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Synopsis :

In this talk, poet and publisher Chandran Nair touches on the difficulties of  finding a publisher for creative writing in Singapore. He then describes the process of publishing a book. A publisher takes an author's manuscript and turns it into printed material in the form of books, journals or newspapers. In return for the author's manuscript, the publisher gives the author either an outright payment for the copyright of the material published or a royalty on each copy sold. The standard royalty throughout the world is 10% of the published price per copy sold though the author may get more if his books sell in large volumes. The publisher has editors, production personnel and sales staff working for him and he sends the manuscript to his own editor and an outside reader for recommendations on whether the work is suitable for publishing. Once accepted for publication, the manuscript is thoroughly edited, laid out and sent to the printer where further corrections are made. After printing, the publisher must find a market for the book. He goes through a disributor who liaises with booksellers to sell the book. Publishers are reluctant to accept creative pieces for fear of incurring losses if the sales are poor. Mr. Nair notes that no local creative writing is used in the local education system. Reasons cited include insufficient writing to choose from, questionable writing quality, the inability of teachers to teach local material and lack of writers like Shakespeare here. The Cambridge Examination Syndicate has overlooked the fact that Asians like V.S. Naipaul, Sionil Jose or Mochtar Lubis are writers of world standard who have produced classics. Although Kalidasa is regarded highly in the West where his works are taught, we don't know anything about him here. Recently, works by African writer Chinua Achebe have been introduced into the Cambridge syllabus. Africans are proud of own literature and publish books by their own writers. The University of Leeds has the good collection of Asian writing which is also available in the United States. Mr. Nair says that there are Singaporeans who believe in local writers. Four men have formed a company that publishes two or three books a year. The company is non-profit for at least five years and the men pay for these publications out of their own pockets.  A poetry book has been published so far and other works are in the process of being published. Mr. Nair then speaks about the impending formation of a Writers' Association to make people conscious about locally published creative writing. As a writer, he feels that our writers should be published. Most Singaporean writers have no problems getting their works published in foreign literary journals. He suggests that local books can be used as texts in Secondary 2 or 3 where there is no examination pressure. Local writers are not interested in the adulation of local readers but simply want to be read. Indifference to their work can be painful.