Back from Frankfurt

It was a pretty good haul this year, with requests for nearly thirty manuscripts from Germany, France, Italy and Turkey. Not to count chickens, but a two-and-a-half-dozen egg haul is pretty good considering the 'soft' book market, and small inquiries in the last two years. Isa Kamari, Farish A Noor, Rozlan Mohd Noor, and Shih-Li Kow were amongst the authors who attracted the most interest (and Shih-Li's new book has not even been published yet)! But, while Singapore's NAC provides translation grants, Malaysia does not (and certainly not for books in English), so Malaysian books might be slightly handicapped.

In general, at the Bookfair, despite all the grumbling, the industry didn't seem all that soft; well, not in Halls 3 to 6 at any rate, but at Hall 8.0 the exhibits looked a little sad and crowds noticeably smaller this year. But then, Hall 8.0 has always looked a little sad when compared with the others, design-wise. This year, about 20% of the hall was devoted to digital content, and the rest was described by one Italian publisher as rubbish. For those who are wondering, Hall 8.0 is the largest, and where all the Anglo-American publishers are; that is, it is the hall for mainstream books in English. (Picture shows a 'wall of books' erected at a German stand.)

The publisher I had an appointment with in Hall 8.0 confirmed that there were fewer trade visitors at their hall this year. She said that things were slower. It was quite an interesting appointment, this one. I got an email from her asking for an appointment at Frankfurt. I had never met her before. She had a Russian sounding name and I do find European book designs and subject matter quite fascinating. In a subsequent email, she suggested Hall 8.0 for the meeting. I should have known better. Enough people have warned me over the years about Hall 8.0, that they were only interested in selling not buying, that they were not interested in trade.

When I walked into their stand for the meeting, I realised that they were really children's-book publishers, and we are not. I told her (I am not mentioning any names, here) that I did not publish children's books (why did she email me then?), but I knew a friend who did. I asked if I could take away some catalogues, which she readily agreed, and gave me two printed ones and a CD containing their full list. I asked her what type of books she would be interested in; "Folk tales, or stories of indigenous people?"  She replied, quite directly, "Oh, we only sell, not buy," whereupon we shook hands and I left. There was really no point in prolonging the conversation.

When I asked her for the catalogues earlier, I had been serious about passing them onto a friend. But after hearing her reply, I decided to simply toss it. I mean, "Why should I?" With that kind of attitude, why should I bother to help her? Maybe, that's why the traffic in Hall 8.0 was so slow!

At an earlier meeting with another publisher, this time from Turkey, the visitor went through our list and requested PDF versions of several titles to be sent to her by email. Then, I asked for her list, which she showed me. Out of many, I saw three titles, detective stories, which I felt might be of interest to Malaysian readers. I asked her for a copy of her catalogue, to pass on to Arief of PTS, and he was delighted. This is what trade is about. This is what networking is about. Unfortunately, publishers from Britain and the US are not quite clear on that concept.

Notwithstanding all that, Frankfurt is a fantastic place to be. You will have no idea how big the book industry is until you have seen it.

Oh, by the way, a Malaysian publishing industry leader told me that the London Book Fair is no different from Hall 8.0. So, I guess I shall give it a miss.

We are the sum of what others think of us

We received an email yesterday with the subject, "I am Alvin Tan, the man the media loves to hate." Yes, the same Alvin Tan who uploaded pictures of himself and his girlfriend on the internet and got into trouble in Singapore, and the 'buka puasa' photo, which got him into trouble in Malaysia. (The email was BCCed to Silverfish Books, so we assume he has sent it to other publishers as well.) He also sent several links to newspaper articles about the ... er ... his events, in case we didn't know who he is. I couldn't help but smile. It seemed like this guy now wants to make some money out of it all (maybe to pay his legal costs).

The email was about a proposal for a book (yes a proposal, not a manuscript) he wants to write, with chapter headings and links to Facebook notes. I would have normally rejected emails like this outright, because I'm only interested in completed manuscripts. But I decided to look at his Facebook page, because such people are often immensely talented, and I am really not interested in their personal lives, no matter what I think about them.  Maybe we'll discover a new literary genius, I thought.

Unfortunately, not. Aiyoh! Our friend is a regular Aunt Agony, lah! His writings are on parenting, self-improvement, media management, social skills, dating, etc. A bit ironic, that. But that's not the reason we sent him a  rejection letter. We don't publish self-help, or motivation, or business.

When I told someone about this inquiry I was met with the response,"Why would anyone even consider publishing a book by 'this stupid child'." Why not? Who am I to judge him? Hey, I don't care if he's a porn star if he writes well! As a publisher, our friends often decide what type of books we publish, or don't.

A shopkeeper's life isn't easy either. Our customers like to decide what we should and should not sell. One customer, who came last week, said that he attended one of our events some years ago and left with the impression that Silverfish Books was a 'lefty' hangout! He was appalled at the anti-government rhetoric. "They can only see it from one point of view." Oh boy! I wanted to tell him that not all our events, or customers, are like that, but decided not to say anything. As a shopkeeper, I had to shut up, no matter what, and keep my thoughts to myself. And, let him think I agree.

We have a few customers who do get carried away sometimes, especially at events. They are a minority, but noisy enough to send out wrong signals. The truth is whatever they say. This was particularly scary just before the last general elections. Hey, this is Bangsar, okay? I was afraid I'd get beaten up if I had a contrarian view about anything, and I was certainly not going to tell them that some of my very intelligent customers were ministers and wives from, yes, the blue half! (Even, if they leave me gob-smacked a week later, due to some statement in the press.) I have met some lovely people from that group, but don't tell them that. (Oh dear, are some people going to stop coming?!)

As a friend, we sometimes feel that we're not entitled to an opinion, and that we should agree no matter how wrong and silly the argument. Boo hoo hoo, how can you say that? I thought you were my friend. You should agree with me. Well, you should try becoming a shopkeeper then, particularly of a bookshop. Have you read this, have you read that, what do you think? If it is a local book ... you die, man, no matter what! Tell me now! Right now! What's you're opinion of this? And it had better be the right answer!

Bookshops and publishers are the sum total of whatever their customers think they are. We can't possibly have another opinion, or, God forbid, disagree. That would not be allowed.

Life is so-oo difficult.