Dear Editor,

I wish to take this opportunity to shed light on some glaring facts of self-publishing.

In an ideal industry, no author enjoys the shouldering of publishing duties- we would be most happy to leave that mumbo jumbo to the businessmen. Unfortunately, the Singapore publishing industry is far from ideal- in fact, I would go as far as saying that ours is the toughest in a first-world country.

Individuals from all walks of life are beginning to self-publish because our own publishers have not been helpful to local authors. Such publishers cite the lack of standards as a reason, but in light of the below revelations, their reason becomes misleading:

Dr Catherine Lim, the most eminent writer Singapore can lay claim to, could not find a local publisher for her book, The Bondmaid. This was because the book’s contents were slightly controversial, but this was enough to send our publishers fleeing. Consequently, she had to publish The Bondmaid herself.

Mr Sim Wong Hoo, long regarded as Singapore’s greatest entrepreneur, wrote a book entitled Chaotic Thoughts From The Old Millennium. Its enlightening contents, if read by all of us, could eradicate all traces of myopic thinking in Singapore. Unfortunately, the publicity and support for Mr Sim is so non-existent most Singaporeans are not even aware he wrote a book.

If two of Singapore’s finest talents are so sorely neglected by our publishing industry, how can we, the commoners, stand a chance at publication?

Based on the aforementioned article, observers have labeled us the “vanity press”, which gives the impression that we are flamboyant prima-donnas who want things our way. Nothing is further from the truth.

The path of self-publishing constantly threatens to consume our lives. Without the support of professionals, we are forced to become copywriters, designers, promoters and legal officers, all rolled into one. Many of us even pursue our goals against the wishes of best friends and relatives. In a few short months, we are forced to learn the fundamentals of publishing- and some of us become even more competent than real publishers.

For Anema- Age Of The Robots, I spend three to four hours a day on production- sometimes drawing so much that I cannot feel my fingers. When my home computer crashed, I had to unscrew it and mend it myself. Since money is always an issue, I print my drafts on the backs of old lecture notes. There are no weekends or holidays for people like us- every day demands our unrewarded labour.

When all is said and done, the myth of glamour and fortune shall remain so. My belated launch of Anema was held last month in Jin Tai Primary School. I improvised with canteen furniture and decorated the stand with home-printed posters. Yet, by industry standards, I consider myself lucky to be allowed a launch in a school, and hereby express my gratitude to Jin Tai Primary.

Big profits are as elusive as the gold of El Dorado- for every copy of Anema sold, I only make a profit of nine cents. This and many other stark realities, await Singapore’s self-publishers.

To call the industry pathetic would be an understatement. The level of support given to local authors is incredibly lacking. In the minds of dealers and general readers, Singaporeans can never produce any work of quality. Many so-called local publishers would rather import the latest thrash from foreign countries than give our most intrepid authors a chance. Even after publication, authors can expect similar scenarios to mine:

When I was promoting Anema to schools, one of them rejected me because it claimed Anema contained one line of Singlish. When I insisted I never use Singlish in my dialogue, the school replied, “Anyway, we have enough (foreign) comics in our library for our students.”

For the past few months, I have written to several newspapers and magazines about Anema. The responses I received can best be summed up by the editor of a new English publication- He told me that he was very impressed by my story, layouts and a multitude of other aspects. However, my artwork did not suit his tastes and for that one reason, he chose to reject me.

The only positive response came from the editor of Teach! and Learn! Magazines, who gamely announced the release of Anema in this month’s issues. This begs a depressing question- How come an expatriate editor is more supportive of me than all the local editors combined?

Therefore, the foremost reason for any self-publication project is passion. We walk alone because we tire of being told we are not good enough, and when real expertise is being denied from us, we choose to carry on. We despise the drudgery of our daily lives, and obey our overwhelming desire to make our marks, in our own small ways.

On a final note, perhaps the works of us self-publishers are slightly lacking in professional standards. Rather than criticizing us, perhaps observers should avail themselves to the lack of a supporting system and exorbitant professional expertise. Despite such limitations, some of us have published anyway, and lived to tell our tales. We only wish that one day our efforts can ignite a paradigm shift in this industry.

Yours truly,

Johnny Tay