Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Malaysia Book Update 10: With The Printers

After slightly over 5 months of conceptualisation, writing, data & photo collection, advertising & sponsorship, the 50+1 Malaysia book is now in its second stage of being published.

Good News
Firstly, some good news - some relatively well-known companies/ organisations are coming in to support this humble book project of ours.

Will share on that another time, as now I would like to announce that the soft copies of the book are now with the printers... meaning the 50+1 Malaysia book will soon 'come to live'! Wow, as much as I enjoyed the first segment, but I was also glad that now we have finally progressed to stage 2.

Factors To Consider - Malaysia This Is For You
The book printing process first include the selection of the printers - weighing in quality & costs. Quality because this book is going to be like 'a window to Malaysia' for both locals & tourists - hence it will only be appropriate to show a quality Malaysia! (yes, saying that with full proudness) :)

Btw to humbly add, we don't really see that many quality books from Malaysia and hope to steer the book publishing industry here to produce & publish higher quality books, thus giving a better impression of the country (quality as in both content, layout, design & also printing quality).

And quality also as to uphold & continue the image we've build on as from our first book & its 2 editions, Batik Inspirations (which if I can humbly share won an award for best printing quality) :)

Costs - as this is just like any business venture where it plays an important factor, though not as important as quality. The objective remains - you got it, to strike a balance between both & most of all to publish a good book all can be proud of - by us, and more importantly, by everyone else, even by & for the country :)

Which Country To Print
So after these 2 factors have been noted, the next is for selection of the printers - and a third factor we take note: the country of the printer. Some other countries like China offer cheaper printing, but logistics & its costs, including transportation costs needs to be factored.

A New Learning Curve
The lil bit of book printing experience so far with the previous book will come in handy. However, there is also quite a fair bit of changes to expect & learn as already we are facing some new challenges. I guess different printers have quite a bit of different methods of working.

So, the next few weeks will see us liasing with the printers a fair bit, handling the second stage of book publishing... and before the book finally sees itself in print (which estimated sometime in later July or early August).

Bagful Of Goodies - Coming Soon
Of course, in the meantime, I will also be finalising some goodies for everyone else when the book is finally out. These goodies will be for both local Malaysians and even to our fellow foreigners who love or want to know more about the country. After all, this is a Malaysia book, and it's to be shared (sharing about our country).

Bloggers, This Is For You Too
And I am also already planning this book for a special group - fellow bloggers. Yes, so fellow bloggers, stay tuned, as all these goodies will be announced soon! :)

3 comments:

  1. This book - will it be available in major bookstores like MPH? I don't remember seeing your last book Batik Inspirations in bookstores. How much is the price? And what's the special offer for bloggers?

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  2. Hi Foong

    Batik Inspirations is available in MPH, Times & Kinokuniya in Malaysia - 2 versions :)

    Its also available in all bookstores in Singapore, Kino & B2S Thailand, Kinokuniya Jakarta &... Page One - HK & Taipei (just saw it!). And also at Amazon & our website :)

    On the 50+1 Malaysia book, it will be rather different - most likely online more.

    It really is gonna be rather exciting - and for bloggers especially.

    I don't want to let the cat out of the bag so soon yet as we need to finalise some things & take a few things into consideration - but the bloggers will get a really good deal hehe :)

    Will keep you posted :)

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  3. Nice.. can't wait to see the 50+1 Malaysia book release soon. keep updating :)

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Oh hey, thank you for commenting! :)