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Monday, 17 December 2012

News: Big Bad Book Habits, Etc

Last week was a slow one for book-related news.

Saturday, 15 December 2012

Why I Don't Write (Much) On Local Politics Nowadays

Because, at some point in time, it started writing about itself.

Change in government? Forget about it, says Rais

Najib: LGBTs, liberalism, pluralism are enemies of Islam

Dress like a YB, feel like a YB

Chua: Even the Chinese look up to BN now

Growing Chinese clout may cause new May 13, says Ibrahim Ali

Ibrahim Ali: I am a victim of jealousy

Perkasa: Impossible for Malays to compete economically because of Islam

Sexist remarks due to provocation, says Bung Mokhtar

Bung Mokhtar defends F-bomb, says to ‘teach’ lesson to churls

Shahrizat: Women get equal treatment under BN

Najib launches Ah Jib Gor fan club

Residents: DAP bowed to PAS and forced 'sexy' singer off the stage

Speakers sing 'battle songs' for BN's victory

Dr M insists Arabs incapable of planning 9/11 attacks

Dr M defends policies, says Jews created problems

Dr M says US moms are promiscuous in attack against US free speech

Dr M: We are better than Singapore, 'so-so' ASEAN neighbours and US

Dr M: Many things will be destroyed if opposition rules

"Better the devil you know", Dr M tells voters

Dr M: Reject BN and opposition will destroy country

Dr M: Privilege for non-Malays to keep race image

Be careful of your actions, Dr M warns daughter

Give something up to ensure long-term stability — Mahathir

Dr M: More Chinese independent schools will divide people

Reforms could lead to extremism, Dr M warns Najib

Dr M: Opposition is 'privileged' in committing criminal acts

Dr M: Rethink absolute freedom on Net

BN still weak because of Pak Lah, Dr M tells Johor Umno

Expect 'unceasing violence' if Pakatan loses elections, says Dr M

Dr M refutes daughter's claim of police violence during Bersih 3.0

Bersih rally aimed to topple government, says Dr M

Pakatan vows to up Malaysia's graft rank to world top 30

...and so on.

At least I'm less stressed and have more time to concentrate on stuff like:

Publisher's Weekly names EL James "Publishing Person of the Year"

...which I can go to town, city and kampung with, without worry. Except that Washington Post book critic Ron Charles already beat me to it.

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Sometimes, Life IS Like That

Is "series" singular or plural?

Editors are supposed to have answers to questions like this at their fingertips. Sometimes, they don't.

One is tempted to let things stand, but considering what the back cover copy is for, that was not an option.

Searching Google yielded:

Series can be a singular or a plural noun, depending on its meaning. When it is used to refer to a single set of things, it takes a singular verb even if it is followed by the preposition of and a plural noun: A series of medical tests is planned for next week. When series refers to two or more sets of things, it takes a plural verb: Three series of medical tests are planned for next week.

Subsequent searches confirmed the above. All right, then. Singular it is, like the thing we're referring to. Which is...


Probably appearing in bookstores early 2013; subject to change


Did an author's past blog post help her editor with her own upcoming book? Yes, it did. As far as I know, this doesn't happen often.

More about this project when it comes out of the presses.

Monday, 10 December 2012

News: Spilled Cups Of Tea, Secret Scottish Book Sculptor, Etc

Last week, David Relin, co-author of Three Cups of Tea, is dead. Said to have killed himself. The tragedy in contextualised here. Lesson: Be wary of who you ghostwrite for.

Also:

  • BBC to adapt JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy for TV. How are they going to cast the characters, and will they- of course they'll probably sanitise it - a little.
  • Airport novel writer Wilbur Smith signs six-book deal with HarperCollins. First HC book coming in Xmas 2014. Ernest Cline ("Ready Player One", being adapted by Warner Bros) scores deal for book ... something about video games. Gary K Wolf coming up with a third Roger Rabbit book?
  • Ron Charles congratulates 2012's Publishing Person of the Year, PD James ... and gets corrected. Hilarity ensues in the "Red Room of Gain" where there are "no shades of grey".
  • Scotland's secret book sculptor strikes again. Here's a gallery of her latest work.
  • Will it soon become illegal to sell used books?
  • The lure of second-hand bookstores.
  • The times when spell-check fails.
  • Here's some tips on upgrading your resume/CV, and here's ten buzzwords to axe from your LinkedIn profile. Good job hunting.

Saturday, 8 December 2012

MPH Quill October-December/Anniversary Issue 2012

So, for Quill, magazine MPH decided to combine the last issue and the anniversary issue for 2012 into what I call 'the Syed Mokhtar issue', in conjunction with the release of his biography by Premilla Mohanlall.



Frequent Quill contributor Shantini Suntharajah interviewed Deborah Henry - the author, not Miss Universe Malaysia 2011 - about her first novel, The Whipping Club.



A version of my review/blab about the hilarious New Guide of the Conversation in Portuguese and English (1855) by José da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino also appears in this issue.



Singapore-based student Alycia Lim caught artist and coffee cup beautifier Boey Cheeming on one of his book tour stops around Malaysia and Singapore for his illustrated autobiography When I Was A Kid.



Anis Rozalina Ramli from Tourism Malaysia takes us around old Terengganu and highlights some places to see and things to do there.



There's more, so pick up a copy at a newsstand or selected bookstores. For some reason, it's also available online now. The web site people put it there, so I suppose it's okay to pass it on. Download PDFs here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Maybe it's better that it's available online in PDF. Taking pictures of glossy pages without imprinting your 'ghost' on them is hard. But this might be a one-off thing.

Thursday, 6 December 2012

Some Things You Can't Put Up With

At first I wrote this for the blog, but then mulled sending this to The Star. It ended up in The Malaysian Insider because of the number of links in the piece, which made it (a little) more suitable for an online medium and I couldn't wait till Sunday.

Silly reasons, maybe. Probably as silly as that letter I'm responding to.

If he is from Penang, Mr Fed-up's small-minded meanness demeans my home state more than the parachuted outsiders and imports. Penang has always been a cosmopolitan place, and the Festival is but part of the continuation of George Town's rich history.

(...not saying that other places are any less cosmopolitan or poor in history...)

Fixed the second line in this version; some bits I should've removed after shifting some paragraphs got left behind. My apologies.

The quote marks, however, were deliberate; I've spent so much time out of Penang I'm not sure I can technically call myself a Penangite anymore...



From one 'Penangite' to another

first published in The Malaysian Insider, 06 December 2012

I was reading about the recently concluded Hay Festival of Literature and Arts in the Bangla Academy at Dhaka and the protesters who felt the event, which focuses on English literature, shouldn't be hosted at the venue.

Though the protesters in Bangladesh had reason to object, the planners of Hay in Dhaka:

"...went to great lengths to ensure due homage to local culture and history, as the opening ceremony presented classical Indian dances performed to Bangla poems, and ended with a jatra, a form of folk dance-drama. Out of 41 panels, at least 15 were in Bangla, and the stage was taken by four times as many Bangladeshi writers as foreign ones. The Bangla panels found equal room for new poets, like Trimita Chakma, who writes in the minority Chakma language. And the event marked the time at Hay that women outnumbered men on stage."

Closer to home, there's the Singapore Writers Festival, which began in 1986. Before anybody starts talking up the lack of local culture there, just look at these names.

Which is probably why I felt the podcast about the George Town Literary Festival devoted too much time on the grouses of an allegedly "fed-up Penangite".

The irate letter he sent to The Star complains about the festival not featuring any Georgetown talent, and how the event was dominated by imports from outstation and overseas.

"How long do you think Penangites are going to put up with these so-called George Town Festivals that have got nothing to do with the real history, culture and people of Penang?" he asks in the end.

As I understand it, a "George Town Literary Festival" is "a lit fest held in George Town", not "a lit fest about George Town." I doubt the Singapore Writers Fest would be as fun or exciting if it were held in the spirit of the latter definition.

I'm from George Town, and though I rarely go back, I feel pretty confident about my hometown's quaint little charms, street food and whatnot. So it's a great place for a lit fest, next to Ipoh maybe.

To me, this hang-up about the richness and significance of our culture blinds us to other important stuff. For one, many Malaysians are, I think, more acquainted with foreign writers, so an event that gets foreign and local writers together is a treat, to say the least.

Another important aspect of our culture we're so fond of hyping up is our hospitality. It's not just what you got, but also how you present it to your guests that keeps them coming back. That emotionless Singapore can host a bigger better lit fest than we can, even with a two-decade head-start, makes you wonder.

To see this cloying display of petty, insecure, condescending self-righteousness from someone who calls himself a Penangite is dispiriting. I wouldn't want him on the organising committee of any cultural event wherever, whenever.

I'm more embarrassed by how many Penangites, including myself, seem to be less interested in contributing to running a lit fest than attending one. I'm much less embarrassed about the "parachuted" outsiders and foreign imports that ran the show. I'll put up with anyone who cares enough to do what is currently a thankless, exhausting job.

I don't believe that that Penang-based poet is "Fed-up Penangite". If he declined an invitation to the festival, writing that letter afterwards would be an incredibly galling thing to do. By the way: that DIVA thing appears to be for real.

A more plausible reason for the letter can possibly be inferred from its first line: "While constantly preaching that the state always puts Penang and Penangites first, in practice it is quite the opposite."

I wouldn't even call this letter a cheap shot. And why spoil it for those who hope the George Town Lit Fest will one day become something that rivals the one in, say, Singapore or Ubud?

When that day comes, or maybe — maybe — next year, I'll be happy to parachute in, even if it's just to wash the wine glasses after the party. You fed-up Penangites, stay out of my way.

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

Tim And The Red Coats

It appears that the so-called "re-invention" of publishing touted by Amazon and 4-Hour Guy Tim Ferriss involves bandying the we new publishing vs them traditionals in his collaboration with Amazon for The 4-Hour Chef.

Another thing about Ferriss's marketing is he's using BitTorrent to distribute the PR package for The 4-Hour Chef. Often associated with online piracy, BitTorrent seems like an unlikely promotional tool, but Ferriss seems confident. And it's one way of helping to refine BitTorrent's image.

The stats thus far have been encouraging. The PR bundle has been d-loaded about 211,000 times and around 85,000 BitTorrent users have checked out the book at Amazon.

Victory means getting on a best-seller list or something, to "send a message to the incumbent world of publishing, to those who want everything to remain in the 1900's." But is he also claiming that his efforts may be somehow stymied by the "old guard" - presumably Barnes & Noble - as an example to other writers pondering a shift to the "new" publishing model?

At least that's what I can infer from that ... unusual post of his.

So Ferriss appears to be implying that he's a victim of what he sees as unjust busines practices from an 'old school' bookstore chain who won't carry books by Amazon, which makes him an underdog of sorts. And who wouldn't support an underdog?


Tim Ferriss @ www.fourhourworkweek.com
Oh yes, I would love to buy a book from this guy


Even if you "must take attack using different means" to get your book sold, please don't paint all publishers red with your big broad brush. More than two centuries after the Red Coats left, 'the colonies' is still a work-in-progress. Just like publishing. At least he didn't outright say that publishers hate authors.

Also, his book isn't banned in the way we are more familiar with. For one, it doesn't look like anybody in the White House sees The 4-Hour Chef as a threat to national security. No religious body seems offended by this book. It's just that Barnes & Noble doesn't want anything by Amazon inside its stores, a move which I think will eventually prove futile.

And Timmy Ferriss is no publishing lightweight. He'll be fine, regardless of who he works with on his book project.

While some may decry his "misleading" marketing strategies, Ferriss's decision to jump ship to Amazon does not make him a traitor or disloyal. Writers have every right to go with an agent, distributor or publisher who they feel can give them the best deal. That's how it's been and will be.

One should also remember that publishers, like corporations, do what's best for them first. That will never change, either.