everybody liked him, though.

News: Shades of Grey and Phantom Pens

More Shades of Grey Coming Your Way
Will Paypal's erotica U-turn mean hundreds more 'shades of grey' in Smashwords, etc?

HarperCollins UK this so, apparently, judging from the rollout of its erotica imprint, Mischief Books. Also, "legit" publishers are reportedly combing the writing badlands for the next Fifty Shades. And thanks to e-readers, nobody can see what some of you girls are reading....

It's not the genre, it's the medium, this report seems to suggest. Sure.


Cooking the (cook)books?
A writer has revealed that some famous chefs do not write their own cookbooks. But Rachael Ray says no, no ghostwriters were involved in her cookbooks. That so? So who else does? And does anyone care?


Other News

• The Puzo family strikes back in "Godfather" dispute with Paramount. This episode is almost worth its own film.
• The central figure in Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers speaks out. Better than a (positive) review.
• Seems e-books aren't so good for the learning process.
• Paper vs pixels: A view from China. Also, the apparent decay of the brick-and-mortar bookstore scene in the Middle Kingdom.
• A pirated version of Jin Yong's novel on Apple's online store prompts a call for authentification for mobile content. And 22 Chinese authors have filed a claim against Apple for selling unlicensed copies of their books.
• A 12-year-old from Ahwatukee, Arizona has published her first book.
• Book Warehouse, one of Vancouver's largest independent discount book retailers, is closing its stores.
• Ian Fleming's back catalogue of Bond will be relaunched in e-book and print by Random House. It appears that, in the world of publishing, you live more than twice.
• 22 more reasons (read: excuses) to stop writing.
• Have newspapers begun publishing e-books on the side?