When we started ALAF 21 (Millenneum 21) in April, 1997, neither the founder
Datuk Hishamuddin Yaacob or me as the operator took notice of the looming fear that arose from the study on reading habit by Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Ahmad of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia). In his study that was released the same year, it stated that Malaysians only read a couple of pages a year! Both of us have also neither heard or read an earlier report in 1983 on the Malaysian Reading Habit by Professor Atan Long of Universiti Putera Malaysia which stated that Malaysians only read a page in a year!

The report, as predicted, created a furore amongst people in the academic field, literature bodies or even in the book circle. They fear for the future of the book industry. The increasing importance of the internet at that time also caused an uproar and polemic of what will happen to the holy habit of reading. Frankly, we were unconcerned on the implicative effect of the report. Even, when the Malaysian economy took a downturn in August that year, we were simply adamant.

We went fishing, instead. Far away up the stream of our minds! To find ways and means to sell books by the thousands because we have published thousands of books at that time. No way we would back off ~ not because of the financial and operational investments; but because we simply love reading. And we want Malaysians to buy our books and start reading, too.

So what were we going to do about it? We went to the bookstores only to realise that the Malaysian public only go to the bookshops to buy school books for their kids at the beginning of the school term. We saw the high prices of books and noticed that it was due to the low print orders. We surveyed the attitude of book promoters who are themselves not bookworms. We talked to book distributors who are ever willing to distribute Doraemon comics than books. And, we noticed that promotions and advertisements of books seldom appeared in the newspapers, which mean that a lot has to be done in marketing and sales of books.

However, around the same time, someone rejuvenated the fishing hobby. The public caught up with the craze when a local daily, Berita Harian organised a fishing competition. Ever since, entrepreneurial farmers dug fishing ponds and put huts and tents surrounding the ponds to lure those who love fishing to come. Even those in the conventional sundry business bought huge tanks and fill them with fish so that those who could not fish far away from home could just have the semi-simulated fun in their neighbourhood. Soon, fishing became a favourite pastime. And it shocked us as well. However, we soon realised that since fishing could stir so much interest, why can’t reading? Why can’t we rejuvenate reading and turned it into another kind of craze?

This belief prompted us to think what kind of books would interest the public? Which market segment would love to read? How to entice the two-pages a year reading society to read at least a book a month? Our brainstorming led us to fiction. Yes, fiction is something that is close to the heart and mind in most of us. Fiction is story. We live to love lessons in life in the form of stories since we were kids. Forklores, tales and fables, which were passed from ear to ear; operas, pantomime, dances presented on stage; dramas and movies via the TV or cinemas ~ all these are stories.

Thus, we quickly advertised in magazines and newspapers seeking for fiction writers. We also passed the word around. But the response was lukewarm. Not many heard of us. And thus, were not ready to trust our capabilities in book publishing. Moreover unscrupulous publishers had painted a bad image by not paying royalties indue.

With a handful of titles in hand, we started to publish those books. Almost all of the manuscripts we received were love stories. And we printed as little as 2,000 copies for the first print. Sometimes a book a month, sometimes a book in three months. In due course, we began to crystalise our very own publishing concepts.

One most important fact that we realised is that there is no age barrier as far as reading novels is concerned. Kids as young as 12 years old, or a 65 years old grandma could enjoy reading fiction. That makes us meticulous on the storyline and the use of language in our novels so as not to irk those at the end of our readership range. To sum up, our kind of fiction is between the Hallmark Channel and the Walt Disney. It should be motivational, fun, relaxing read and… the characters are not allowed to smoke! In short, we do not produce ‘for adult only’ kind of novels because we believe what is bad for kids is also bad for adults. This approach makes our novels safe to be read. Mother and child can share the same book. Our novels are then found in school libraries.

The thickness of a book not only determines the amount of money changing hands, but it also determines salability of a title. A fiction book of less than 250 pages will not sell as much as a 500 pages book because an ardent reader will prefer thicker books. On the other hand, a 1,000 pages book will not sell as much as a 500 pages book. Yes. For fiction, 500 pages is the optimum number of pages. A good book is like a good food. No matter how delicious the food is, you could not eat as much as you want unless you want to throw it out. Simultaneously, a good book need not be too thick. If it does, the reader will skip the pages or put it aside for future reading, only to find that the ending of the story will not be in the future.

The cover design helps attract the readers to pick a book. We found that the brighter the colours of the book cover design, the more likely it is going to be sold. Malaysian who lives in the tropical climate loves bright and stunning colours. Thus, dark and pastel colours are a no-no because it will not make heads turn. We also make sure that we include human figures, birds or flowers in our covers. Covers with humans, animals or plants bring life. They attract potential readers.

Another important factor in choosing a book title is in its simplicity. We found that book with lengthy titles are easily forgotten. A reader who decides to buy a book advertised in a magazine will easily forget the title of the book. Out of memory means out of mind. On the contrary a simple title will be easily remembered, not only by the potential buyer, but also the book promoter and hence easily liked. Therefore, we keep all our novel titles simple down to not more than seven syllables!

Our stories are all happy endings because basically everyone no matter how sinful they are, they definitely want a happy ending in their lives. If one’s life is boring, repetitive or troublesome, they want a different kind of outlook when they open up a book. We provide the difference by giving them hope. Thus, reading is a kind of mind therapy.

We believe all of them have experienced a period in their life whereby they were hooked on reading. It is a matter of jolting their memories, and presenting them popular novels ~ here and now stories coupled with a chic design. The book concept, coupled with the design concept goes down well with the public. Furthermore, the outlook of the book is at par as imported fiction titles. These elements trigger their interest back into reading.

With our advertising and promotion in the newspapers, magazine, TV and the internet, it enticed the youngsters as well as adults. We have book launching, book signing, free coupons, free catalogues, direct mails, viral marketing, dialogues, interviews and talks. All these marketing and public relation tools excite the public into seeing that reading is not a boring and old-fashioned hobby after all.

The momentum picks up when they gather and talk about what they read in dormitories, offices and cafes. Soon it spread like a wildfire in the worldwide web. Internet forums, websites and blogs on reading and books review emerge. One can google and find a new blog on a personal book collection or a book review everyday.

Already into our 11th year of operation, we have sold an average of 1,000,000 copies of books in a year. Our early print of 2,000 copies per title for first print has risen to an average of 25,000 copies. We distribute our books well. They can be found in the big bookstores such as MPH, Popular Books and Borders. They are sold in hypermarkets such as Tesco, Giant and Carrefour or other smaller book chains. However, the steady increase of sales comes from our e-purchases.

The ripple that was started 10 years ago has emerged into a wave. Malaysians are not shy to read in public anymore. You can see more of them reading in parks, commuter trains and in shopping malls. Nevertheless, we contributed a little to repopularise the reading habit. But old habits die hard. We believe in this saying and will continue to spearhead our mission to a higher level.

This paper was presented by Mr. Norden Mohamed at
The International Conference of Book Industry
in conjunction with
The 27th Kuala Lumpur International Bookfair
at Putra World Trade Center
on the 5th of April, 2008

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