Copyright makes important books disappear

This is not new, people have complained about copyright laws for a long time. Many customers coming into Silverfish asking for books published in the country in the 60s and 70s, which are now out of print. We would apologise and point them in the direction of antiquarian bookstores in London, and feel thoroughly stupid about it. These are Malaysian books, good books, and should be in print, even if only POD, and should be in the country.

"Why don't you republish it," they would ask. The reply to that, in a word, is 'copyright'. The publishers have disappeared and no one knows where the author is. Still, the work remains protected! Not unlike the dog in the manger story that we heard when we were children.

Copyright registration?

The copyright regime is a weird. Unlike patents, you do not have to register it, you do not have to prove it is yours, yet no one else can touch.

We understand that copyright laws are about allowing the author to exploit the full commercial potential of a book. But happens though if the author and his publisher are no longer interested in it, or even dead? Out of hundreds of thousands of books published every year, only a tiny fraction remains in print after five years. And, after ten years, next to none. Only the very famous will still sell their books in any numbers to make it commercially exploitable. So, imagine the situation after 30, 40 or 50 years. The tragedy is that thousands of very important mid-level works go unread and unpublished for generations, and are hence forgotten.

In the US and Europe a work is currently copyright protected for 70 years after the death of the author, and they are working on extending it. In Malaysia, the copyright remains with the author's estate for 50 years after the death of the author. (If there is anyone out there with better knowledge of Malaysian copyright laws, please butt in.)

If copyright were treated like private property, it would be a leasehold house, where the owner would be allowed in as long as he is alive. Then his heir(s) would inherit it, but only for the remaining duration of the lease. The heir might subsequently want to apply to renew the lease, subject to approval by the state. Under copyright laws, a new lease is automatically granted, even if he (or she) is not interested. Firstly, why do the heirs deserve this hand-me-down? What did they do? Secondly, does such work not belong to the people? Is it not the cultural heritage of a nation? (Am I beginning to sound like a communist here? Have to be careful these days.)

Life would be so much simpler if copyright had to be registered and renewed at regular intervals for a fee to the state (or other body) if any party still wants to keep his interest alive. If the Library of Congress can register every damned book ever published, why not copyright?  For scholars, researchers and the public, this would be a gold mine, even if the majority of the works might be nothing more than paper lama.

Censorship by other means

We are such a young country, and yet we have already lost so much. We do not know where many authors or the publishers are, let alone their next of kin, and the works cannot be reprinted because it is still protected. Some people in the government would prefer many works to disappear because of inconvenient truths they might reveal. Since book-burning would be frowned upon (although many have no problems with openly advocating it) for reasons of politics, and, not to mention, haze mitigation, wilful benign neglect (by not allocating funds, for example) and incompetence (having civil servants look after priceless old manuscripts, or sell as kacang puteh wrapper) have almost become the accepted modus operandi.

In any context, this would be censorship by other means. (Does anyone know where the original Jawi manuscripts of Hikayat Hang Tuah and Merong Mahawangsa are?)

In a recent study by Professor Paul J. Heald (picture), of the University of Illinois College of Law, and visiting professor at the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM) at Britain’s Bournemouth University, it was reported that, “A random sample of new books for sale on Amazon.com shows three times more books initially published in the 1850’s are for sale than new books from the 1950’s."

So, not surprisingly, copyright makes books disappear. And also music. (Read the full text of the paper here.) Powerful copyright lobbyists advocate ever longer terms of copyright protection for fear that when copyright expires, the work loses its owner, and it falls into the public domain. Er, so? Isn't that where it belongs? Anyway, even if copyright protection is extended, what's the problem with registering and renewing it so everyone knows? The monopolists would benefit too.

We have heard this many times before: if you love it, set it free. This should include copyright.

A dumbo's guide: create e-books (epub and mobi) from .doc files for free

Okay, so this is not entirely an opinion piece, but I cannot let it go without having a say, can I? Contrary to what most people think, the e-book scene out there is a wild jungle. It's also terribly fragmented, and is changing rapidly. That's not surprising as e-books are still new and evolving, except for the pdf format which has been with us for a long time. But the problem with it is that it is formatted page-by-page and so the text doesn't flow continuously, and does not take different page sizes without making it impossible to read. Mobi and Epub formats, are more tolerant of page-size variations, but images must be anchored to the text for them to appear at approximately the right positions.

Still, making your own e-books is a good way for giving away, sharing or selling (yes, you read that right) that book you have just completed for absolutely free. You read that right, too! You can send it to anyone with a mobile phone, tablet or a Kindle. Distribution, too, is free if you send it as an email attachment. Anyway, there are many online marketing tools out there. Google it, or ask a friend. But, here's what you will need for now.

1. The masterpiece you have written in Word format. (Other word-processing programs should work as well.)
2. Download Calibre and install it. It is an open-source program, and is free, which means it's available for OSX, Windows and Linux.
3. Download Sigil and install it. It is also open-source and free, and available for Windows and Mac. This program will allow you to tweak the format of the EPUB to make it look nicer before you send it out.
(Added information: Apple uses EPUB, Amazon uses MOBI, and they don't talk to one another.)

Step One: Save your Word file as .rtf (Rich Text Format). (You can also save it as a HTML (HyperText Markup Language) file, used for creating web pages and other information that can be displayed in a web browser. But, if you're a non-geek and this freaks you out, don't have to take this route. On the other hand, if you're a geek already, go on ahead; you don't need this primer.)

Step Two: Open Calibre. (The image shows what it would look like with all the books you have added. If you have not added any, you'll only see the Calibre Quick Start Guide.)

Step Three: Add the newly created .rtf file by either using the 'Add' option (top right) or drag-and-drop the file into the white space.

Step Four: Edit metadata (no need to freak out now). Highlight the newly imported file, and click the second from left button. Here, you can add the author's name, year of publication, publisher, and anything else you want (or ignore it all, if you don't.) Click OK.

Step Five: With the new file still highlighted, click the third button. This is where the magic happens. Like it says, it will convert your book. The source type (RTF) will show on the top right. Select the destination type (EPUB) on the top left pull-down. Click 'OK' and viola! (You will see a revolving wheel at the bottom left, and how long it will take will depend on the size of the file -- very quick, at any rate.)

Step Six: (Sorry, not over yet.) Click 'Save file', third from right on top, and choose your destination, wherever you like. Your EPUB is done (almost). Click 'View' (fourth from left) to see what it looks like. If you like what you see, it's done. If the format looks like a dog's breakfast, and that you can introduce more spaces, or align-centre, etc., go to the next step.

Step Seven: Launch Sigil, open the EPUB file you created above, and do some minor formatting to make it look better. It is quite intuitive, not unlike a basic word-processor. Save and close after you're done. (No matter how hard you try, you will not get it to look like a book published on paper -- not with current technology anyway -- unless you go the pdf route.)

Step Eight: Add the new EPUB file to your Calibre library, (I suggest you delete the old one to avoid confusion), highlight it, and convert to MOBI just like the process above. You can read the .mobi file in Calibre too, by highlighting it and clicking 'View'.

Now, enjoy! You can sell it, give it away, upload it on Amazon (Google for instructions and rules) and Apple iPad (ditto). Don't pay any money to those sharks who convert e-books for a fee, unless you want to go professional. That's another story. This is for fun.

(Note about e-book formats: if you want to mess with your mind, visit the following Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats)

Book snobs

When someone said (this was sometime ago) about one of our products, she didn't think Silverfish published 'that kind of book', we were gob-smacked. Our first reaction was, "What, what, what?!" as if we had been caught with our pant-zipper down. We were certainly confused. After we calmed, we asked ourselves, "Why did she think we wouldn't publish this?" It was quite obvious that she thought we were a bunch of snobs, but what kind?! It was important to ensure that one stood accused of the right type of snobbery. Then, we laughed.

We have met many types of book snobs in the fourteen years we have been open. Some will come into the shop and declare loudly (as if it makes a difference to us) that they don't read Malaysian books (oh dear), or only read business and management, or self-help, or non-fiction, implying that everything they don't read could be classified as rubbish. One friend even came in and declared that she only read thrash! I love her!

Anyway, going back to the title that upset the madam so much, it was a book of short stories by one author. Nothing embarrassing about that. The stories were anecdotal, but told with plenty of humour. Was humour the problem, then? In all the years we have been reading manuscripts, it is interesting to note that humour is an ingredient that is glaringly missing from Malaysian writing. Strange, isn't it? Yes, we have satirical cartoons and jokes. We love to tell Irish jokes with local minorities featured as characters, not to mention local political ones, but, as a people, we appear to have completely lost our ability to laugh at ourselves. We can laugh at others, but not ourselves. How many Malaysian writers would we regard as funny? Well, Chua Kok Yee is one, although some have remarked, "Aiyoh, why he write like that, one?" completely missing his humour. You know the Hokkien word, "Siow?" That's what Kok Yee is!

But, we have reason to believe what madam really meant was, "It is not literary." Again, "What, what, what?!"

Okay, let's go back a little in history. 'Literary' was a label publishers stuck on books that they otherwise couldn't sell (or as a reaction against Faber which had establishing itself a notch above the rest, at the time). It was, we believe, a trend that started in the late seventies, or thereabouts, and reinforced by the Booker (and other) prizes. It was generally considered to be language driven, as opposed to plot. They came to imply good prose (that beautiful turn of phrase), a slice of life, a pithy statement about the human condition, all told subtly in an understated tale. I was a snob, and I wouldn't read anything else, in the late nineties and the early naughties. To quote my favourite minstrel: 'I was so much older then, but I'm younger than that now'. 

In the last thirty years, Anglophone 'literary' titles have become mere products, another commodity, albeit one with very little appeal amongst most readers (except 'snobs'). General readers have largely abandoned them in droves for sci-fi, fantasy, horror, crime (marginally still acceptable to the L-types), thrillers, chicklit, soft porn, romance, etc, etc, where the money is. Literary books, on the other hand, have increasingly been regarded as boring. Sure, there are many that are still good, but their authors tend to be older, or the usual suspects. Unfortunately, several (including prize-winning ones) appear to be nothing more than exercises in self-gratification. Still, these are products that keep publishing houses looking respectable while they make their money elsewhere (even when they are run by CEOs who publicly -- and infamously -- declare that they do not read). An Arab-American author I met recently said that Fifty Shades was paying for her book! She would not have been published otherwise. (Someone in the industry recently proposed a new 'literary' genre. What? To drive more people away?)

Anyway, this is how we choose books to publish at Silverfish. First, there must be an interesting story, whatever the genre, solidly structured, well argued within its own internal logic, and told with empathy from the points of view of all characters. If you preach, we will reject your work. (We will also reject books on self-help, business & management, academic & text, and teenage angst (no matter how old the writers) with or without an honest reason.) Second, adequate language to convey the meaning of the story. If language skills are better, they should enhance the storytelling and the reader experience, but never stand in the way of comprehension, or shout, "Look at me, look at me. See how clever I am!" Please bear in mind that poor language skills can be fixed; a poor story cannot. (Ironically, the simpler it is, the harder it is to write.) Third, we like writers who do not have a problem with working hard, and are not unwilling to rewrite. (We can suss them out fairly quickly.) And fourth, we like writers who make a difference, who are not afraid to push boundaries, who research their work well, and who are honest.

Yes, the madam was right. We are snobs indeed, but we don't apologise for being interested only in the best of Malaysian literature.

Obsessed with fame

I have always defended young people against criticisms by the old, who accuse them of being lazy, entitled, selfish and shallow. "My customers are mostly young," I protest, "and they read widely." Unfortunately, a recent study appears to show that they may be right, at least with regards to those born in the 1990s. Time magazine calls them the Me Me Me Generation, an entire generation obsessed with themselves and their fake Facebook/Twitter persona. (According to the National Institutes of Health in the US, 58% more college students scored higher on a narcissism scale in 2009 than in 1982.)

I came across two more interesting stories.

The Marshmallow experiment

First from Wikipedia. In an experiment at the Bing Nursery School at Stanford University in the 1960s by psychologist Walter Mischel, children age four to six (over 600 took part) were led into a room and offered the choice of having one small reward (like a marshmallow) immediately, or two if they waited 15 mins. So the children sat looking at their treat after the researcher left the room. Many gave in to temptation very quickly, others took a while and a few managed to get their two treats.

In the follow-up of the experiment, researchers checking in on these same students in high school, found that those with more self-control were better behaved, less prone to addiction, and scored higher on the SAT. (Was it pure self-control or strategic thinking by the nasty little buggers?)

Walter Mischel had run a similar experiment in Trinidad a decade earlier with different ethnic groups of contrasting stereotypes. 53 children in a rural area were given the choice of a 1-cent candy immediately or a better 10-cent one in a week’s time. Mischel reported significant differences due to ethnicity, age, and the absence of a father in the family. Socio-economics didn’t seem to matter. Intact families did.

To many people it would be a no-brainer that self-control leads to productivity and success. Would you rather do the more tempting ‘lepak at the mamak’ every night with friends or work on your novel? Who is more likely to succeed in whatever they choose to do? “I have no time,” is something you’d hear often from those who’d rather waste theirs on phone calls, texting, Facebook, Twitter or whatever (not that they’d see it that way). Jocelyn K. Glei, Editor-in-Chief and Director of 99U, thinks Facebook is the new marshmallow.

G is for Grit

Second, I watched a Youtube video by Angela Lee Duckworth on TED talks, which Jade recommended, on a research she is currently undertaking with children to understand the ingredients of success. Duckworth found  that while self-control was an excellent predictor of ones ability to follow through on some types of difficult tasks, it was not the most important factor when predicting success. She was suspicious of 'talent' and 'intelligence' too. Duckworth research boiled it all down to one essential ingredient she calls 'grit' or “the perseverance and passion for a long-term goal”. Grit is single-mindedness, unwavering dedication, whatever the obstacles, no matter how long it takes.

The media largely attributed Obama's victory in the 2012 elections to the use of social media, particularly Facebook, Twitter and texting. Media has always liked hype because it's sexy and it sells. But reality is quite different. US News says: In a memo released just before Election Day, the Obama campaign claimed it had contacted one out of every 2.5 people in the country since the 2008 election, much of it through personal phone calls or knocking on doors. That number is far and above the 50 million voter contacts the Romney campaign has cited. "The best data for us was things we collected at the doors," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said. Additionally, Obama.org says that 10,000 volunteers knocked on 7 million doors on the day before the election. Now, that's grit.

And the moral of the story? One might be self-righteously indignant, or even right, but if the message is not sent out, you drop the ball. The urban middle-class can whip themselves up into a frenzy on Facebook, Twitter and other social media where broadband is ubiquitous, but in the rural areas it is done the old fashioned way -- at coffee shops, weddings, births, deaths, circumcisions, thanksgiving religious ceremonies, prayer meetings, kenduris, etc., where any politician worth his salt shows up and becomes part of the community. There is nothing like a real connection. A friend, an expatriate, sent me a photo of a kampong about three weeks before the last elections. It looked like the entire village had been gift-wrapped in blue. Even a cockroach wouldn't have been able to penetrate that fortress if it was not wearing blue. One look at the photograph and I realised that the game was up. I guessed rightly who was going to win this one, whatever the hype.

Nobody like to lose. Supporters of the losing team in football will accuse the referees of bias and/or incompetence, accuse the opponents of 'not playing the ball', and claim they were unfairly denied a penalty. A neutral observer might sympathise with the last if the difference was one goal. What if it is 44? 45 penalties? Can anyone score from every one of them? Or were you simply not prepared, being caught up in the social network hype, and didn't train hard enough?

Did you drop the ball?