Friday 14 June 2013

Future Research Projects

So far I have 2 research projects in the pipeline. They are very difficult to do. The difficulty lies in the fact that they touch on history, something that is retrospective, and as such searching for the correct information and survivors of the historic past is bleak. Many of the old people who could help have passed on. There are a few of the elderly left but they too are too frail and interviewing them can be stressful for them. There is a paucity of information in our archives and I'm practically using all possible means and modes to get credible evidence before I can write something useful. 

The 2 projects are (by their tentative book titles):

1. The Malayan Hajj Doctors 1900-2013

2. Nakhoda nan Intan Opens Singapore, Malacca and Penang 1720-1734

I have written parts of both projects online.

The Malayan Hajj Doctors is covered in The Early Malay Doctors blog (this blog). I will move it to another blog when I have time.

The Malayan Hajj Doctors 1900-2013 will also be my paper and presentation at "Penang and the Hajj 2013" conference and workshop on 17-18 August 2013 at the E&O Hotel, Penang.

Nakhoda nan Intan is covered in my family blog at 262 Banda Hilir.

Royalty for 28 May 2013

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 (~12.79%). In the end, after waiting 1 month, I get only a few Ringgit (from my AUD76.76 cheque which is valued at RM195.43, I only get RM165.28, after deducting commission and postage & stamp duty).

My Maybank account statement gives the following details:

MAKLUMAT KREDIT / ADVICE OF CREDIT

TEMPAT / PLACE: KUBANG KERIAN

TARIKH / DATE: 08/07/2013 (... which I received on 11 July 2013)

RUJUKAN KAMI / OUR REFERENCE: KKKFBC300009

Adalah dimaklumkan bahawa akaun anda telah dikreditkan seperti berikut:-

We wish to advise that your account has been credited today as follows:-

Being Proceed on Cheque No. 276522 drawn on J.P.Morgan
sent for collection on 12/06/2013 cleared: RM195.43

LESS : COMMISSION: RM25.00

LESS: POSTAGE & STAMP DUTY: RM5.15

NETT: RM165.28

CURRENCY AND AMOUNT:
Gross: AUD 76.76
Nett 1: AUD 68.19
Rate 1: 2.8660

LESS AGENTS CHARGES: AUD 8.57

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 installments from my credit card.
This is the Xlibris report for 22 June 2013, after the second installment was automatically deducted.


SUMMARY

Total Purchases

$1,303.00
Total Payments (THANK YOU)

($878.67)
Outstanding Balance

$424.33


PURCHASES

Book ID 501451
Order Date
Service
Qty
Price
Total
05/20/2013
Spring Mktg Package 3 (TP)
1
$1,273.00
$1,273.00
05/20/2013
Msvcs - Web Design Advanced
1
$0.00
$0.00
05/20/2013
MSvcs - Press Release 1000 - 052006
1
$0.00
$0.00
05/20/2013
Msvcs - Email Marketing Campaign Quad 1,000,000
1
$0.00
$0.00
05/20/2013
MSvcs - Book Review Campaign - TP Prof 052006
1
$0.00
$0.00
05/20/2013
Addon- Marketing Installment Surcharge
1
$30.00
$30.00


This is the printout of the details on 23 July 2013, after I paid up the last installment on 21 July 2013:


Marketing & Sales

My 2 books can be purchased at many online outlets. These include XlibrisAmazonBarnes and Noblee-BayThe 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 Omar bin Din (revised)
3. Dr Syed Mohamed bin Alwi Alhady (revised)
4. Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy (revised)
5. Dr Shamsuddin bin Cassim/Kasim (new)
6. Dr Syed Mahmud al-Kudsy (new)
7. Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (revised)
8. Dr Salma bt Ismail (revised)
9. Dr K.M. Ariff (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.