Ted Mahsun: KL Writer's Circle.
Dato’ Ng Tieh Chuan from MPH Group Publishing was first up, and he talked about the importance of contracts in publishing. He went through the main points of a typical contract and highlighted clauses that authors would be wise to be wary of, such as remainder, translation and royalties clauses. I find it very interesting that in the translation clause, you should make sure it doesn't say "Malay", but "Bahasa Melayu" because apparently that could create some confusion when it comes to discussing Indonesian distribution rights.
Ms. Shoba Mano, author of Prodigal Child, was next, and she encouraged authors to consider publishing their books electronically, besides pursuing through the traditional way. According to Ms. Mano, ebooks were the "wave of the future". She explained how there were many ebook publishers that were willing to consider publishing a new writer's manuscript as well as the benefits of publishing electronically, i.e. readers get easier access to books and the many online libraries that provided ebooks. She also gave a little background of ebooks, like the formats they come in and what devices you could read them on. Then, during the Q&A session, she talked a little about herself and her book, the Prodigal Child. She said it took about one year of going back and forth with her Indian publishers before it was finally published.
Haha... but it was really cool to finally get to meet her. She's such a friendly and bubbly person.
Haha! I think you got me confused with The Eternal Wanderer!
I think received an email about the Book Project reading some time ago... whoops, must've forgotten about it... so many things going on at the same time. Cannot keep up!
Thanks Ted, for putting this up. I think contracts are quite standard, authors don't have a lot of clout to change terms, unless their stature is bigger than Twin Towers.
Unless of course they have a Super Literary Agent? haha... actually I don't know how much clout a local lit agent (isn't there just one in the region?) would have, but a LitAgent would certainly be a good person to have to negotiate a contract when publishing in the US or UK.