So You Want To Publish A Book Too?
Thursday, June 13, 2013
I wonder how do bloggers have so much to blog about everyday. Their brains must be constantly generating contents for their blogs but as for me, I got a boring life. How do you blog about a 9-5 job seriously? You can't talk about anything relating to your work or you may infringe some legal case. I really could do without a 9-5 job sometimes except for the fact that I am poor and I really need money.
Okay, so ANYWAY. Jolene's Story was published last year on November 2012 and although it is not currently a bestseller that everyone is crazy over... I think that at least 1/10 of the population in Singapore knows about it.
I was featured in The New Paper yesterday and I was scurrying to buy a copy during lunch time yesterday. Upon getting a copy, I showed it to a fellow coworker and he wasn't very interested and he blatantly went on to say that he has went to Popular bookstores so many times and has never ever seen my book. It was really hurtful, really. Most people here in my current workplace cannot be bothered that I have wrote a book before. Some showed a little interest but it was only for awhile. Some asked what it is about and then freak out after knowing my past. I mean hey, nobody asked you to like me? Refer previous post for to know more about my current situation. CLICK HERE!
The people who knows me out of this workplace are all baffled at the fact that people here think I am anti-social and autistic because I don't talk a lot and I don't interact. Sorry to say that you all judge me way before you all know me and that is sad because I don't feel that any of you are genuine to me. I am not being a sour grape lah but most of you all put up such a stuck up face to show your superiority that I really can't be bothered to interact. I am not happy here. I can't hold conversations with anyone here.
Sorry, I got distracted.
Many a times, I have received email queries or questions from ASK.FM // FormSpring asking me how did I get my biography published.
See lah, why didn't you all attend Singapore Writer's Festival?!!! I talked about this at the event!
Firstly, it was NOT magic. I did not use "Wingardium Leviosa" to get what I want today. Sorry to non Harry Potter fans, I am an addict. If you all don't already know, my favorite author is J.K Rowling.. I grew up with her.
Many a times, you all ask me the same questions about publishing a book and so, I am answering them here. Please love me more!
(1) How did you get published?
There are actually a few ways to get published in Singapore. As for me, I am not embarrassed to say that I used the hard-selling tactic I learned as a salesperson to find publishers. I have never dreamed of being a published author. Really. I started writing my story on a blog because I did not know how I was able to get a book published. I just wanted to reach out to more people and let them know more about my story. I truly wanted to help more youths, teens and abused girls/boys and the only way was through the internet. Supportive friends read and some did not know that I was a writer, I wanted to remain a mystery at that time. Slowly, they encouraged me to look for a publisher to help publish my book because even though the internet was a good place to share my story, I wanted to see a hard copy of my story too since my lifelong dream was to be an author. Using the amazing internet, I sourced for all the publishers in Singapore and than proceeded to email them my manuscript one by one hoping that I will get their attention. I never thought someone would reply though, I just wanted to try. A few replied but nothing came out of it. I even met up with one publisher and he seemed really interested but because their firm majored in religious stories, my story did not pass. Imagine my excitement when one of the biggest publishing firms in Singapore contacted me and wanted to know more!!
My girls were damn happy for me. So was James. Mr. Chris Newson and all the lovely people at Marshall Cavendish really changed my life. They had faith in me and my story- enough faith to actually publish my story. So, keep your faith strong, fellow writers. Nobody would believe in you if you don't believe in yourself in the first place!!
(2) Are there any fees involved?
In the writing world, it's either you collaborate with a publisher who will take care of the whole process of publishing the book for you OR you self-publish.
It's easy to lay out the differences. You find a publisher and you earn royalties from the book. It is similar to that of a sales job. You close a deal, you get a cut out of the commission right? Your employer/company will earn most of the earnings. I hope you understand what I mean. If you self-publish, you need to have a large sum of money available to find a printing firm and you have to take care of all the nitty gritty details from the editing to the design of your book cover to the type of paper you want to use for your book and to the marketing of the book. How would you be able to promote your book to distributors to sell it to bookstores? That's a big question.
It all depends on you but if you are looking for someone to help you with self-publishing, look for LOBANG X, we will help you source! *Sorry, need to advertise my business a bit huh*
Please take note people. YOU DO NOT GET RICH by publishing a book. The writing industry is not huge. It's not like you release a song like "Oppa Gangnum" and than get noticed everywhere! Even Psy took years to get recognized right? When my book was published, I did my own promoting and marketing too. I almost haunted everyone to buy my book and support it to help me reach out to more people. Most people should hate me that I always hound them on Whatsapp. Some may call me thick-skin but this is me. I am a strong believer of this quote :
"If opportunities don't come knocking, BUILD YOUR OWN DOOR!"
Some people are lucky, they have lady luck shining on them all the time. But what if lady luck doesn't come? Go out there and find her!!!!!!! Writers should never stop at one book. It is a small market here in Singapore. You have to keep writing to make yourself known as a writer. I enjoy writing a lot and I hope to have as many stories published as possible. I hope to be more known as a blogger so that more people can read my blog and enjoy my ramblings. I am not PxdKitty or Xiaxue but I have one thing in common with them, I love to write!
I get dejected some days when I think that nobody reads my blog but on some days, I'm like "I don't care if anyone reads or not, I am still going to write!" Like today, I got a surprise email from a reader who read my previous post and gave me advice. Superly sweet and random but I love them!
So much has been going on in my head and I tell myself that's it, that's it, that's it.
I don't know if I have given you guys a clearer idea about getting published after reading this blogpost but feel free to ask me questions on ASK.FM or Formspring or just kindly email me and I will always reply you!
Next post I am going to write about is the story behind my name "Snow". Catch me again!
Okay, so ANYWAY. Jolene's Story was published last year on November 2012 and although it is not currently a bestseller that everyone is crazy over... I think that at least 1/10 of the population in Singapore knows about it.
I was featured in The New Paper yesterday and I was scurrying to buy a copy during lunch time yesterday. Upon getting a copy, I showed it to a fellow coworker and he wasn't very interested and he blatantly went on to say that he has went to Popular bookstores so many times and has never ever seen my book. It was really hurtful, really. Most people here in my current workplace cannot be bothered that I have wrote a book before. Some showed a little interest but it was only for awhile. Some asked what it is about and then freak out after knowing my past. I mean hey, nobody asked you to like me? Refer previous post for to know more about my current situation. CLICK HERE!
The people who knows me out of this workplace are all baffled at the fact that people here think I am anti-social and autistic because I don't talk a lot and I don't interact. Sorry to say that you all judge me way before you all know me and that is sad because I don't feel that any of you are genuine to me. I am not being a sour grape lah but most of you all put up such a stuck up face to show your superiority that I really can't be bothered to interact. I am not happy here. I can't hold conversations with anyone here.
Sorry, I got distracted.
Many a times, I have received email queries or questions from ASK.FM // FormSpring asking me how did I get my biography published.
See lah, why didn't you all attend Singapore Writer's Festival?!!! I talked about this at the event!
Firstly, it was NOT magic. I did not use "Wingardium Leviosa" to get what I want today. Sorry to non Harry Potter fans, I am an addict. If you all don't already know, my favorite author is J.K Rowling.. I grew up with her.
Many a times, you all ask me the same questions about publishing a book and so, I am answering them here. Please love me more!
(1) How did you get published?
There are actually a few ways to get published in Singapore. As for me, I am not embarrassed to say that I used the hard-selling tactic I learned as a salesperson to find publishers. I have never dreamed of being a published author. Really. I started writing my story on a blog because I did not know how I was able to get a book published. I just wanted to reach out to more people and let them know more about my story. I truly wanted to help more youths, teens and abused girls/boys and the only way was through the internet. Supportive friends read and some did not know that I was a writer, I wanted to remain a mystery at that time. Slowly, they encouraged me to look for a publisher to help publish my book because even though the internet was a good place to share my story, I wanted to see a hard copy of my story too since my lifelong dream was to be an author. Using the amazing internet, I sourced for all the publishers in Singapore and than proceeded to email them my manuscript one by one hoping that I will get their attention. I never thought someone would reply though, I just wanted to try. A few replied but nothing came out of it. I even met up with one publisher and he seemed really interested but because their firm majored in religious stories, my story did not pass. Imagine my excitement when one of the biggest publishing firms in Singapore contacted me and wanted to know more!!
My girls were damn happy for me. So was James. Mr. Chris Newson and all the lovely people at Marshall Cavendish really changed my life. They had faith in me and my story- enough faith to actually publish my story. So, keep your faith strong, fellow writers. Nobody would believe in you if you don't believe in yourself in the first place!!
(2) Are there any fees involved?
In the writing world, it's either you collaborate with a publisher who will take care of the whole process of publishing the book for you OR you self-publish.
It's easy to lay out the differences. You find a publisher and you earn royalties from the book. It is similar to that of a sales job. You close a deal, you get a cut out of the commission right? Your employer/company will earn most of the earnings. I hope you understand what I mean. If you self-publish, you need to have a large sum of money available to find a printing firm and you have to take care of all the nitty gritty details from the editing to the design of your book cover to the type of paper you want to use for your book and to the marketing of the book. How would you be able to promote your book to distributors to sell it to bookstores? That's a big question.
It all depends on you but if you are looking for someone to help you with self-publishing, look for LOBANG X, we will help you source! *Sorry, need to advertise my business a bit huh*
Please take note people. YOU DO NOT GET RICH by publishing a book. The writing industry is not huge. It's not like you release a song like "Oppa Gangnum" and than get noticed everywhere! Even Psy took years to get recognized right? When my book was published, I did my own promoting and marketing too. I almost haunted everyone to buy my book and support it to help me reach out to more people. Most people should hate me that I always hound them on Whatsapp. Some may call me thick-skin but this is me. I am a strong believer of this quote :
"If opportunities don't come knocking, BUILD YOUR OWN DOOR!"
Some people are lucky, they have lady luck shining on them all the time. But what if lady luck doesn't come? Go out there and find her!!!!!!! Writers should never stop at one book. It is a small market here in Singapore. You have to keep writing to make yourself known as a writer. I enjoy writing a lot and I hope to have as many stories published as possible. I hope to be more known as a blogger so that more people can read my blog and enjoy my ramblings. I am not PxdKitty or Xiaxue but I have one thing in common with them, I love to write!
I get dejected some days when I think that nobody reads my blog but on some days, I'm like "I don't care if anyone reads or not, I am still going to write!" Like today, I got a surprise email from a reader who read my previous post and gave me advice. Superly sweet and random but I love them!
So much has been going on in my head and I tell myself that's it, that's it, that's it.
Next post I am going to write about is the story behind my name "Snow". Catch me again!
Labels: Jolene's Story, Local Author, Singapore Writers Festival. Jolene Story
