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Tuesday 5 November 2013

A Hasty Newsletter

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The Penang Bookshelf's 
Hasty Newsletter
 


Bookshelves
From The Penang Bookshelf
Dear Friend

Not A Precedent    
  
Why the hurry? The last newsletter was only about a month ago. Well...Yes, I normally am a bit shy about inflicting so much chatter on
Ideas Won't Keep- Wang Gungwu (MYR).
those who bother to read these things. However I can probably invent a bit of news for you. I've also been kicked to promote a book or two so let's see how it goes. Also, although you may not realise it, I do pay some insufferably chirpy individuals in the States good money every month for the privelege of writing to you. So sit up! I've got to get my money's worth; every sen, cent and penny of it. 

Something Different

I've just finished writing an article about The Penang Bookshelf. Never a difficult task for this
Princess Play (MYR)
attention seeker. One bit I couldn't quite fit in was a moan - another one! - about how easy it is to predict what The Penang Bookshelf's Malaysia based customers will buy. Everyone buys books about Britain's fumbling colonial antics in the country. Expatriates also buy books about the birds and bees (nature and wildlife.) Everyone else also mainly buy books about their own cultures. So I will be fascinated to see who buys these mould breaking books by Barbara Ismail, an American, whose
Shadow Play (MYR).
chosen to honour my birthday by turning up in Penang on Thursday, 7th November to talk about her two detective novels set in Kelantan. Reports from the recent Singapore Writers' Festival say that she was one of the more sparky speakers there. The event is organised by Spyral Synergy. If you want to meet her and pig yourself on China House cakes then do quickly book a seat. If you can't make it and want autographed copies of one or both of her novels, please contact me before noon on Thursday. I've also managed to include a bit about the event on A Bit of a Grind

New topic. New grumble. One of the really back breaking bits of work running The Penang Bookshelf is trying to get publishers in Malaysia and, to a lesser extent, Singapore to first reveal and then actually release their books. It was a Singapore member of the fraternity that took top prize last month. First there was the serendipitous discovery of their existence and some quite interesting titles on their inventory. Then, as expected, no other bookseller in the world who had a website was selling their new stock. Aha! A target! I then discovered not only could they not offer trade terms, but it was impossible for someone who did not have a Singapore bank account to buy any of their titles. A lagardly correspondence ensued and then, as a result of a third party intervention, the books were couriered to my doorstep. When I retire from The Penang Bookshelf, I could probably make more money as a marketing consultant to the publishing industry. However I doubt if I'd get many offers. Please note. The publishers of Invisible Tears  (MYR) are not the publishers to whom I am referring.

Passing the Buck.
Some enjoy reading this newsletter. For most it's probably just too convoluted. Last week I discovered that I have an excuse - blame it on my ancestors. So convenient. In the UK a biography of my late aunt
has just been published. While listening to a radio programme about the book last week, I heard one of the contributors say about my grandfather, 'He said everything that was important to him in an aside.' Although I'm on the eve of my 66th birthday, I'm still happily discovering more about myself

With best wishes and thanks,

   
William Knox
The Penang Bookshelf     
The links to book titles are to The Penang Bookshelf's main website where prices are in US dollars. If you live in Malaysia, you may prefer to click on the (MYR) link that follows the main link. This second link is to The Penang Bookshelf's eBay store where prices are in Malaysian Ringgit.
News Snippets 

Flip Flop  

Since The Penang Bookshelf's clientele is split almost equally between those in and outside Malaysia, it has always been my dearest wish to have one website where both sets of customers
The Way That Lives in the Heart  (MYR).
were equally comfortable. The search for this nirvana has led me into many mind chilling chats with geeky gurus from all over the place. The result was a decision to try to herd each band of customers  to two different sites. Hence Pinang Tree Books was born. Stillborn might be a more accurate description. Sales from the site have been almost negligible in nearly a year's existence while The Penang Bookshelf's other Malaysian ringgit site, its eBay store, has gone from strength to strength. So Pinang Tree books will fizzle out and disappear in the next few weeks. In the meantime I'm pulling the remaining strands of my hair out trying to make eBay a bit more user friendly.

OK it's a bit clunky, but I've never played about with HTML before, so give us a break. The eBay site now breathlessly tries to imitate the main site with New Arrivals pages and a list of some books that may arrive on the sites one day. This is a composite version of the monthly new arrivals list on The Penang Bookshelf Blog. Finally the eBay store is now graced with a Bestsellers List that has more of a pop chart format. Yowee! The fastest mover this month has been Images of Penang (MYR) which is one of the many cases where I have had to eat humble pie. I couldn't see how another Penang picture book could succeed when it was first published. The Penang Bookshelf's  never sold a copy online, but they're always molested and spirited away when ever I take them about town.  

Postal Saviour?  

 The last newsletter  whined on about the Malaysian Post Office's strange meddling with the overseas postal rates. Of course I should have guessed that vulture competitors would soon be attempting be 
Penang 500 Early Postcards. (MYR)
attempting to transform our post office's excretions into gold. Sure enough our wily cousins lurking on the peninsula's southern border are amongst the new movers and shakers in the postal mayhem. The Penang Bookshelf's fallen for their blandishments and will be sending off its first trial package to Germany tomorrow using the new carriers. By the time of the next newsletter, which may be sooner than you think, there could be an announcement of cuts in postal costs for those having the misfortune not to live in Malaysia.

Literary Jamboree   

Yes. Don't forget Penang has its own literary festival, The George Town Literary Festival. It's  back with us again from 29th November to 1st December. Book your bus/plane tickets or get on your bike now! If you can nimbly sidestep some of the more grating bits of hyperbole on their website you'll see that it's bigger and better than before with an interesting mix of Fag Lady Malaysian and overseas writers. It really has been quite an acievement for the organisers. I think it's only in its third or fourth year and no mean feat. Bear in mind that the more glitzy Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka now seems to be stuck in the mire.
. The Penang Bookshelf will be there for a third year - just. Because of the presence of a mega bookseller or two this year, we've been asked to bring along only 'rare' books. A licence to print money, maybe. Since probably around 30% of The Penang Bookshelf's in print books are not carried by any other major bookseller in Malaysia, assembling a decent bundle of the new, old and absolutely impossible to find elsewhere  shouldn't be all that difficult. 

Padding (Like the rest of the Newsletter, surely?)

For those of you who are keen on self-improvement, but put off by the lovey-dovey slurp that glues together all festivals, The Oscars, the Olympics etc, Just take a read of this. Good literature not only improves the mind, but helps you gain and keep friends. Hmmm...

The sermon continues...If you're a bit wary about Chekov, you could try something like crime (already plugged) or romantic/historical fiction (just about to be plugged). For Christmas or for any time that you feel like a splurge, The Penang Bookshelf will soon be stocking a boxed set of Dawn Farnham's complete Straits Quartet


As a footnote I'll grudgingly mention that my deadly rival in the Malaysian bookselling business, John Nicholson of Popular Picture History Resources,is having his annual book sale at the Badan Warisan in Kuala Lumpur until the 15th of November. I'm too lazy to go, but you don't have to follow my example.

I suppose one way to get out and about a bit would be to find a capacious vehicle and move about with a few of my books. looking at these photos has fiven me a few ideas




  


About The Penang Bookshelf
The Penang Bookshelf specialises in providing book lovers with a broad range of new and second-hand books, both fiction and non-fiction, primarily about Malaysia, but also about other parts of Asia as well. 

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Websites: www.penangbookshelf.com
                www.pinangtreebooks.com


Also at: AbeBooks. Biblio.com,Ebay and at IOBA  

Category Pages - Asian Fiction,      Asian History,     Asian ReligionsBorneo  Chinese Ceramics   Malaysian Architecture  Malaysian Agriculture   Malaysian Arts and Culture  Malaysia: CartoonsMalaysian Chinese Community  Malaysian Cooking and Food Malaysia: Colonial Biography,     Malaysia: Modern Biography,   Malaysia - Fiction  Malaysia: Journalism,    Malaysia: Language & Linguistics,     Malaysia: Literature, Malaysia: Malay Community   Malaysia & Singapore: 19th Century History,   Malaysia: Post-Independence HistoryMalaysia: Miscellaneous, Malaysian Nature and Wildlife    Orang Asli (Indigenous People)    Malaysian Poetry  Malaysian Politics  Malaysia: Religion   Malaysia & Singapore: World War II  Perak    Singapore: Anthropology & Sociology     Singapore Fiction

Email: penangbookshelf@gmail.com

Telephone: +60-12-972-6485 
Business Address:  Aquarius, 4-8-8 Jalan Low Yat, Batu Ferringhi, 11100, Penang. (The Penang Bookshelf's entire inventory is available for browsing. Please call to fix an appointment.)  
Mailing Address: 36, Cheeseman Road, 11600 Penang, Malaysia

Registered Business No: PG0282219-D

This email was sent to ewvknox@gmail.com by penangbookshelf@gmail.com |  
The Penang Bookshelf | 36 Cheeseman Road | Penang | 11600 | Malaysia

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