Royalty
I received USD$38.36 (ending 31 March 2013) and AUD$76.76 (ending 28 May 2013) - JP Morgan cheques.
The currency is either USD or AUD, depending on where the sales were made and who is issuing my cheque. USD is for sales in USA, Canada, UK and Europe; AUD is for sales in Asia Pacific.
Alhamdulillah.
The horrible thing about banking-in small amounts of foreign cheques in a Malaysian bank is I lose a lot of money for commission. In the end, after waiting 1 month, I get only a few Ringgit.
My opinion and hope
Revenue from royalty is small but nevertheless continuous. The amount is unknown but I pray that my book will sell well on the Internet.
Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore
I have still not received the 5 posters that were promised when I signed up with Xlibris Premier B/W publishing package early last year (Jan 2012). They were routed to a wrong address.
Hosting subscriptions
I have paid for 1 year hosting of my 2 books at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The hostings end in September 2013. If I don't renew, nobody will get to see my books online except at my publisher's website
www.xlibris.com. If I continue to pay annual subscription, hosting will continue till Sept 2014 (1 year). I haven't decided yet. But if you don't see my book(s) on Amazon.com, it means I didn't continue my subscription to host my books there. And the same for the other websites.
Author Learning Centre (ALC)
I have terminated my subscription to ALC because I don't have time for it. Anyway, it is best to learn to write and improve my writing on my own by experience and pick up the skills myself rather than pay for selective resources and be pushed when I can't waste time reading when I have to write and research. ALC is the principal for Xlibris. ALC is now a part of Penguin in the book industry.
Spring Book Sale
I signed up and paid for the Spring Book Sale in the USA. I hope some US, UK and Canadian universities will open their eyes wide and see my book, and will nominate it for class use, especially for courses on Malay History and Malay Medicine. The subscription comes to RM3,000 for 3 months campaign. I paid for the first installment so that Xlibris team can start work on the poster/flyers and other needed documents for the Spring Book Sale. It is a time when university professors buy or recommend new books to students. Bookstores will stock recommended books and students will only need to go to the respective university bookstores to purchase their books.
The Xlibris financial dept will automatically deduct 2 more installments from my credit card.
Marketing & Sales
My 2 books can be purchased at many online outlets. These include
Xlibris,
Amazon,
Barnes and Noble,
e-Bay,
The Book Depository and many more. Just Google the individual book title. Please check my previous posts on these outlets.
My 2 books are not available in physical stores in Malaysia (i.e., they are not sold at MPH, Kinokuniya or Syarikat Muda Osman) because I want it to sell mainly on the Internet, and study how a book written by a Malay in Kelantan will do on Internet sales. It is a research in itself.
However, I made arrangements with a few people to help me sell my books to families, friends and students who do not have credit card or web cash to purchase online books. The small-time/part-time booksellers' names and contact # are posted below.
The book price covers my purchase from my publisher based in Australia, including charges for air courier (from UK printer to Malaysia via
DHL and
AirAsia shipment) and if I need to re-courier domestically via
PosLaju to the people who are helping me to sell my books.
Courier price is very expensive and therefore the book becomes expensive in the end. Otherwise the book is quite cheap for a foreign/international book.
In Klang Valley
For rapid delivery within Klang Valley, my son-in-law (Mohammad Nizam bin Omar) can assist. He can be contacted by email, mobile or in
Facebook. Who is Nizam? He has a diploma in IT. He is a part-time student of UKM. He works part-time for
Pos Malaysia network security. You can type
Biography of the Early Malay Doctors in
Facebook and you should be able to reach him. You can also type
Research on the Early Malay Doctors in
Facebook to get the other book.
Contact: Muhammad Nizam bin Omar
Mobile: 017-358 7010
Email: dgtalwa@gmail.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Muhammad Nizam bin Omar
http://www.facebook.com/Research on TEMD
http://www.facebook.com/Biography of TEMD
In Penang
You can purchase my books from my elder sister Sharifah. Who is she? She works at the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP), Jalan Masjid Negeri in Penang. She is the Second Secretary to Mr Haji Idris, CAP President.
Contact: Hajah Sharifah bt Haji Abdul Rashid
Mobile: 019-571 3995
She has no email
She is in
Facebook but her housemate operates it for her.
In Kelantan
You can purchase my books from my husband Affandi. Who is he? He is a speech-language pathologist. He heads a unit called Unit Audiologi dan Patologi Pertuturan at Hospital USM. He has approximately 30 years of hospital administrative experience and over 12 years experience as a speech-language pathologist.
Contact: Tuan Haji Affandi bin Haji Hussien
Mobile: 019-905 0397
http://speechaudiohusm.blogspot.com/
Booksellers
If you wish to sell my book(s), you can order direct from Xlibris. My caution is if you buy in bulk of 500 copies or more, you can get the books cheaply and make a lot of profit. However, if you purchase only a few copies, it will be expensive and you will only be able to make a small profit. This was what Xlibris taught me on the phone. But remember, every credit card has a spending limit.
All booksellers get 40% discount direct from the publisher (Xlibris Corporation) all the time, regardless of # of copies ordered. You do not have to know me (or 'Like' me in
Facebook) to be a bookseller for my books on
The Early Malay Doctors. Please contact Xlibris at their website or call them.
Please get back to me if you have any difficulties obtaining my 2 books. I will forward your difficulties to Xlibris. You can also contact Xlibris directly if you have any difficulties obtaining my books.
Newspapers & magazines
I have not publicised my 2 books in printed media (newspapers or magazines). You can read about my 2 books online. Just Google the titles.
I have also informed and requested Dato Yeoh Poh Hong (MMA) to help circulate news of my 2 books. Not heard back.
Tan Sri Dr Ridzwan Bakar is handling circulation news for MMA. Not heard back.
Exhibitions on The Early Malay Doctors
So far, two people have showed interest to host exhibitions about The Early Malay Doctors. They are Encik Anuar bin Isa and my sister Hajah Rabi'ah bt Abdul Rashid.
Encik Anuar bin Isa
Senior Curator
First Galleria
Taiping
Cikgu Hajah Rabi'ah bt Hj Abdul Rashid
Sekolah Menengah Jengka Pusat
Jengka Pusat
Pahang
Book launch
Prof Shaiful Bahari Ismail, Deputy Dean (Academic) suggested that our medical school hold a launch for my books. He asked that I contact the dean and the campus director. I contacted both the gentlemen by email.
How to contact me?
Click on The Author in the right panel. My email is embedded there.
I'm also in
Facebook (add Faridah Abdul Rashid or drop me a message in
Facebook).
Reviews
The 1-line reviews are as printed on the back cover of
Biography of TEMD.
Fadzilah Abdul Ghani (Melbourne) says she gets engrossed reading my book and that the book is "precious". I believe so, and thanks. Her father's biography will be included next time when I do re-publishing, insyaAllah.
Noor-Ashikin Abbas (Singapore) recently visited the USM Library and obtained my books as a gift. She emailed to inform my books are precious, for her and everyone else who love Malay history. Noor-Ashikin helped tremendously in obtaining an NUS publication which helped me greatly in my research on The Early Malay Doctors. It was during the flood season in November, and she dared risk her life, to drive through the heavily flooded areas to reach Kelantan, to hand me the book herself. I almost cried. My sincere gratitude goes to her. Her name goes under the frontispiece (gambar depan) in the smaller book,
Research on TEMD. The photo of KE VII which she took became a book cover for
Research on TEMD. The same photo goes to make the posters, business cards and picture postcards (ppc). That's how far reaching photos can be in the book industry.
Please continue to send me short or long reviews. They are useful for me to work on, especially when editing my own books.
Second publishing
I have not set any date for a second publication of
Biography of TEMD. I will publish again once I get the 2-3 remaining biographies in, hopefully in the next 2-3 years. Tentatively, these are the biographies which will be included or revised in the second publishing:
1. Dr Abdul Ghani bin Muhammad (new)
2. Dr Syed Mohamed bin Alwi Alhady (revised)
3. Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy (revised)
4. Dr Shamsuddin bin Cassim/Kasim (new)
5. Dr Syed Mahmud al-Kudsy (new)
6. Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (revised)
7. Dr Salma bt Ismail (revised)
If you know of any other doctor not yet mentioned here or in my books and would like to get her/his biography published, you can contact me. I will assess and then decide whether to include or not. All biographies must have a head photo or portrait photo
(gambar depan). Without a head photo, it is difficult for young people today to know who is who.
