I have always enjoyed writing (hence this blog), so it was yet another dream fulfilled when my friend Melanie (herself an established author, editor and lecturer) asked if I’d like to author 3 books in a series.
As mooted by publisher Marshall Cavendish, the topics would be on Bullying, Conflict Resolution, Decision Making, Stress Management and Self Awareness. I’d create stories on the first three, and our school-mate Alex Loh who was an athlete in our school days, would write on the last two topics. Mel (who’s a veteran author herself) would be our editor, and she was simply wonderful!
One of the most valuable parts of this authoring experience was getting to know much more about the book publishing industry. Timelines, contracts, dos and don’ts, marketing strategies, book launches, proposals for talks, working with publicists…… it was certainly eye-opening! Really appreciated having Mel as a sounding board on ideas, and a forthcoming guide in navigating what were unchartered waters for me.
I started drafting the stories and iterated with Mel who provided helpful comments that kept most of the ideas and prose intact. After Alex found Jun Jek (JJ) who winsomely illustrated the covers and line drawings within the book, Mel and I scrubbed through the text with a fine comb, and I saw first-hand how much hard work goes into editing version after version before it’s finally ready for the printers (and then we vet through it one last time)!
So excited to see the book covers once the mock-ups were done!
So it was truly surreal when the books arrived at my home!
What was interesting was that before my books appeared in physical bookstores, Amazon.Sg had started taking pre-orders for them with a massive discount! I directed friends and family to that promotion via Instagram and those who pre-ordered got a real bargain, for those prices never came back again!
In fact, at one point “The Impossible Cube” became the #1 Bestseller in this tiny category and they jacked up the price!
As authors are allowed to buy copies from the publisher and sell them, I started doing so too. Fill up this Google Form if you’d like to buy some autographed copies from me!
When I had some spare time, I married my love of soft pastel crayon art with my writing by making bookmarks of matching hues, and gifted the bookmarks to a friend who had supportively ordered many sets.
There are indeed so many exciting moments and firsts in writing and publishing a book.
The first time I saw my book on Kinokuniya’s bookshelves…… * squeal *
Then weeks later, the first time I saw my books in the library!
I think I felt more emotional seeing them in the library than in a bookshop because going to the library has been such a big part of my life since I was a child. To see my books with a library QR code for borrowing was priceless (pun intended).
As Mel said, the most fulfilling moments of writing a book are when we hear of the reactions from kids! Thanks to supportive friends and fellow writers on Bookstagram, I was privileged to get first hand accounts of how their kids enjoyed the books. So precious!
These are a small sample – but heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you who agreed to review my books, purchased my books for friends and family, posted Instagram stories on your kids’ cute reactions to the stories as well as simply shared through word of mouth! Am truly grateful for the love and support for my little project!
Will write more about the inspiration behind each book in my next post! Till then, keep reading!
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