Shawn Seah's Blog, page 2

Before Starting Your Journey as an Author, Read This

Things to Know or Consider Before Starting on the Road to get Published.

“Our Amazing Pioneers” series of books on pioneers like Seah Eu Chin, Tan Tock Seng, and Syed Omar Aljunied. Photograph by writer’s team.

Starting your journey to become an author is both exciting and challenging. However, the journey is also full of challenges. I have made so many mistakes in writing, editing, self-publishing, and mainstream publishing. But I have also learnt from them.

Here are some key lessons and reflections every aspiring author should know before starting on their writing or publishing journey. I hope my lessons and reflections (from hard experience) will be useful to you.

No one can actually guarantee a smooth journey, but if you are reading this, at least you can be properly informed before you make any decisions.

First, don’t expect to make a fortune

Don’t be too quick to quit your day job once you start writing.

There are millions of books published each year (both through mainstream and self-publishing routes). In fact, most books do not sell more than a few hundred copies.

What this means is that statistically speaking, not every book you publish will be a bestseller (if you even publish a bestseller at all).

Not every book idea is going to be sheer genius.

As a result, the harsh reality is that few authors make significant money from their books.

Even if there is money to be made, it will not come from the books themselves, but from other sources, like additional programmes you deliver.

Trust me, I hate to be the one to tell you this hard truth, especially since I love writing, but I think it’s important to be realistic about the financial aspects.

If you don’t expect to make a fortune, and you eventually do, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Second, aim to be a professional

Treat your writing seriously, setting aside dedicated time and striving for high-quality work.

Yes, inspiration is important, but so is perspiration.

Writing is a skill that needs dedicated, committed, continuous practice.

Keep writing, reading, and learning.

Even the best writers keep improving upon their craft.

Third, be prepared to polish relentlessly

No one creates a perfect masterpiece on their first try (or even their seventh try; trust me).

Be prepared to edit your work many, many times. Edit your writing, take breaks, and come back with fresh eyes, and have an editor review it.

(An editor can help you with many aspects beyond copyediting and proofreading; an editor is more than someone who just fixes typos, spelling errors, and grammatical mistakes. However, at the end of the day, you still have to be able to edit your own writing.)

Polish your writing: remove redundancies; tighten up; keep sentences and paragraphs readable; correct spelling mistakes and typos; and check facts and figures. Relentless editing is crucial for creating a polished final product.

But I have to confess: no matter how hard you scrub, one or two mistakes will always get through. Pay special attention to figures: dates, numbers, financials. Despite my economics training, sometimes figures get mixed up.

Live and learn, as I always say. Be prepared to forgive yourself over and over again.

Fourth, understand yourself and your unique perspective

Ask yourself what makes you uniquely qualified to write this particular book. Why you?

Consider your personal experiences, educational qualifications, or background that make you the right person to write this book.

Your unique perspective is what will set your book apart from others’ books.

Fifth, distinguish your book(s) from comparable titles

On the one hand, your book needs to be similar enough to existing titles so that publishers know there is a market or existing demand for it.

On the other hand, it cannot be too similar, as it needs to stand out from the crowd, being a bit differentiated.

Think about what unique angle, data, or insight you can offer that others haven’t, and make sure this is clear in your book or book series.

Sixth, have a regular, consistent writing schedule

One of the biggest challenges facing any writer is maintaining a regular writing schedule.

Waiting for the “perfect moment to write” or for “inspiration to strike” often leads to procrastination.

Yes, it sounds a bit like work, but being professional means treating writing as work: hard work! As Denzel Washington rightly said, “Hard work works.”

Set up a routine that works for you.

Set achievable goals, like writing a certain number of words each day or week.

I often set myself modest goals, like “at least one sentence per night” or “at least one paragraph on weekend nights”.

Seventh, criticism will come. Deal with it

I think the biggest shock I received was how some people can be incredibly rude and unkind, but I have learnt to deal with it over the years.

(BUT I immediately hasten to add that the vast majority of readers I have come in contact with are kind, encouraging, and supportive people.)

Rude rats are real. I personally have been called “sh*t” in Hokkien; falsely accused of stealing other people’s ideas (they were not published, but I was); and heckled at book talks.

Sometimes, the funniest part of these criticisms is that the person has not even read the books in question and is just making unjustified ad hominem attacks.

Par for the course: criticism is an inevitable part of the writing journey.

Not everyone will love your work, and that’s OK.

Develop a thick skin and learn to deal with criticism constructively.

Where relevant, use criticism or constructive feedback to improve your writing, rather than being discouraged.

However, if it is irrelevant criticism or unconstructive feedback, then ignore the naysayers.

Remember, even the most successful authors face criticism. When you put yourself out there, there will be the occasional rude and unkind person. Learn to forgive them and yourself.

Eighth, understand the publishing landscape: traditional, mainstream publishing vs. self-publishing

The publishing industry offers several ways to bring your work to readers.

Traditional publishing provides credibility, editorial support, and marketing and distribution resources.

Self-publishing offers control and potentially higher royalties, and gives you the opportunity to handle everything from editing to marketing.

Ninth, build or strengthen your platform

Build an author platform to reach audiences and engage with readers. If you have an existing one, continue to strengthen it.

What is a platform? It is essentially like “street cred”, credibility, or expertise; existing popularity; and connection with your readership. How do you reach out to readers? How do your readers reach out to you? And how big is your support group, your fan base, your community?

Use social media, create a professional website, or start a blog to share your journey and connect with your audience.

Network with other writers, participate in literary events, and connect with many people.

For example, when I first started along my writing journey, it was difficult to reach out to readers in the beginning. I had to build my mailing list one email at a time, and network with people and make connections, one person at a time. Slowly, but surely, over many public talks, I have gradually built up and strengthened my platform.

Today, things are much easier now that I have a mailing list of kind people who are supportive of my writing. And I still keep growing my influence and community, bit by bit.

Build your platform.

Tenth, stay resilient: don’t give up

In any major undertaking, you will face challenges. That’s normal.

Rejection is an inevitable part of the writing journey. That’s normal too.

Feeling alone in the writing journey and wanting to give up is also normal.

And like I mentioned earlier, there will be all sorts of critics (you can count on it).

Not every publisher will be interested in your manuscript; not every editor will love your book proposal; and not every reader will love your work.

My word of advice: don’t give up.

Keep learning, growing, and writing.

Really, don’t give up easily

Keep your passion alive.

Write stories that matter to you.

Remember why you started writing in the first place and let passion drive you forward. But temper your passion with hard truths and realistic expectations.

The journey to becoming an author is filled with ups and downs, moments of self-doubt, and triumphs. But you can get better and better over time.

After reading about my personal experiences and lessons, at least you are better prepared to go on your own journey and experiences.

All the best and keep writing! May you contribute to positive change in the world, even if it is in your own, small way.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

(The original story was first posted on my Medium blog on 1 June 2024. This story was reposted here and updated on 2 June 2024.)

Family History: Searching for One’s Roots

Baby Sarah appears to be “doing research”. Photograph by writer.

Genealogy, or family history, can be thought of as the study of a family’s origins, history, or stories. It was often used by royalty and nobility to showcase their lineage. Descent from ancient kings, queens, chieftains, religious leaders, or warriors conferred pedigree, prestige, and power that allowed the descendant to command authority and respect.

But this area of study is also an everyday hobby or pastime where people (like you and me) can search for their roots and learn about parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Through these personal stories, enthusiasts can learn about culture, community, and country. And for these reasons, I personally prefer the more intimate-sounding term “family history” to “genealogy”, even as the two terms are often used interchangeably.

To me, family history helps us discover where we come from, who we are, and what values and traditions we held or hold. While many start searching for their roots only when they have retired, one can actually start earlier, as I did, in my early thirties. I have even met people in their twenties who are interested in understanding their families better.

A Popular Pursuit

Family history is an extremely popular hobby among enthusiasts worldwide.

In a 2012 article titled “Who’s Your Daddy? Genealogy Becomes $1.6B Hobby”, ABC News reported that then-CEO of Ancestry, Tim Sullivan, said that genealogy was no longer “a niche” and there was a “broad, mainstream interest in family history”.

A 2014 Time article ran a provocative headline, “How Genealogy Became Almost as Popular as P***”.

And a 2022 New Yorker article even labelled it an “obsession”.

Singaporeans are also deeply interested in family history. A range of public examples proves that this is the case.

In September 2023, The Straits Times reported that Genealogy Society Singapore published 12 Family Histories – A Tapestry Of Singapore’s Multicultural Legacy, bringing to life stories of 12 migrant families of Arab, Bugis, Chinese, Eurasian, Indian, and Peranakan descent who called Singapore home.

In December 2022, The Straits Times reported that the 12th edition of the Pang Family (Singapore) Genealogy Book included, for the first time, women in their latest edition, which had an additional aim of encouraging more families to trace and document their histories.

In October 2022, The Straits Times reported that retired florist Bernard Chiang took 17 years to research his family history, spanning multiple countries and cultures, in The Chiang Family History — A Tale Of Three Cultures And Chia Keng Village.

In June 2022, The Straits Times reported that An Illustrious Heritage: The History Of Tan Tock Seng And Family (a book by Kua Bak Lim, Lim How Seng, and Roney Tan) revealed new details of Hokkien philanthropist Tan Tock Seng and his clan.

In 2020, Samuel Wee self-published his family history, An Exhibition of Ages: Becoming Straits Chinese.

And during the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019, many family history books were published, including Cyprian Lim’s My Maternal Roots: a Story of Family, Faith and Freedom; Vivienne Tan’s Tan Kim Seng: A Biography; Linda Kow, Ruth Chia, and Soh Tiang Keng’s Chia Ann Siang and Family: The Tides of Fortune; and my book, Leader and Legislator: Seah Liang Seah. Earlier, I also launched my first self-published book, Seah Eu Chin: His Life & Times in 2017.

However, family history is not regarded a proper academic discipline.

Many still consider it a hobby or, more charitably, a developing academic area.

While family history has historical elements, focus tends to be on individuals or families.

Some family historians have the tendency to be concerned with minutiae or relatively obscure topics, rather than broader historical themes or the sweep of the longue durée.

And family history is often perceived to be driven by motivated, passionate, and interested individuals or families with vested interests, rather than driven by dispassionate, objective, and rational researchers.

How to Get Started

The truth is that, like many, I am just a history enthusiast. Or if you prefer the National University of Singapore’s label of what I do, I’m a “historical storyteller“.

Whatever one might call me, I’m definitely not a professional genealogist or professional family historian.

However, having spent many years exploring my family history and family tree; having published several books on my family history; and having spent a lot of time with likeminded individuals, I have some unique insights and perspectives that will help those who would like to get started.

And these insights and perspectives are accessible, simple, and direct for normal people like you and me, who might not be academics, professionals, or high-level experts. In fact, I wrote and published my family history books while holding down a full-time job and pursuing this area as a heritage hobby.

In this article, I have compiled and sketched out some general steps, tips, and techniques for you to help you get started on your journey in searching for your roots.

The very first step itself might surprise you.

Start by Setting Goals

Setting goals is crucial.

Decide on your goals before you start and adjust your course along your journey.

Is this search a pastime, hobby, passion, calling, vocation, career, or legacy? Is this research for homework, schoolwork, a Master’s degree, PhD programme, or academic paper? Do you have a research grant or funding support for your efforts, or is this going to be self-funded? How much funding do you have for this project or projects?

And if you are funded, who is the grantor, what are their interests and priorities, what are the milestones and deliverables, if any, and how much is the funding or co-funding?

Who are the people with you on your journey? Who would you network with and cooperate with to share data and activities? Are you a member of any associations, clans, or churches?

Are you doing both research and writing? Or are you hiring a professional genealogist to help you with the research while you focus on the writing? Or are you hiring a professional ghostwriter?

Are you writing a story based on the life of your favourite relative or direct ancestor, or several family members, or your entire clan or community (for example, a one-person biography would be different from a many-person biography)? Are you setting up a website or blog?

What are you writing? Is it a nonfiction book? Or is it something less formal like a family tree poster, a scrapbook, or a newsletter? Is it a record of your experiences and discoveries? How would your writing be organised? Would it be organised chronologically, by family branch, or by historical theme? What method of academic citation will you use to document sources of information?

You should pace yourself as a family history project might take a long time — and might never end. Remember that retired florist Bernard Chiang took 17 years to research his family history.

Reevaluate and adjust your goals and objectives as you progress in your journey.

Interview Your Family

Your family is the natural starting point for foundational research. Start with your immediate family, beginning with who and what you know to be true, and build on from there towards the unknown. You can expand the search to extended family members later.

When I first started, I spoke with my father and one of my aunts who was essentially our “family historian”. I learnt from them. Even when they did not know, they were able to point me to useful resources or give me leads to follow up on.

In general, most people also begin similarly by interviewing family members and consulting family records, marriage certificates, death certificates, photos, diaries, and letters, as a starting point to gather information.

In fact, interviewing relatives is enjoyable. People enjoy sharing about topics close to their hearts. The key is to transform pleasant afternoon conversations into solid foundations for future detective work.

Remember to capture relatives’ memories before they pass away. Ask many questions; record or videotape answers if possible. If they can write or type, try to obtain their recollections and thoughts in writing. (Personally, I find that I greatly prefer capturing information in writing, and asking them to directly make edits or corrections in writing, so that there is a written record for me to refer to.)

Preserve originals or copies of all photographs and documents they share with you. Identify people pictured in photographs while living relatives can still identify them.

Visit the Library

Tap into the wealth of library materials. In libraries hide genealogies and family trees; histories of communities, cities, and countries; and maps which ground events in the physical world. You can access books, journals, magazines, newsletters, archival material, oral histories, and e-resources.

Personally, I find Singapore’s National Library Board’s e-resource, NewspaperSG, useful for family history research. Old newspapers have a wealth of information in the obituaries section. From death notices, you could pick up information like the full name of the deceased; their religion; names of spouses and children; and maybe names of their grandchildren.

And in the past, when prominent pioneers passed away, their passing would be reported in the newspapers. The descriptions of the funeral procession and names of those who attended could help augment information found in obituaries.

Beyond conducting family history research, going to the library also allows one to learn about the historical, political, economic, and social context of the time. Books on history, politics, economic history, and sociology can shed light on what you have found. Sources should be examined in light of historical events. And one can also use historical content to transform seemingly-boring facts into engaging life stories.

Take for example, my grandparents’ marriage certificate.

When I first looked at the date to find out when they were married, the year staring back at me was “2604“. They were also married in “Syonan-To”. One might reasonably ask: how could they have been married in the year 2604 in Syonan-To?

This is why history matters. When the Japanese occupied Singapore, they renamed the island “Syonan-To” (Light of the South). They also used their Imperial calendar, which was different from the calendar we are familiar with.

Incidentally, many history buffs and Singaporean students are familiar with the Japanese fighter aircraft, the Zero. During the Second World War, this aircraft was used in military operations. One might wonder: why was it known as the Zero?

It was known as the Zero because the year its production began, 1940, was the Imperial year 2600, hence its designation.

With some basic historical knowledge, we can deduce that my grandparents were married in Singapore (“Syonan-To”), in 1944 (“2604”).

Visit Places

You could also make trips to places rich with sources, such as archives, clan associations, or churches. Some enthusiastic people even travel overseas to places their ancestors originally came from to look for sources and meet members of their extended family.

For example, among people in clan associations, it is common to hear of people either wanting to go back to China to visit their ancestral villages or actually having been back there. (I find it fascinating when they share about their experiences and what they have learnt from the visit, even though I personally do not have such an urge to travel back.)

In Chinese clan associations, there are often jiapu and zupu (family or genealogical records), which can help in reconstructing one’s family tree. However, this is a science in itself, because only those with technical knowledge can read a Chinese family tree and decode the characters and system.

Using church records (parish registers) as another example, the recording of civil status data in records of churches started as early as the 16th century. Old church records can today be found in parish archives and some old registers have been recorded on microfilm.

Use Tech and Work on Digitisation

Today, the range and scope of tech has expanded.

Software, online tools, and other tech today can help with building family trees, conducting DNA testing, or compiling genealogical information. Many of my fans and supporters do use such platforms and occasionally tell me about them, like Geni.com.

However, as I have no direct, personal experiences with using such tools, others would be better placed to explain how best to use these tech tools.

But when it comes to digitisation, I have much experience in this.

Digitisation means to transform a physical medium into a digital one, including scanning documents or taking photographs.

I personally find it satisfying and therapeutic when I scan documents using my printer. And I am lucky to have a small team of volunteers who can utilise technologies like OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to convert images to text.

There are good reasons for me to digitise information. This is because documents, photographs, and other physical items are “perishable”. They need special care, tech, and expertise to be properly cared for and preserved. And despite one’s best efforts at preservation, mistakes can happen and precious artefacts can be damaged or destroyed.

Digitisation helps you access sources safely in the future. Some best practices include keeping storage media up-to-date and creating multiple backups of digital data. Sometimes, I even send myself an email (and I also archive my emails).

I would strongly recommend digitisation to anyone doing research into their family history.

Don’t Believe Everything

It is important to be a critical thinker and watch out for our cognitive biases.

Family history today does depend heavily on Internet sources, including records and sources found online. But do watch out for “fake news” on the internet. Not all online sources are reliable and distinguishing between reliable and unreliable sources is more art than science.

Online falsehoods spread faster and go viral more quickly than facts, accurate figures, and truths.

But more challenging than “fake news” or DRUMS (distortions, rumours, untruths, misinformation, smears) on the Internet are actual secrets that families have tried to keep hidden. There are issues of silences and omissions, and family members changing and altering records and family stories to serve their own interests. Errors are one thing, but deliberately falsifying or changing information can pose problems.

For example, in Chinese jiapu and zupu, it was not uncommon for families to strike members of the family off the record if they became criminals or were unfilial. In fact, they could be struck off for any personal reason whatsoever that led to the family or clan “losing face”. It was also not uncommon for people to change their names; take on different surnames; or amend the records.

(Personally, I know people who changed their names through a deed poll or resorted to a different name after a past situation.)

These days, it is also not uncommon that, after DNA testing, people find out that their parents are unrelated to them because they were adopted or their parents were their uncles or aunts.

All these mean that the savvy researcher must strike a delicate balance, deciding between fifty shades of truths. And upon finding out the truth, or perspectives on the truth, the savvy researcher needs to be able to sensitively, diplomatically, and sensibly handle such information. Interesting, but not easy.

Bring in the Professionals

You may also wish to pay a professional genealogist or an expert to undertake research.

Even though there are many free resources on the Internet (including articles I have written) dedicated to family history research or writing on one’s family, many family historians recognise the value of having a professional assist in the search.

Or alternatively, you might want to develop your skills to a high level, such that you become a professional genealogist instead.

I imagine professionals have a rewarding and meaningful job. Essentially, they are paid to research, build family trees, and help find long-lost relatives. In other words, a genealogist is like a history detective solving family mysteries. Currently, no formal qualifications are necessary, but many have a history degree, or a library or archive-related qualification. Experience in dealing with a wide range of sources is necessary.

Let Your Intuition Guide You

No one expects a smooth journey when it comes to family history.

Sometimes the sources are not there. Sometimes they are there, but you have not found them yet.

If you hit roadblocks, sometimes what you need is to let your intuition guide you. Let your interests, current findings, and experiences guide your journey. Constantly re-adjust your course in light of new findings or leads.

Maintain your faith in your search. Something big might turn up, sooner or later. It might just be round the corner. Take a deep breath and carry on.

Conclusion

To recap the broad key points to help you start your family history journey:

(1) Set your goals and objectives;

(2) interview your family and collate photographs, documents, and other artefacts;

(3) visit the library to learn history and view sources;

(4) visit other places rich in sources, like archives, clan associations, or churches;

(5) digitise what you have found and tap into online resources while

(6) discerning between fact and fiction(s);

(7) consider bringing in professional genealogists if necessary; and

(8) trust your intuition to get you through tough times.

Like me, I am sure you will find your search interesting and meaningful.

Our family history helps us learn where we come from, who we are, and what values could anchor and guide us to keep moving forward. By knowing where we come from, and who we are, we have a good chance of remaining rooted and centred in an ever-changing world. I wish you all the best for your search and journey.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

(The original story of how to get started on family history and genealogy was first posted on my Medium blog on 23 October 2022. This story was updated on 31 March 2024.)

Everything You Should Know Before Self-Publishing

In this article, I set out my personal thoughts, reflections, and experiences about self-publishing that might help you think through this subject carefully, before you take the plunge.

I have had extensive experience in self-publishing, because my first book was completely self-published. (Later on, I accumulated experience in hybrid publishing models and the traditional, mainstream publisher route.)

In hindsight, I should have first thought through the issues and considerations laid out in this article about self-publishing. If I had known back then what I know today, I would have saved myself a lot of anguish, heartache, and pain.

But my painful experiences are your gain — I hope this article that sets out my thoughts, reflections, and pointers will help you in self-publishing.

If you are reading this article in the first place, I am going to assume that you are considering taking the self-publication route instead of crafting a successful book proposal and going down a more mainstream publishing route. I hasten to add that self-publishing has become a lot more recognised and accepted these days.

What should you consider before self-publishing?

Cover design. Will you be designing the cover yourself or hiring someone to design the cover? If you are designing the cover yourself, what is your theme and overarching design? What is the main visual or image going to be? Is the cover appealing and attractive? If you are hiring someone, what is their skill level and experience? How many rounds of input can you give to refine the cover design? How much does the designer cost and what is your budget?

Layout and typesetting. A book is not just a manuscript cobbled together. There are many aspects in layout and typesetting to consider, such as (1) fixing widows and orphans; (2) general typesetting considerations; and (3) graphics, pictures, and other visual elements, such as motifs at the start of each chapter. When you hire someone to deal with layout and typesetting, you might want to consider their experience and knowledge, as well as whether they are typesetting for a physical book or an e-book. When it comes to e-books, you have to watch the various formats as well.

Editing. An editor can help you with many aspects beyond copyediting and proofreading; an editor is more than someone who just fixes typos, spelling errors, and grammatical mistakes. An editor can work with you on a style guide (or better still, if you have an existing style guide that sets out “your rules”, let your editor know!). A style guide will ensure that the book reads coherently. However, you have to be aware that even if you hire a proper editor, there will likely still be mistakes. So, ultimately the responsibility rests with you. You have to think through how many rounds of copyediting and proofreading you will need, and manage the associated timelines.

Quality of the printer. You must go to an experienced, quality, skilled printer to produce your book. Never go with your “mum’s friend’s company” (sorry, Mum). If you skimp on cost, the book might not turn out so well, and you could be saddled with unsellable, cheap stock. Alternatively, you might disappoint your fans and supporters, which is arguably worse than not selling well. (Trust me, I speak from personal and bitter experience.)

Nowadays, there are many vanity presses or print-on-demand companies, often with comprehensive editorial, design, and typesetting services that cover the necessary cover design, layout, and editing too. Therefore, finding one that works well for you should not be too difficult. You can also work with an actual mainstream publisher that does design and printing work, and pay them to print your book.

Paper work. With respect to printing, you also have to consider what I would call “paper work”. You have to decide on the type, size, and weight of the paper. I learnt terms like “matt coated paper” and “gsm” (grammes per square metre). On the topic of “gsm”, the lower the number, the lighter the paper.

Personally, I regretted printing my first book in 130 gsm matte art paper with perfect binding, with a 300 gsm cover. It made a relatively short book quite heavy.

Then again, making this sort of rookie mistake made me really appreciate the kind, forgiving, and sweet people who supported my first self-published book (they are true heroes).

You also have to decide the trim size (the height and width of the pages of a book), such as 5″ x 8″ for trade paperbacks or 6″ x 9″ for hardcovers. Today, I am happy to say that I am much better at “paper work”, and this is definitely an area to watch out for in self-publishing. I made the mistakes so you do not have to do so.

Murphy’s Law is real: everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Do factor in extra buffer time and extra budget into your plans, because you can count on Murphy being right. Misprints happen; mistakes can be made; timelines can slide.

Personally, I have found that the best way to avoid unnecessary stress is to buffer one or two weeks extra for each process or step. Did the editor say she would take four weeks? Factor in a week or two more. Did the printer say that printing would take two weeks? Factor in a week more. Did the designer say she would get back with the updated design in a week? Factor in a week more.

If people do deliver on time, or, better still, ahead of time, great! There’s no real loss with a slightly generous timeline. But if disaster strikes, you will have greater peace of mind. Don’t plan on things going exactly to plan.

On a side note, when I self-published my first book back in 2017, there was no COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, when my book My Father’s Kampung was published with World Scientific, it came out slightly delayed during the global pandemic. My personal storage costs also suddenly increased because I had to find extra storage space to place the books. Luckily, I had catered for buffer in timelines and budget. Remember that Murphy’s Law is real.

Marketing and press. When you choose the path of self-publishing, you are basically choosing to be responsible for everything. And that includes marketing, publicity, promotion, and press. You should develop a detailed marketing plan and prepare to pitch your work to the press. Planning this step requires deep expertise in marketing, public relations, and mass communications. You will need to consider both social media and mainstream media options and how best to get your message across.

From personal experience, I’ve been on radio (surprising as it may be, both Chinese and English-language stations), featured in broadsheets (both Chinese and English-language newspapers), featured on social media, and even appeared in a TV documentary on CNA.

Distribution. A mainstream publisher is able to distribute through established networks. Your book will be in all major local bookstores, and potentially overseas bookstores as well.

However, in self-publishing you have to be a lot more creative. For example, do you: (1) design a website that can sell the book; (2) organise book talk-and-sale events to reach out to your target audience; (3) approach independent bookstores; (4) tap into the power of the Internet and social media; or (5) approach book distributors to get professional help in distributing your book?

There are a range of exciting options, but the key point is that you will have to determine your own routes. You have to take personal responsibility for this. And distribution will take a lot of work and each one has its own unique pros and cons.

The economics of self-publishing. Direct sales may make creators more money, as compared to depending on royalties (e.g. a flat 10% or stepped-up royalty rates). Assuming you are popular and sell many copies, a greater share of the returns accrue directly to you without any publisher, distributor, bookstore, and book agent taking their cuts of the economic pie. As you are bearing most, if not all, of the risk, you are reaping most of the rewards, which is fair.

But typically the biggest returns are not actually from direct sales, but from complementary activities, such as (1) increased sales of your related services, products, or merchandise; (2) greater publicity and promotion to spread your message or raise brand awareness of your goods and services; (3) potentially more paid teaching and speaking opportunities; (4) more paid event appearances; and (5) increased credibility and a stronger, more positive reputation (if you have done everything right). Some may even argue that, these days, these considerations apply to all writers, self-published or not.

Pricing matters. To me personally, writing is about contributing knowledge; spreading awareness of messages that are significant to you; and self-actualisation, and monetary gain is not the main purpose.

But for other writers, I can fully understand their wish to turn a profit, or at least be fairly remunerated for their efforts. Generally, self-published books are priced lower than traditionally-published books, even though authors have more autonomy in setting their own prices. Pricing is definitely more art than science, but worth spending time thinking about. Some questions to think about include:

(1) What is your pricing goal: to profit, break even, or loss-lead (I heard that this is a popular strategy to move the first book in a series)? (2) What are your production costs? When I first started out, I operated a simple heuristic of setting price at multiple of 3 or 4 times printing cost, to balance sustainability with affordability. (3) What are comparable titles selling for? What are the sale prices of competitors in the same space (i.e. similar subject and similarly self-published)? How would your price compare to your competitors’ prices? How much is too high (or too little)? That brings me to my next point.

How do we know if a self-published book’s price is set too high? To share a quick lesson in economics, the intersection of supply and demand sets the market equilibrium price, ceteris paribus (that’s fancy economics-speak for “assuming that all other factors remain constant”).

In reality, most people simply use “cost-plus pricing” (adding a margin). If there is great demand for a book, then a high price might be justified. If the demand is not too great, then a high price cannot be supported.

Earlier, I wrote that from my personal experience, a conservative rule-of-thumb estimate of 3x or 4x the production cost has worked well for me. But I would be wary of say 5x or 6x the production costs, because the self-published book would appear too expensive.

(Incidentally, when it comes to traditional publishing, publishers have well-established, proper, and experienced methods of setting prices. I would go along with their experience, and focus my time on other writing and publication priorities. And that’s why I generally prefer to be mainstream published rather than self-published.)

Quantities. How many copies should one print? I would suggest 300 or 500 for your first print run if you are sure you can sell them. I apologise, but reality is harsh. There are literally millions of books published each and every year (both through the mainstream and self-publishing routes). The sad truth is that, in general, most books do not sell more than a few hundred copies.

However, you can raise your chances of success if you have made detailed plans on distribution and sales, and are confident of your audience. If there’s good reason why you are confident of your numbers, then naturally you can print more, if you can sell them.

I would say that 300 to 500 is a safe range because if you can sell all of them, you can easily print more. But if you printed say 1,000 books and were unable to sell them, you could potentially be sitting on a lot of stock. You might even incur additional storage costs.

Final reflections. I have to caveat that these are my own thoughts, reflections, and pointers from my years of experience, but naturally not all of them will be directly applicable or immediately relevant to you. That’s OK.

But hopefully they will serve as food for thought for you and point the way to what you might want to (or need to) know or find out more.

And from one writer to another, all the best in your self-publishing journey! Remember to try to have some fun on the road to publication.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

(The original story was first posted on my Medium blog on 1 July 2021. This story was updated on 13 August 2023.)

Crafting a Successful Book Proposal

This article shares my reflections and thoughts on crafting a successful book proposal.

A book proposal is sometimes required by mainstream publishers, to help them make an assessment of whether a book project has a good chance of succeeding.

It can be in the format of a form to be filled in, or a proposal submission in Word, or even in a table with questions to be answered. Sometimes, the publisher will work with you on the proposal, giving you guidance and questions they need answered, but at other times, you work on your proposal independently and send it in.

Over the years, I have written several successful book proposals that were accepted.

Upon reflection, I have come up with five principles of crafting a successful book proposal. I hope these practical principles will be as useful to you as they have been to me. These thoughts may help aspiring or experienced authors craft a book proposal that has a good chance of being selected by a publisher.

First, understand yourself.

Before drafting even one word, ask yourself what makes you uniquely qualified to write this particular book.

What is it about your unique experiences, particular qualifications, or life background that makes you the one who should write this book?

What is your competitive advantage in this topic, that is difficult for another author to replicate?

For example, when I was drafting the proposal for my book, My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol, that explores the history of Aukang and Punggol where my father lived from 1946 to 1975, I considered that my family had lived in the area for around 30 years and had a wealth of stories to tell. I had also been collecting stories from not just my father, but also some of his close friends who lived in the area and had first-hand experiences of this particular neighbourhood.

In terms of identity, the majority of historical Aukang’s residents were Teochews. My father and I are Teochews.

The majority of residents around the historical Kangkar area in Aukang were Roman Catholics. My father and I are Roman Catholics as well.

And prior to writing this book, I had accumulated extensive experience in writing two other books on family history and community stories in Singapore. I had spoken extensively in public on family history and local heritage, and had been a small part of the Singapore Bicentennial.

I also had a Master’s of Science in Economic History from the London School of Economics and could provide the unique lens of economic history into my writing.

With such a background and relevant experiences, I was in a fairly strong position to publish My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol (note that my words were chosen carefully, as the book is titled A History, and not The History).

Second, and in a related vein, understand the unique selling point of your book.

Why does the world need another book on this particular topic or theme?

What is the unique selling point about your book or its contents?

If you are writing something completely and utterly novel, you have to ask yourself the difficult question of why this particular book was never written or published before. There has to be a strong reason that hundreds of thousands of authors before you did not hit on your great idea. Is there something that you should be seeing or something that you are missing?

Or did other writers hit on your great overall idea, but their books came in other forms or covered different aspects? It is more likely the case that there would be hundreds, if not thousands, of similar, related books.

What would then differentiate you from these other authors?

For example, while there were many other non-fiction books written about the kampung (village) or kampung spirit, and by prominent writers like Josephine Chia, my book was the first one on Aukang and Punggol at the time it was published.

There were also bits and pieces about Aukang and Punggol in other authors’ books, like Robert Yeo’s Routes, but mine was the first book to have its entire focus on Aukang and Punggol, or the northeastern part of Singapore.

These examples are related to the next point, which is understanding other similar books in your landscape (or “bookscape”).

Third, understand what distinguishes your book from competing or comparable titles (“comps”).

How can you distinguish your book from comparable titles?

There is a delicate balance that needs to be carefully struck between similarity with other titles and a uniqueness or freshness about your research and writing.

On the one hand, you have to craft a book similar enough to other successful books on your topic, such that the publisher knows there is an actual market for your writing. Since there have been successful books published on your topic before, a mainstream publisher can rest assured that you would likely be a safe bet.

On the other, you cannot craft a book that is too similar, because there is a need to differentiate and distinguish yourself from the other authors. There has to be some uniqueness or freshness, otherwise there is no X-factor for you and your title.

Therefore, a delicate balance between these two competing and conflicting demands needs to be struck.

For example, when I was crafting my book proposal for My Father’s Kampung, I studied the issue carefully and found that Chia’s two books, Kampong Spirit — Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965 and Goodbye My Kampong! Potong Pasir, 1966 to 1975, were indeed roughly comparable titles. There were, in fact, “comps”.

However, I found that her books were largely anecdotal and based on her own personal experiences, rather than on academic sources or data, like oral history interviews. In contrast, my book was based on my father’s experiences and research interviews I had conducted with people who lived there, as well as various academic, research, and online sources.

As another example, I also found that Robert Yeo’s Routes: A Singaporean Memoir, 1940–75 was also comparable to my book. In fact, my book quoted some of Yeo’s childhood experiences and I also interviewed him for my book.

By understanding that Routes was a “comp”, I was able to consult Robert Yeo and obtain input that was more suited and relevant for my book. We differentiated our products from each other’s.

Fourth, identify and understand, your real target audience.

I have shared many times and on various platforms that any author needs to accurately identify and understand the target audience.

While it is an easy question to ask, it is not an easy question to answer.

Who would want to read and share your work with their family and friends? (Besides your actual family and friends, of course.)

To be fair, I find it understandable that writers want to write about topics and themes close to their hearts, without regarding the financials. Sometimes, some writers might even feel that commercial considerations might contaminate the love or passion they feel for their topic, or for their writing. Readership comes second after pursuing their passions. After all, I am similarly passionate about only a few topics and themes myself.

But the publisher wants to know if there will be an actual market for the book, with actual demand. Their concern, and understandably so, is to sell the book. They have financial concerns. Even if they do not voice their “left-hand column” out loud (although sometimes they may call you on the phone to let you know in no uncertain terms what the breakeven number of copies to be sold is), they want to make a profit and not, God forbid, lose money on their investment.

You can understand where they are coming from as they have invested time, effort, and resources into a commitment that they hope will bring them commercial success and pay the many staff who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Each book that the publisher takes on is a risk.

By identifying the likely target audience in a book proposal, an author is helping the publisher understand the estimated demand. With this information, a publisher can better understand how many potential readers are out there, and whether there is even a viable market for the book.

By understanding the target audience, an author can also benefit by crafting compelling narratives to appeal to and delight that audience. By meeting the needs, wants, and aspirations of that audience, the author in concert with the publisher can produce a book that the audience would want to buy and read, and tell all their family and friends about.

Such useful information in a book proposal could possibly help save both author and publisher possible anguish, heartache, and economic problems later down the road.

For example, by the time I wrote my second and third books, I was already able to tell my publisher the target audience I was reaching out to, how many readers were out there, and who would potentially buy such a book. I knew their ages and gender, including broad consumption patterns. I knew the relevant clan associations, government agencies, and fans and supporters, and could provide rough guesstimates of their numbers and potential interest.

And with all that information and background, I gave serious thought as to who would be delighted to read and support my work. My publisher seems to have appreciated that in me.

I think it’s safe to say that most publishers would appreciate that in an author.

Fifth, think through who would be prepared to review your work.

There are a few more important questions: who are the experts and authorities in your field?

But more importantly, who among them would be willing to put in a good word for you, and give you a blurb?

I have been greatly blessed with blurbs from kind people who were able and willing to review my work. They take me to school by giving me useful input. Sometimes, they remind me of things that I should have known.

And I acknowledge that as an author, I still have a long way to go in crafting even more compelling and powerful narrative non-fiction. There’s always a lot to learn. It’s a lifelong learning journey.

But the fact is, if you don’t ask people to review your work and give you comments, you will never know if they would be willing to read your work and give you comments on it, and a blurb.

For full disclosure, I have also sometimes sought and asked for blurbs directly, without seeking comments or input on my manuscript. In these cases, they read my manuscript and directly provide a blurb if they agree with me. If they don’t agree with what I have written, they do not provide a blurb.

Generally, my personal practice is to make it easy for the other party to say yes or no. I write politely and explain what it is that I am doing, and then ask for their permission to look through my work. If they would like to give a blurb, I would be delighted and appreciative. If they say no, or don’t reply, I might follow up for a bit, but eventually it is their right to say no.

If they say yes, I thank them profusely for taking up their valuable time, and share my draft manuscript. I generally include a caveat that they should not share this manuscript as it is still work-in-progress. I also send them a rough first cut of a blurb for them to work on, to save them some time and effort in drafting their own. I try my best to write the blurb in a way that I think they would be prepared to sign off on, and I accept with gratitude and grace whatever they send back.

Where there are comments, tracked changes, and guidance, I thank the sender profusely and genuinely see how I can weave the points in. There is no need for explanations, pushback, or defensiveness; I try my best to take all relevant points in, especially where they help to strengthen or improve my writing.

If I have made a mistake (and, believe me, these things happen more frequently than we would expect), I resolve to be even more careful in future.

Where the points do not fit or cannot be incorporated into the manuscript, even after I have done my best, then I explain politely why I could not take in the point.

Basically, I take a thankful, appreciative, and positive attitude.

Concluding Reflections

To conclude my reflections, after thinking through your relevant experience and background; your book’s unique selling point or proposition; your book’s differentiating factor in relation to comparable titles; the potential target audience; and potential reviewers, writing a successful book proposal becomes much, much easier.

Essentially, these are all about critical thinking and focusing your research for your book proposal. It’s about being clear and thoughtful on the important decision points.

With the critical thinking and focused research done, crafting the book proposal is a matter of setting these thoughts out in writing. Your well-thought out words will march crisply across the pages and soon you will have a draft proposal.

Naturally, if there are other required sections in the book proposal, you would also have to address them, like marketing and PR plans, timelines, and the like.

After you have crafted your first cut of the proposal, you would have to review your proposal, refine and tweak some phrases, and rewrite some sections to strengthen your case and arguments.

You should always edit and proofread your writing. I think most, if not all, authors know the ironclad “rule”: edit, edit, edit. Check, double-check, triple-check.

But the critical core of the background research, well-thought-through ideas, and fact-based arguments will remain indelibly in your book proposal, and ultimately persuade the publisher of the merits of your book.

At the end of the day, you would have given your book the very best chance to come to life by being picked up by the publisher.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

(The original story was first posted on my Medium blog on 4 June 2021. This story was updated on 12 August 2023.)

Five Reflections on Publishing Compelling Narrative Non-fiction

In 2017, I self-published my first non-fiction book with a small but much-needed grant from Singapore’s National Heritage Board. As I had always loved writing, I went on to write more non-fiction books and children’s books, picking up experience along the way.

My father was surprised in discovering how popular my books turned out to be. Like most people, he initially thought I would only sell a few copies, but he turned out to be wrong. I have gone on to sell literally thousands upon thousands of books. A publisher even once said to me: “You are our secret weapon.”

I have learnt and gained a lot of experience in writing and publishing compelling non-fiction, but, at the start, writing and publishing were like jumping recklessly off a cliff and building a fully-functioning aircraft, complete with bells and whistles, on the way down.

This “building-an-aircraft-while-falling-off-a-cliff” metaphor is often associated with an entrepreneur’s challenges of establishing a new start-up, but it also accurately reflects a new author’s experience.

With the benefit of hindsight, and from real-world experiences I picked up along the way, I can share five reflections that will go some way to help you in writing and publishing compelling narrative non-fiction.

(1) Who is Your Target Audience?

Any author has to accurately answer the question: Who is the target audience?

This question is not as easy to answer as it may seem.

Often, aspiring and even experienced writers write about topics or themes that interest them, without thinking about their readership.

I can fully understand that people are deeply passionate about topics and themes that are close to their heart.

However, doing so is like putting the cart before the horse. The fact of the matter is that an author needs to understand his audience to create compelling narratives that will reach them. Non-fiction writing in particular has to serve the needs and interests of readers.

This is where research of this nature has to come in, in addition to research on the topic and theme of the book. Conducting research to better understand your potential audience will help you better pitch your book project to publishers, and also help you understand what form — trim size, quantity, price point — makes sense for your book.

How many such readers are out there? What is your “addressable market”? What is your geographical “catchment” area? Do you even have a market?

By the time I wrote my third book, I was able to tell the publisher the target audience I was reaching out to, their numbers, and who would potentially buy such a book. I even knew which gender would buy the books, and generally how young they would be. Having a rough sense is better than not knowing at all, and having accurate data is better than having a rough sense.

(2) Ride a Wave

My second reflection: if it is possible, tap into an existing movement or mood.

For example, one of the most surprising book successes in Singapore in 2018 was Teo You Yenn’s This is What Inequality Looks Like. By any measure, this book was a phenomenal success in Singapore, sparking conversations on themes like poverty, inequality, and dignity, and was very, very, very popular. It was one of the bestselling non-fiction books of 2018 and sold more than 25,000 copies.

It’s clear that Teo is an experienced author and academic. In fact, she is a professor.

However, her book’s phenomenal popularity was arguably not just due to her talent or charm, but due to the prevailing mood of the time, which was a boiling sense of unfairness and inequality in society.

I have benefitted from a national movement too. If I’m honest, when I managed to sell and distribute ~2,500 copies of my family history books back in 2019, it was partly because that year was the Singapore Bicentennial; Singapore was then commemorating 200 years since Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore. This meant that historical topics and early pioneers were rather popular then.

From what I have seen and experienced, I think tapping into an existing movement or mood goes a long way in helping authors come up with compelling non-fiction.

(3) You Need an Existing Platform

My third reflection is that, even before you begin writing, or go to a publisher, you already need to have an existing platform and a strong personal reputation.

What does it mean to have a “platform”?

Basically, it is like “street cred”, or credibility, or expertise in the topic or theme; existing popularity or experiences writing in the topic or theme; and a strong connection with the potential readership.

Put another way, it helps if you are famous or known… before you can become famous or known. Are you already an authority or expert on the subject? At the very least, you need to have some kind of connection or engagement with an audience. Mainstream publishers often look for writers who already have an existing platform and relationships with their readers.

To be fair, I managed to build a small platform from scratch. It’s entirely possible to do so, but generally more famous or known people produce more famous or known books. This is a hard truth.

When I first started out, it was difficult to reach out to readers in the beginning. For example, I had to build a mailing list one email at a time, and network with people and make connections, one person at a time. Slowly, but surely, over my many public talks and engagements, I have gradually built up and strengthened my platform.

In a digital age, writers can also use social media to reach out to more people who would be interested in following them.

Today, things are much easier for me now that I already have a mailing list of people who are supportive of my writing. I have a small, but passionate following (I am deeply thankful for these amazing people). And I still keep growing my influence and community, bit by bit.

To publish compelling narrative non-fiction, start by first building up or strengthening your platform.

(4) Marketing Matters

My fourth reflection is that writers should prepare a detailed, comprehensive, and implementable marketing plan in advance. Marketing matters and cannot be just an afterthought.

Arguably, a large part of what makes any non-fiction compelling is actually the marketing that surrounds it. For example, my own usual practice is to begin collecting blurbs (i.e. endorsements) in advance, when my manuscript is almost ready. I prefer to be ready with the blurbs at my fingertips, before I am asked for them. When people you know or trust have written nice things about your manuscript, they provide you not just with an endorsement that can be used for marketing, but a confidence boost.

Also, my other practice is to draft up a few media press releases and try to reach out early to the media. Are there any interested journalists who might want to cover your story? This is especially useful because crafting your own press release literally forces you to think about what makes your writing newsworthy, appealing, and persuasive. This is not as easy as it seems.

What would interest the media? What angles can the press take to feature the book? What would work for social media (as opposed to mainstream media)?

If you have funding available or your book project could reach out to a larger market, it might even make sense to explore getting a media or PR company to assist you. But you would have to scrub the numbers and financials carefully to make sure.

Publishing a successful book requires thinking through about promotion and marketing in advance. As a publisher once told me, it’s all about promotion and marketing. I agree.

(5) Consult Others

Finally, there’s great value in consulting people, especially fellow writers. Better still if these writers are in the same niche area as you (or are writers of “comps”, namely books that would sit next to yours on a bookshelf at the bookshop).

The reason is simply that you will be able to obtain useful advice and guidance from them if they are friendly. Writers can help each other; there’s strength in numbers. You are not alone.

Even if others are not writers, it is still useful to consult widely and obtain input. The general point is that others may hold useful alternative perspectives that will enhance and enrich your manuscript, especially if they know some things you don’t.

We don’t know everything, so taking a humble, consultative spirit is best.

For my book, My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol, I benefitted greatly from having Robert Yeo, one of Singapore’s foremost playwrights and poets, look at my manuscript and give me pointers.

He happened to live at Aukang when he was younger, and I was writing about the community stories surrounding Aukang and Punggol. He added much value and relevance to my book.

I also consulted the President of Genealogy Society of Singapore; the Singapore Seah Clan Association; the kind people at Montfort Alumni; author Cyprian Lim; researcher Bryan Goh; and many, many others.

Their collective help and kindness in sharing their personal stories, and giving me leads that turned into stories, helped my book touch the lives of many more people.

The book ended up sparking joy in many readers who reminisced about their kampung (village) days, when Singapore was less developed than it is today.

Concluding Reflections

In conclusion, to publish compelling narrative non-fiction, my experience has taught me that a writer has to (1) first identify and understand the target audience; (2) tap into an existing movement or mood, ideally one that appeals to readers; (3) develop a platform, ideally before publication; (4) prepare a detailed marketing plan to promote the publication; and (5) consult fellow writers.

With these success factors in place, writing and publishing non-fiction becomes a lot easier. While not all reflections may be directly relevant to your situation or context, I trust that they will go some way towards helping you.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

(The original story was first posted on my Medium blog on 3 June 2021. This story was updated on 12 August 2023.)

Publishing, Promoting, and Presenting during a Global Pandemic

In 2020, a global pandemic swept the world and changed billions of lives overnight.

Singapore was not spared. On 7 April 2020, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Singapore would be entering a Circuit Breaker period, to break the chains of COVID-19 transmissions.

Reflecting on the Impact of the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic badly impacted the arts and heritage sector. For example, I was supposed to be a small part of the Singapore Heritage Festival 2020 and was already working closely with the wonderful people at the National Heritage Board.

There’s some background to this.

Other than being a local writer and heritage enthusiast, I was (and am) a member of the Singapore Seah Clan Association. In 2020, the clan association was planning on celebrating its official 70th anniversary.

As part of the festivities, I was working with the National Heritage Board to organise an event. It would have been held at Kallang, at the National Youth Sports Institute.

The idea was that the Singapore Seah Clan Association would have provided some booth programmes and food & beverage possibilities, while I would have given a one-and-a-half hour talk and dialogue on Seah family history. At the time, I had published two family history books on prominent ancestors Seah Eu Chin and Seah Liang Seah, and would share about the two of them, as well as other prominent Seah family members over the years.

Because of the Circuit Breaker, the in-person Singapore Heritage Festival was cancelled and moved online. As a result, I received a call from an officer from the National Heritage Board to ask if we could create a video, on short notice. The alternative was to do a photo essay instead. These were the two practical choices because of COVID-19.

I did want to develop a video, but the Singapore Seah Clan Association was composed largely of seniors and many of them did not have digital skills. I did not have the equipment either. As it was challenging for the clan association or me to develop a video, I wrote and sent in a photo essay instead. It was the best we could do under the circumstances.

My photo essay was called “Grandfather Stories”. I believe it is important to know these grandfather stories, so that we can better understand who we are and where we come from. It is clear that even as they advanced their business interests, the forefathers also gave back to society. More significantly, in a time when many were sojourners, returning home to China after they had made great fortunes, they stayed and built local institutions, like the Ngee Ann Kongsi. There is great value in remembering those who have come before us and having a sense of history. And I believe that those of us who are younger and step up and contribute in whatever field we choose to be in, will in turn, one day inspire future generations.

Publishing and Promoting Books During the Pandemic

I also published My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol in September 2020, literally in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. The amazing people at World Scientific still managed to deliver a quality product in the middle of the pandemic, even though it was slightly delayed. There were several minor production delays, but did I mention, it was a worldwide pandemic?

To launch the book, I had to hold two book launch talks over Zoom. My first book launch was co-organised with the Montfort Alumni and we arranged the entire event basically over Skype, emails, and WhatsApp. Till today, and this is three years on, I have not met everyone I worked with in person.

The Zoom talk was called “Kopi Talk: Aukang and Montfort, Its Historic Education Hub” and held on 19 September. The second was supported by the Singapore Poetry Festival and called “Kopi Talk: Literary Pioneers of Aukang” and held on 6 December.

Another memory stands out for me. I was awarded a grant by the National Heritage Board. As part of the grant requirements, I needed to send in some copies of my book to the National Heritage Board.

But because COVID-19 had effectively meant that many people were working from home, when I turned up at the National Heritage Board, it was empty.

Other than the security post at the first floor of Stamford Court, which was visibly manned, the National Heritage Board reception area looked closed and empty, and many of the offices did not have people inside.

Only a cleaning lady and some poor public officer happened to be in the building and I persuaded the duo to help me place the books on the grant officer’s table.

I also released a Chinese translation of my original book on Seah Eu Chin. I had worked on it for two years with the kind help of a translator recommended by the Singapore Seah Clan Association. We were thinking that we would time the book launch with the 70th anniversary celebration of the Singapore Seah Clan Association.

But the plan entirely evaporated due to COVID-19.

Instead, I went online with a different group of people. (I guess one has to be flexible when the situation changes drastically.)

When the book was completed, I worked with the Genealogy Society of Singapore (GSS for short) to organise a Zoom talk for their members on 12 December 2020. Because of my heritage hobbies, I knew quite a few people at the GSS, including their President and several of their executive committee members.

Personally, I was very impressed that the President of the GSS and his team members were able to pick up and learn technology quickly, adapting to the situation. I worked with a few translators over email and WhatsApp to prepare my Mandarin speech, and hopefully I did not hurt people’s ears too much over Zoom.

For context, at the time, my home did not have much space. It was around 635 square feet, including the air con ledges. I also did not have any technical equipment except for my laptop and a microphone.

As such, I had to sit on the floor in my living room and speak into the microphone, while staring into the laptop’s in-built camera. It was a far cry from the face-to-face public talks I used to give at museums, schools, and other public venues.

I think part of the charm of attending a public talk is the venue, which often is imbued with meaning, significance, and buzz. For example, I spoke at the Nanyang Sacred Union, a Confucian temple that was once a Seah family member’s home.

I also spoke at Blackbox at Fort Canning Centre during the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019, and Fort Canning Centre was where the Bicentennial Experience was being held.

And I have spoken at the Ixora Room at the Peranakan Museum before, and they have had exhibitions showcasing Seah family forefathers Seah Eu Chin and Seah Liang Seah.

Somehow, staring into a computer screen does not have the same feeling as speaking at a physical venue. But as the situation had changed, so I adapted. Better something than nothing, I guess!

Despite Problems, Maintain Confidence in Our Future

One last point stands out in my mind. I attended an SGTogether public engagement conversation over Zoom (since the pandemic was still raging on) on 27 January 2021, and I was struck by how many others in the heritage and arts spheres were also negatively impacted by COVID-19. This was a shared experience for many in the arts and heritage community.

But there’s one major point I shared there over Zoom that I would like to share here.

Throughout Singapore’s history, we have faced crises and challenges before. And I am sure that in future, there will be new crises and challenges to come. But just as we have overcome crises and challenges in the past, we must have the confidence that we will rise up to the challenge.

To my fellow Singaporeans, I hope we can maintain our confidence and what gives us our inner strength to keep going.

I have to also add that despite all the trials and tribulations, I actually became a finalist for Best Non-Fiction and was among the Top 10 for the Readers’ Choice of the Singapore Book Awards! So I guess I did practise what I preached and I rose to the occasion.

Looking Ahead

From 2023 onwards, writing and publishing books, promoting them at public events, and public engagement are back to face-to-face engagements. In the first half of 2023, I was privileged to have opportunities to speak at the Punggol Regional Library, the Asian Civilisations Museum along the beautiful Singapore River, and the Singapore Seah Clan Association.

Looking back on my arts journey during the pandemic, it’s amazing how far my team and I have come. It was not an easy journey, but I am glad that I have survived this challenging period. I’m grateful to all the people who have helped and supported me, and the wider community as well.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

Sharing Thoughts on Writing

Since June 2021, I have started writing a blog on my thoughts, reflections, and experiences on writing and publishing. The blog also covers other topics on history, personal improvement, and productivity.

If you are on Medium, you are most welcome to follow me at https://shawn-seah.medium.com/.

From time to time, I will be updating the series of links here. But for now, these are the articles that many have found relatively useful.

May these articles help guide you in your writing journey if you are an aspiring (or even an experienced) author.

Useful Links for Authors

Five reflections on publishing compelling narrative non-fiction

Crafting a successful book proposal

Everything you might need to know before self-publishing

What should a short story look like?

Advice for aspiring authors

How to get great blurbs (endorsements) for your book

How to write a successful blurb (summary)

Thank you for reading. And all the best in your writing and publishing journey!

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

Kampung Artwork

It is a very natural thing for authors to write (and speak!) about their books.

It is a lot less common for authors to write about the illustrations and artwork within their books.

But in this post, I am doing just that. Here, I’m deliberately sharing a little bit about some of the illustrations that will be featured in my book, My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol.

I think there is some value in sharing a little about the beautiful and creative artwork that supports the overall narrative and community stories featured in the book.

In addition to photographs captured by several people, including Sarafian and his father; S. Lim; the Arozoo family; the Yeo family; and my own family, my book has artwork depicting various scenes from rural, kampung life in north-east Singapore in the 1900s.

Most of the images would be depictions of kampung scenes in the 1940s to ’60s.

The illustrations are wide-ranging, including street hawkers; a scene from Teochew opera; a pig farming settlement; stilt houses in Punggol; a typical village; and the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Montfort (since the book covers Aukang and Punggol, these specific images were chosen for the commission).

These individual and small pieces of beautiful artwork are rooted as much in reality, as in the artist’s imagination.

Beautifully created by a young Singaporean artist I specially commissioned for the book, these stylised paintings bring to visual life certain scenes in the book, and help readers, especially younger audiences, vividly imagine what life was like back in the kampung.

For example, this is a stylistic and simple illustration of a street hawker plying his wares in the kampung. This is an illustration of a commonly-used facility in those days, familiar to practically everyone who lived in the kampung (clue: this facility is closely related to a specific and long-lost occupation called tar sai ). Younger readers may wonder what this facility, nestled among greenery, is all about. This landscape is an artist’s impression of the hustle and bustle at Kangkar in historical Aukang. It was a busy fishing village, so the artist has brought out in visual form the activities of carrying fish, preparing one’s boat, and arriving at the harbour with one’s catch of fishes for the day.

Consistently, throughout the book, the artwork augments and supports the narrative of life in the kampung, but doesn’t take readers’ attention away from the community and personal stories I share.

I think these artistic visuals subtly enhance the tale, by giving it added flavour, without being distracting.

As Robert Yeo observed in the foreword, “The lively interviews with prominent Teochews of the area and the apt photos and illustrations all add up to a comprehensive and intriguing tale.”

I fully agree with his beautiful words.

To me, the artwork is part of the larger tapestry of this book, and supports My Father’s Kampung to tell its comprehensive and intriguing tale.

But the beautiful artwork also supports more than just my book. The art also reaches out to a wider audience, such as the larger Catholic community.

As part of the commemoration of 200 years of the Catholic Church’s history in Singapore, the Chancery Archives also wrote a piece partially inspired by My Father’s Kampung, called the “The “Holy Land” of Aukang“. In it, they featured some artwork from the book, after obtaining my permission.

Chancery Archives also featured Aukang in an article called “The Serangoon Teochew enclave” in CatholicNews, 16 May 2021.

As I have obtained permission from Chancery Archives to share these articles, you can read or download them here:

The “Holy Land” of Aukang (2021)Download

CatholicNews Vol 71, No 10 (16 May 2021)Download

To be able to share the good work of the artist who worked on this book with me is my privilege and honour. And I am delighted that it has reached audiences beyond My Father’s Kampung.

To circle back to my point, the beautiful artwork is an essential part of the larger tapestry of My Father’s Kampung, and a key part of its comprehensive and intriguing tale.

*** ***

Acknowledgments

I greatly appreciate the behind-the-scenes work done by my talented Singaporean artist Jeyasoorya.

Her artwork speaks volumes of her dedication and commitment, and I am deeply thankful to have her in my projects.

She is a Singapore-based illustrator who earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with Honours from Lasalle College of the Arts.

She currently creates paintings geared towards children and enjoys working on whimsical, narrative-driven pieces.

Updated 20 August 2021.

A Big Thank You

It has been an amazing past few years.

Thank you for joining me on my writing, publishing, and speaking journey over the years! Here’s to more adventures together. While I have spoken at many events and locations, here are some selected memorable moments for your viewing pleasure: 

Talking about the Si Da Chu of the 19th century Teochews in Singapore, at Ngee Ann Auditorium, at the Asian Civilisations Museum, on 21 October 2019. Guest lecture on “Power, Pepper, Pineapples, and Parties” at Lecture Theatre 9, National University of Singapore, on 4 September 2019. It was extremely well-received. Goh Eck Kheng, Vivienne Tan, and Shawn Seah at the first day of the inaugural Baba Nyonya Literary Festival on 20 July 2019. Shawn Seah speaking at Fort Canning Centre during the Singapore Bicentennial on 23 June 2019. Shawn Seah speaking in Mandarin Chinese at Grassroots Book Room on 12 May 2019. Shawn Seah speaking at Seah Eu Chin’s tomb at Grave Hill on 5 May 2019, the anniversary of the Hokkien-Teochew Riots of 1854. The group was about three times larger compared to the group a year earlier in 2018. Shawn Seah speaking at Seah Eu Chin’s tomb at Grave Hill on 19 August 2018. Shawn Seah speaking at Tiong Bahru CC on 7 April 2018.