How to setup an online bookstore for free (with little computer knowledge)

(We launched our all-Malaysian online bookstore on the 1st of August. And we have been surprised. In the first month of operation -- and without including bulk sales to universities, libraries and bookshops -- Malaysian books made up over 70% of our retail sales! We hope this is the sign of things to come, and that we are seeing the signs of the blossoming of the Malaysian book industry.)

My only computer knowledge when I first started on the project about two months ago, was how to use word processors and spreadsheets, basic Photoshop, and some Illustrator. I have built and maintained a website for ten years with the help of NVU and Serif Photo Plus, both free downloads from the internet. In other words, I knew how to use a computer, like a lot of regular Joes, but not how to write any code. (The last time I did any of that was in the university over 40 years ago when I learnt Fortran 4 using punch cards.)

Like I said, I did have a website, but since I have always used wyswig HTML editors, my knowledge of even that was minimal. (I new how to do italics, bold, line breaks, paragraphs, tables, that sort of thing, but I didn't even know what

codes were about. But, to paraphrase what they say, I have never been one to let ignorance -- or my age -- stand in my way. (I know, I need to be institutionalised.)

One day, I looked at the number of Malaysian books I had at Silverfish and decided to open an All Malaysian, Only Malaysian bookstore -- possibly the only one of its kind in the world (since no one else were likely to be so foolhardy. So that was the first step -- think of a concept and come up with a catchy title, the catchier the title the more committed you are despite your stupidity. Secret: that's how bosses work, except they expect others to read their minds and understand their stupid concept and implement it for them.

Now, at this point, it is possible to go out and pay plenty of money to a 'professional' to build your online store for you. There are two things I don't like about this. Firstly, the money part -- they would charge you more for the software than it would cost to insert four stents in your heart at an expensive private hospital. Then they will come up with all sorts of excuses why the module is not working, and 'privately' blame your parentage if you get insistent. And thirdly, they will have no idea who you are when you report a problem at a later date.

So, if you want good service, do it yourself. Your 'bestest' friend in all this is Google, and it is free. (Now you will notice that four letter 'f' word cropping up every now and then in this story. Let it become your mantra.Free.) I searched for articles to find out how to set up a store, and learnt that I had to have a shopping cart and a Payment Gateway. Of the latter I had an idea, having used one for a while -- that is, I new how to cut and paste strings provided by them, and send it back to them for processing, modified as required. (I used a shopping facility provided by the gateway, but it is a workable solution only if I have a handful of products. (I am still not sure the proper term for it.)

Then, I started by looking at Payment Gateways. After spending a couple of days I realised that there were not many available locally. Focussing on (yes, you got it right) the word 'free', only one came close. They offered a package with a one time registration fee, no monthly maintenance, but with slightly larger percentage commission on sales, which I decided I could live with.

But more usefully, they had on their webpage a list of shopping carts they supported. Ah, it was getting warmer. Even so, what the hell was a shopping cart in cyberspace, and how did it work? I was quite familiar with those in supermarkets with the wobbly wheels, but how did the ones for e-commerce work? After a week of googling I learned a few things. Again using the 'f' word principle I managed to find out that there were such things as open source shopping carts! I zeroed in on Zencart, because I liked the name and, secondly, the repeated use of the word 'easy' all over their website, though I was not fooled for a moment. (I lie.)

It was not long before I discovered that the Zencart was written in PHP. Panic! I give up, I can't do this! I creid. No way! Then I told myself to relax and breathe. Breathe. Count one, two, three, four, five, six ... I was letting something called 'easy' to defeat me. I gritted my teeth and went on. Soon I was coming across words like Unix, Apache (servers), Perl, Cron jobs, phpMyAdmin, and SQ -- words I had vaguely heard before but had no idea what they were. But strangely, soon, I was on a roll. I began enjoying the buzz. I downloaded the main module, set up a test site, discovered a book add-on, a search sphider add-on, a back-in-notification programme, and a few sundry bits and pieces. I modified the template to look like the rest of my site, tested it and viola! I am a glutton for punishment.

But, the thing is, you do not have to do this entrely on your own. I got help from online forums, my web host and my payment gateway people. Now, here is an important piece of advice. When you speak to any of these techies, do not do it in person. They will know you are bluffing from your body language, and they can smell fear. Sometimes you will have to speak (especially over the phone) like you know what you are talking about (please learn the proper pronunciations for some of these acronyms, or you will be caught out), but sometimes you have to speak to them as if you are really very stupid. Both methods work depending on the cirumstances. The trick is to know when to use which.

You will also come across some who are really kayu. My shipping providers were like that (and they are the ones in the position to make the most money out of e-commerce). I consulted two about a suitable module for my cart. One had no idea what I was talking about. (I might as well have asked them how to fry pisang goreng.) The other one knew what I wanted but was of zero help.

The site is now up, zero cost. (Okay, there is a cost involved in populating the database but that can be done in-house at quite minimal expense.) I think the online shop looks spiffy. Of course, I will say that -- I am biased. But, honestly, it is really not all that bad?

Moral of the story. If you want some programming done, try DIY. Save some money and learn something while you are at it. Does wonders for your ego too, almost like a one night stand. The site is http://www.silverfishbooks.com/buybooks/. Give it a whirl.

Watch out for your copyright

The launch of Silverfish Books' Books Malaysian, all Malaysian, only Malaysian online bookstore a fortnight ago appears to have attracted quite a bit of attention, but that is not what this article is about. What the over 750 books featured (it is a very small portion of all the Malaysian books in print -- but a start) indicates is that Malaysian publishing is not only alive and well, but thriving. Currently, three of the major bookstore chains are either holding or planning to hold Malaysian 'promotions', underscoring the importance of local books to their bottom-line. That is the upside.

But now comes the downside -- protecting authors' copyright. Now -- we at Silverfish feel this quite passionately -- no author, or creator of any intellectual property deserves to be deprived of his or her copyright. Unfortunately, please be warned, there is a lot of this going on, and writers are being deprived not just of their royalty. A lot of it has to do with ignorance (since we are not all lawyers) and quite a bit to do with corporate greed and bullying.

Some years ago the spouse of a leading Malaysian author came to see me with a draft agreement (on behalf of the author, because he himself was incapacitated at that time) to ask me about a couple of clauses. She had been told by the publisher's representative that these were 'standard', but she was not satisfied. One clause required the author to surrender his copyright to the company. And another clause said that the company had the right to change the manuscript in any way it wanted without consulting the author! Jahat-nya!

I told the lady that these were definitely not 'standard' clauses. In fact, there is no such thing as a standard agreement. After that incident, I looked at the copyright pages of several books by that publisher and realised that it was standard practice for them! So, Rule number 1: read your contract thoroughly. Don't let them bully you. What you should offer is only publishing rights, and that to only in the agreed form. Copyright should remain with you, which means you should be free to sell your work for movies, plays, comics, serialisation, video games, or any other. But the problem is most authors are so eager to get published that they would be willing to sell their soul. DON'T!

Now, the problem gets more complicated. It has come to our notice that books by several leading authors is currently being 'remaindered' by a publisher. (The practice not very long ago was to pulp unsold books so as not to 'spoil' the market.) Here are three cases:

Author number one. We received a phone call from the publisher asking if we would like to buy several hundred copies of a book by this author for RM5.00 each. We declined the offer. Later when we met the author we asked him if he knew of this, he said that he was totally in the dark and even claimed that he had never received any royalty from them. So, who got the royalty?

Author number two: We wanted to order several copies of the book because it was being used by students at a university. We were quoted the usual price by the publisher and we were about to place the order when we heard from other sources that the same book was being offered to a 'remainder' bookstore in Klang Valley, possibly to be sold at RM5.00! It would been really grand if we had sold the books to the students for RM32.90 while it was being remaindered elsewhere for RM5.00. We intend to tell the student where they can buy the book cheap. At least let them benefit. Again, the author was not told.

Author number three. He discovered that his plays were being remaindered only after a friend told him about seeing a whole stack of his work at a 'remainder' store. He called up the company to ask about it, and was told that he could buy up the remaining stock at SGD0.50 each. He agreed to take all six hundred but received only 100.

In all three cases, several issues stand out. One, authors do not receive any royalty on the remaindered books. (I have heard it said by many that that they didn't mind buying books from remaindered stores because it was cheaper. Yes, anonymity is a wonderful balm for the conscience. Okay, but what if you see a book by a dear friend of yours at a 'remainder' bookshop? Would you buy yourself a copy knowing she is being completely stitched by the publisher? Deprived of her main income as a writer?)

Secondly, what happens to the publishing rights? (Or, in the case of those who have inadvertently signed unfair agreements, their copyright?) Can the author republish his own book? No? So is the book completely dead?

Thirdly, why is this remaindering being done without notifying the authors, without giving them the first right of refusal? If their books are to be remaindered should they not benefit from it? Or, do they simply deserve to be swept up and trashed with the rest of the garbage?

Of course, there are cases when someone other than the author owns the copyright.

1. If an employee creates a work in the course of his or her employment, the employer owns the copyright.

2. If you are employed as an independent consultant (or contractor) to create a work and the former meets all expenses, the employer owns the copyright.

3. You have sold your entire copyright to another person or business, that buyer becomes the copyright owner.

All of the above also applies to those who publish in periodicals. Do not sign anything that surrenders your copyright to that periodical. You only give them 'one-time' publishing rights. Clarify the copyright issue from the start. Don't be seduced by niceties (aiyah, don't you trust me? bullshit) or succumb to bullying. There is no such thing as an industry standard or a moral right. If you sign your copyright over, you are dead. End of story.

(I wrote this article after talking to a couple of lawyers. Maybe some of my arguments are flawed because I am not a lawyer myself. Please post your comments or pass this story around. But niggly bits aside, what is important is that Malaysian writers must be protected from predators. Perhaps the Director of Majlis Buku Kebangsaan Malaysia -- the Malaysian Book Association-- has a view.)