Just came back from a self-publishing talk at YWCA. I am amazed by the turnout in spite of the lack of expensive advertisement. There must be a lot of aspiring writers even in a small city-state like Singapore, from this sampling alone.

I've been meaning to write a book on my experience at penning my first book. I think it would certainly cater to this segment of the market. Now, to find time to do it, besides gobbling up the stack of lovely novels I've recently acquired from MPH warehouse sale, writing the next chapter to my second book and finishing the final touches to "Storm". 

Su Yin

http://gentlecloud.tripod.com 

Posted by gentlecloud at 10:55 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 18 November 2006 8:19 AM EST

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Mood:  happy

I learned something new today. I've found out that the weight of the paper matters to the shipping charges. The POD book I had weighed 253 g because I used 80 gsm paper whereas another normal paperback I'm reading (with roughly the same number of  pages) weighed only 187 g. It amounted to a savings of about US$1 for shipping charges. I'll make sure the printer uses lighter weight paper, not necessarily thin but lighter.

My website is now ready to take orders. I've added the pricing info, shipping charges and even a low-res snapshot of my book to make the access faster. Things are certainly moving.

I've chosen to offer payment mode via email Paypal. The online Paypal is sleeker but from what I've read, if not properly orchestrated, you may not be able to trace which customers have paid and their email addresses for confirmation. Hence, I've chosen the more manual route for now and see how.

Su Yin

http://gentlecloud.tripod.com

Posted by gentlecloud at 8:24 AM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 18 November 2006 8:20 AM EST

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Mood:  happy

Today, at church, I prayed to God for guidance on my book. I have a quotation from a printer for 1,000 copies to be printed. I was wondering whether to take the plunge. That's a lot of trees and a lot of money :)

For the past three weeks, I've brought my book to church hoping to pass it to Rev Wendy in person. She is a wonderful pastor, a bit radical, but her heart is in the right place. And she had agreed to review my book. But she was not around. So, finally, I handed it to the information counter to pass to her. I was a bit disappointed, for I want to hand-deliver that first copy to her.

That night, I received a Seal of Quality confirmation from a writing site I frequent. My prayer was answered. I will place the printing order!

Su Yin

http://gentlecloud.tripod.com

Posted by gentlecloud at 8:04 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 18 November 2006 8:21 AM EST

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Mood:  happy

The spirit is moving!

I've received my first 10 copies of the book today and lo and behold, someone out of the blue pinged me from an old writing site to ask about the story. She's a young girl, 18 years old, a Singaporean studying in Perth.

And one email exchange later, I have my first order! Call it coincidence but I believe it is a sign from God to say ... press on! You're going the right way. 

Posted by gentlecloud at 9:53 PM EDT

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Mood:  happy

I have to chronicle what happened today.

I had to rush out my book to pass to someone this evening. I thought I had everything figured out. I've printed my manuscript in A5 paper. I've got my book cover designed at Bras Basah Complex. All I needed was to have it printed in art paper, and the book bound.

It turned out to be quite a disaster... at first. The girl printed the bookcover not in the right size and stupid me, I went ahead to ask that the A5 printed copy to be cut to fit the cover. That first copy ended up with its head shaved bald. And it was already 4!

Desperate but still shooting for the deadline, I rushed back home armed with an A5 sized bookcover instead and started printing another copy. Then and there, I used wood glue and page by page, painted a thin line of glue on the side to be bound. My sweat was dripping somewhere around the 50th page. It was then that my hubby and little girl popped in. To cut the whole thing short, they took pity on me ... and in no time, we created an assembly line. I put the glue, hubby position the page and my kid banged her hand on the page to make it stick. This is cottage industry at its best.

We managed to bind the book, raw and still wet with glue, just in time to pass to the guy, with a gold ribbon wrapped around it. Boy, did I love my family then. I've so blessed, everyone. I really am. This day will remain in my memory forever.

Posted by gentlecloud at 11:04 PM EDT

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