OhmiGod!

My gosh, I’ve published a book! I am an author! Wow. What a rush the last 12 months has been. A lot of people have asked me, how did you get a publisher to publish your book? Well, that is an amazing story. You see, when I finished my manuscript in June 2007, my first task was complete. But now came the hardest challenge. Who would agree to take my manuscript, edit it, made sure it looked pretty, get a graphic designer to professionally do the front and back cover, print a few thousand copies of it, and distribute it all over Malaysia, and at the end of the day, pay me some money for it?

So I emailed my manuscript to almost every publisher imaginable in the Malaysia and Singapore region. I even over-ambitiously emailed it to Ireland and UK, thinking that since my book is about Ireland, it would be relevant there. After many weeks of waiting, only ONE publisher replied, and yes, it was Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia).

First, it was the head of the Malaysian branch, Christine Chong, who replied me, saying that the manuscript will be sent for ‘evaluation’. I felt so happy! At least she didn’t reject me!

Then after a few more weeks of fervent hoping and nail-biting, she sent another email, saying that the evaluation looked positive, but they needed more time to review it. This time, I felt rather confused. Oh no, I thought. Were they in doubt as to whether what I wrote was publishable? Christine gave me a one month. “Bug me in one month’s time,” she said. She sounded so professional. So casual. I, on the other hand, was screaming at the laptop, who undoubtedly must have been confused, since it did nothing to warrant me yelling, “PLEASE PUBLISH MY WORK! PLEASE! I WILL DO ANYTHING! I WILL SACRIFICE GOATS TO SATAN IF YOU WANT ME TO!”

Thankfully, Christine was not that sort of person, and neither was Marshall Cavendish that sort of organization. One day, she emailed me again, and this time, she said, “Sorry for the delay, but I hope it was worthwhile. Yes, we will publish your work. We will need you to confirm your address and IC number for payment and we will be sending you the contracts for you to sign shortly.” After reading the email for 100 times, this time with me leaning forward, my nose almost touching the screen with such a teary-eyed expression that my laptop really feared for the keyboard’s life.

I immediately called up my girlfriend, Komella. She is my best friend, so she deserved to know it first. “I AM GETTING PUBLISHED!” I yelled through my handphone. My electronic gadget deserves a better owner. “Yay, I am so happy for you!” Komella replied. I could hear the joy and elation in her voice. “Okay I have to go study now,” she said immediately, her span for joy and elation now ended. After I hung up, I RAN to my housemate Mike’s room, without even knocking on his door (like always).

He was lying in bed reading FHM. I just looked at him dead in his eyes. He looked back at me. “They are publishing my work, bro!” I said. He immediately dropped the FHM, pulled up his pants, cleaned his right hand with some tissue paper and shook my hand. “Congrats, bro!”

And that’s how it happened. Thank you, Christine Chong for not deleting my email! Thank you Manjula Aryaduray for reviewing and evaluating my manuscript! Thank you, Leowania Leow, for not only possessing a rather funky first-name second-name combo, but for soldiering on with the book! Lee Jin Jin, my super, super designer who drew all the cartoons for every chapter and the AWESOME cover!

And last but not least, thank you all of you who have supported me and bought my book!

I have many other plans for future books, but let’s just savour this one for now. Many years from now, if I do make it big in the publishing world, I will never forget the loyal few of you.

I love you guys and gals.

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