I’ve been asked this question more and more recently, after publishing The New Millionaires and Jutawan Era Baru. While I am in no way a publishing expert, let me help you by telling you how I did it, and maybe that will come in handy.
Firstly, there are many book publishers in Malaysia, each with their own strength. So you really have to determine a few things before you even start with your book:
- Malaysia or International? – Unfortunately, if you plan to get your book sold worldwide, not many local publishers are capable of this. Look instead for local office of International publishers and approach them that way. Even if an international publisher signs you up, it’s no guarantee that your book will be available in bookstores all over the world. You may also want to try publishing it directly on Amazon.
- What language? – Publishing your book in English (at least in Malaysia) in hindsight is not the best route to do it. The English speaking market has a wide range of choices, including the thousands of books from international authors you may find in MPH or Kinokiniya.
- What niche market? – Is your book about finance, politics, personal development, parenting or a romance novel? By defining your target audience earlier on it will become clear which publisher to approach.
- How many pages? – Sadly to say, the value of a physical book is determined by its weight. If you have too little content, you may want to widen your scope to get more pages and fetch a decent price for your book.
I went with True Wealth, a publishing company by Azizi Ali, simply because my target language, distribution and topic clearly matched their portfolio. If you plan to publish an book in both English and BM, on the topic of money, personal development and related stuff, I recommend True Wealth.
If you plan to focus on only the Malay-speaking market, you may want to try PTS Publishing who I believe have a stronger hold on the Malay market. Same goes for publishing books in Mandarin, etc.
If you’re writing a political book (from a jail cell), you probably need to find smaller publishers or angel investors who have the know how and capital to help you, as most larger publishers avoid politics altogether.
In my case, I look upon Azizi as a publishing mentor so there’s an added reason to choose them. True Wealth is a great publisher, and they have been nothing but helpful to me even though I make them wait all the time 
Anyways, here’s how my deal with them goes:
- Prepare a complete manuscript – No publisher would entertain you unless you can show them the finished manuscript of the book you want to publish. In many cases, getting the manuscript done is the most difficult part of publishing a book. It took me eight months.
- Approach the publisher – In my case they approached me, but as long as your book is commercially viable it should be no problem. Do not publish a biography of yourself unless you’re a politician, celebrity or famous figure. “Coffee table” books filled with pictures and stuff is also harder to produce and sell, so that’s probably not a smart choice either. Make sure you have built a name for yourself in your industry – it is not required but it helps your case.
- Sign the agreement – Never get anything started before having a black and white agreement which clearly states the Book Title, author name and publisher name, and other important details. You cannot afford to move ahead without knowing if your book maybe be dropped without notice.
- Proofread and edit your manuscript – No matter what kind of hero you think you are, your manuscript is going to be full of errors. In my case, the publisher assumes the cost of editing and proofreading, and in fact they do it for me. That’s one of the good things about True Wealth – they do everything beyond the completed manuscript.
- Apply for an ISBN number – It’s like your IC number, and identifies your book globally. You may already know what an ISBN is if you bought a book from Amazon before. Go to the Perpustakaan Negara (National Library) in Malaysia (National Bibliography Center) and you can get one for free (or a few ringgit), provided you contribute copies of your published book back to the library collection. Again if you have a publisher they will do this for you.
- Create a stunning cover – Your publisher may have designers who can do it for you, but give them proper instructions. The best way to decide on a cover is to take a look at other books in your niche topic. One of the mistakes I made with The New Millionaires is having too many things going on that the book “disappears” in a shelf filled with books featuring glaring fonts and colors. So I had to redesign it for the next reprint, which makes it identical to Jutawan Era Baru except for the colors, and which costs me more.
- Publish it! – Find a publishing house in Malaysia, get a quote from them. However, you need to make sure your layout and typesetting is all taken care of, otherwise they probably won’t print anything but a bill for you. Again of course, having a good publisher removes this step.
There’s really nothing you need to do once everything is in progress, except assist the publisher by giving feedback and suggestions until you get what you want. Remember that the publisher is an expert in publishing, so don’t argue with them on publishing matters. But you are an expert in your industry, so make sure when it comes to industry-related choices you get your voice heard.
Another popular question is how much do you earn?
While I cannot disclose that kind of confidential agreement, lets say you will probably earn royalty of 6% – 12% depending on the publisher. In most cases, there will be a tiered royalty rate – which means the more copies of your book sold, the higher your royalty will be.
If that’s too low for you, you can always try self-publishing, with which you can get more than 40% of the book sales for yourself. It also means you have to do all the work and spend all the money.
I’ve met a few people a few years ago who wanted to self-publish their book, and they haven’t succeeded yet.
Don’t underestimate the time and resources it takes to publish a book, and the important contacts you need to make just to get your book on an MPH shelf. Self-publishing is just not worth it, especially in Malaysia where your market is limited.
Lastly, most book publishers will agree that you will not get rich publishing a book.
That’s reality. So why do people publish books anyway?
Credibility, exposure and contacts. That’s the real reason.
I was shocked (and delighted) when I found a copy of The New Millionaires in the LCCT terminal bookstore in KLIA.
Most publishers – especially in the self development or financial niche – have an existing business. It could be consultation, coaching, ebooks, whatever. A physical book helps them boost their existing businesses, and that’s what they publish it.
So if you have nothing going on, publish children’s stories or science fiction novels and hope it gets turned into a billion dollar movie industry
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{ 44 comments }
Hi, I have a completed contemporary romance novel, written in English. I’ve been wondering whether there is a possiblility of publishing an English novel in Malaysia. I’m still unsure whether to publish locally or internationally. I’d rather market my book internationally. I thought it would be interesting for the rest of the world to read about romance and life in Malaysia. I posted the complete novel for comments and improvement at one of US based writing sites and received great responses and followers. The book was voted as Book of the Month twice. I’ve tried self-publishing and have two books for sale now – a short novel and a poetry book. I managed to sell a few copies online, but it’s not possible to sell locally as they’re too expensive after the conversion rate.
Would love to hear what you think. Thanks.
Hi, Bala,
I’ve written a novel for teenagers It’s about three bosom friends Mahir, Chandra & Chin Han who went jungle-tracking with their scoutmaster. The day trip brought them to a strange garden of the Princess of Ledang. They had an encounter with a fairy, who was the guardian of the forest. The fairy warned them only to look at the beautiful flowers in the garden and not to take home even a blade of grass. They were also forewarned not to go near a disused well at the edge of the garden. But, as the saying goes, curiosity kills the cat. They tried to take a quick look at the well but were blown into the well by a sudden gust of strong wind. As they sank into the well, they thought they were drowning but suddenly they found themselves in a strange environment…… they were transported 600 years back during the era of the Malacca Sultanate in the 115th. century A.D. There, their adventure began …..
Title of the Novel : The Machindra Gang.
Language : English.
No. of Chapters : 47.
No. of pages : 514.
No. of Words : 84,000
Size of Book : 8in. X 5in.
Target Readers : Students from Primary 5 to Secondary 3.
Anyone interested in helping me get this novel published, please contact me via my e-mail : kba_345@yahoo.com. Thanks.
Hello sir,
i hav a question. i wanna start writing storybooks for children, and i want to publish these books, ryte. So how am i supposed to start?? ok 1st i go register my company, and then i get the manuscript ready. so, does it need any approval from the education ministry or anything?
is there any way i can email u directly???
it will be great help, thanks.
Gobala’s article is well written and describes an accurate picture of the publishing scene in Malaysia. Here’s the pros for going either with traditional publisher or self-publishing:
1. Going with traditional publisher
-Better exposure in terms of marketing. The traditional publisher has connections with bookstores and retailers all around.
-You don’t have to invest a single cent in printing and getting the books done, except for your time to write your manuscript.
2. Deciding to self-publish
-If you have high capital, you can go offset printing. If you are on tight budget, try print-on-demand (POD) digital printing. Differences: POD has slightly higher cost per book but at least you don’t have to stress about keeping stocks of thousands of books in your room.
-You can earn back most of your royalty, aside from the % you give to your distributors. Book distributors in Malaysia usually take about 60% of your sales price. You as the author keeps the other 40%. (Rate might vary depending on who your distributor is, but MPH takes 60%)
-Usually it’s better to go with self-publishing if you already have your market circle or people who are going to buy from you. You earn the most when you sell directly to your readers. Either your own website (you do packaging and delivery yourself) or you’re some kind of guru giving seminar talks, then you can sell your books to the attendees.
-It’s good to go self-publishing if your book’s niche is very narrow. You can’t find any traditional publishers that want to carry your books because your genre/niche doesn’t match theirs. Then go self-publishing. But once again, you must know who your buyers are gonna be.
Like what Gobala and Peter mentioned, publishing a book is not the best way to get rich. Well, that’s unless you are Robert Kiyosaki, John Maxwell or JK Rowling. The money comes in very slowly. It might event take years before you see the full profit for your book writing. You can take it as a passive income, but if you want to rely on it as your main active income, I wouldn’t recommend so unless you’re already some bestseller.
Next thing I wanna highlight is as the author of the book, you’re probably the one and best person to market your book. Promote it to your friends, your clients, your family, your neighbours and those around you. Promote it online in your Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. Your books will never suddenly sell well just because you put them in MPH or Popular. In fact, if MPH choose to display your books in their bookstores, for the first run, they usually take only around 5-10 books per store. MPH will subsequently increase the order on your books if they find your sales record to be very impressive. Actually not only MPH, but most bookstores or retailers are like that. And it’s on consignment basis, means you get your earnings when your book is sold to the readers.
Ultimately, putting books in MPH or Popular or Kinokuniya can help to expose your books to the public. But the grand marketer of the book is still YOU! The destiny of your book lies solely in your hands as the author.
Having said all these, if you still wish to pursue the path to self-publishing in Malaysia and are looking for guidance and directions, you can drop me an email at nickey@theinspirationhub.com. I’ve been in the publishing industry for 3 years now and I’ve helped authors self-publish their books and distributed throughout MPH, Popular, Kinokuniya and bookstores around in Malaysia and also Singapore. I hope my advice will be able to help you in your path to publishing.
Nickey
Hi GK!
What if I wanna publish an art book on henna hand painting? which publisher should I approach?
Hi there Gobala!
I’m 15 years old and I have dream of publishing a book before reaching the age 20. Your article was great and really helpful.
I was wondering how can I self-publish my own book since I don’t know how to er, get along with publishing books business.
Hi gobala.. I have obtained a licensing agreement for a particular line of books from abroad for Malaysia, singapore, brunei – Children Illustrated books in Graphic/comics. What is the recommended process to go about it? Joint venture with an existing publisher or self-publishing ? Please advise.
Hai Wai Kit here,
I am wondering if i am planning to publish a comic book. How do i go about it?
Hi Gobala,I am danish staying in malaysia,I have written five novel,I would like some help how to get it published,my books is about rommence,i wrote it when i was in africa for five years.I wrote it in danish,now I am trying to get it translate in english.Pls help me in this my number is 0126605913.
I’m sorry I’m neither a translator or a publisher. Plus, you should really be giving out your personal phone number publicly in blog comments.
“Lastly, most book publishers will agree that you will not get rich publishing a book.”
That’s reality in MALAYSIA where people are not interesting in reading. Besides a good target market, it also depends on the topic published. Be UNIQUE and creative. Don’t repeat information from other sources.
Hai. .Gobala.. thanks for the informative ideas. I have question for you, recentlly i went to book publisher in selangor for my first book in malay about ‘PELUANG PEKERJAAN PARAMEDIC IN SAUDI ARABIA’ and he promise to .he will inform me within one months.Do i need to ask other publisher to know which publisher give me good offer ?
or do i have to wating theirs reply..
thaks
Ibnu said
Hi Gobala,
thanks for the info. Im intending to publish my research. it is in BM. Can you suggest any publisher as I know little on publishing.
Hi,
I have a doubt. Is it compulsory for authors to publish books via publishing companies?
First of all, is publishing license necessary for self published books?
Thanks.
thanks for the wealth of information.IHow do you improve marketing and how do you keep tract of how many of the books were printed.
Hi Gobala
Nice to know you.
I had just finished writing a “self enrichment” book ( my first book) and sent a few chapters plus the content to a local publisher for his evaluation.
I have not copy-right my book yet. Now he is asking me to send the whole book to him for his in depth review and understanding. Am I exposed to any type of risk? What should I do to protect myself?
Could you kindly advise me?
Thank you.
Jonas Teh
@ Jonas – Unless it’s an established publisher, you should not hand over your entire manuscript. But keep in mind that even if the publisher wanted to steal your stuff, they will not be able to market it with your name on the book, which is a waste if you are already famous or have a following. So I don’t think publishers would want to steal your stuff, but to play it safe don’t give your entire manuscript until you have a signed (and stamped) agreement.
That was a very good article. And I would like to add a comment or two.
1. some publishers actually do give 20% royalty
2. ISBN is free of charge but you need to provide them with 5 copies of your book
3. Do it yourself publishing is very exciting especially if you want to get rich slowly
4. The book shops collect cash for the sale of your book but take 5 to 6 months to pay you. So if you are tight for cash don’t sell your book in the shops – use the internet
5. There is something called ‘subsidy publishing’ if I remember the term correctly. This is where the publisher does not take any risk as you pay an upfront money (USD$8000 or there about) for them to print a certain number of books and ‘market’ it. Some of these guys are really bad. They send you fantastic brochures with promises of huge royalties (40%) but on closer inspection of their legal contracts, the actual royalty is 20%. Worst still they cannot commit how many books they will print and how many books will sell based upon past experience. Your money is GONE. Dream on …. there is scam everywhere you turn.
6. The normal publishers need to print a 1000 books at a time so your book must be sale-able.
7. The next option is to go for digital printing where you only need to print 10 books at a time but the book costs are higher so it’s not suitable for paperback type of books in Malaysia. Furthermore, I have been told they can’t get the paperback type of paper in Malaysia so your books printed here use better quality paper.
7. If you print your own books with digital printing it can cost you as much as 7 to 8 sen per A4 page for black and white and 40 to 50 sens for A4 color page.
8. Do check what they have printed as I have seen wrong ISBN numbers on books printed by the digital printers, some have smudge marks that show up later and many can be very untimely in their delivery.
9. It’s not easy to become a published author and what ever you choose to do – remember to have fun at it because you may not see the MONEY.
How long it will take to get ISBN ? tak sabar aku ..tunggu punya lama adoiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
@Sumi: > It takes only about 3 working days to get your ISBN.
Hi gobala,
Waiting was never an issue because you always gave us quality work. It is a pleasure having you as one of authors.
Anyone out there who is interested in publishing their work do feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to take a look at your manuscripts. True Wealth publishes self-help books as well as novels. Thanks.
Nirmitha
True Wealth
http://www.millionairesplanet.com
http://www.bookplanet.com.my
Very informative. Thank you very much
Such a good summary, useful information with A,B,C,D concept (A – accurate and adequate, B – Brief, C – Concise, D – Direct and relevant).
What a great summary! This really helped clarify a lot of things for me. I’m looking into publishing my book, and although its not at all related to what you write (if I were to categorize it, it’d probably be something between “self-help” and “parenting”), this post really did help me see the path I’m going to have to take to publish my book
Thanks!
hi GK ,
I plan to publish a book about teaching people how to crocheting the dolls .
My planing is to publish this book in 3 version of diferrent language ( BM , English , chinese ).what is your advise to me on the above planing?
@viwian : > you can do simultaneous print run … ensure that the colour text are the same for all versions…and use grayscale for the text for all 3 languages. This way, you can do a print run of 3,000 copies and split it 1,000 for english, 1,000 for malay, 1,000 for chinese.
) and paying at the price of 3,000 copies 
)
Hi!
Great info! Gracias!
hey thanks .tis site definitely gav me clue of wat to do… really appreciate…
Thank you very much. your tips came to me at the right time. thanks.
dearest gobala,
i am very into writing n hope to pursue a job in journalism soon.
i found that your info are very useful for beginners like me on starting to write my own novel as i am still studying in high school rite now.
writing is really my true passion..
thanks for the guide,
i hope u can suggest to me few publishing houses in Malaysia that i can use as a stepping stone to publish my work..
i wrote few Malay and English novels but they still remain as unpublished manuscripts..
do keep in touch
Talk To You Later,i hoped so
Hi happy to hear about your book and how to go about publishing books in Malaysia….will be very much delighted if you could assist me in by providing some reliable books designers. You can email me…Thanks
Have a good day
Hello Gobala,
Just received email from True Wealth. Finally they intrested to publish my book. Gobala can I have your comment bout my book (testimonial). I plan to view all testimonial I received altogether with the book.
@ Haryzat – Unfortunately, I can’t give a testimonial for now. Perhaps when we have worked together personally, or for the second edition / revision of your book.
Hi GK ..
This article helped me a lot. I’m new to this field and just completed my 8 books about planets ( English ) for the kids and all designed by myself. But still I don’t know which publisher should I go through.Please guide me more. Thank you.
Please look around for a publisher, I’m not familiar with your type of books. The best way is to go to a bookstore and look at existing books, see who published them. There is always the publisher’s contact details inside the book itself.
Hey Gobala,
currently waiting a phone call from true wealth regarding my book which is including your rahsia clickbank as case study. Hopefully they are interested.
I saw you walking yesterdat infront jaya building@ digital mall. Want to ask for your sign but cant do that as I was in car.
Good luck with your book, I’m sure it will sell very well!
Berkongsi informasi tambahan mengenai penerbitan PTS.
1. Mereka mempunyai kerjasama dengan penerbit di Indonesia yang memudahkan penulis tempatan melesenkan karya mereka ke negara jiran apabila ia dipilih untuk diterbitkan semula.
2. Penulis perlu melalui kursus percuma kaedah menulis buku agar buku yang dihasilkan memenuhi spesifikasi PTS. Buku PTS antara dikenalpasti menjadi pilihan pembelian perpustakaan seluruh negara dan Singapura. Kerana penggunaan bahasa Melayu standard.
Zamri Mohamad
http://www.zamrimohamad.com
Hey there Gobala,
Thanks for sharing this information as I was wondering how to publishing a book in Malaysian Market.
This article helped me a lot.
From my point of view, it is not very hard to published a book. But there is something to be considered about our manuscript.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Hi Gobala,
thanks for this article. This may help anyone who desire to publish their own book in Malaysia market.
I hope it does!
Great guide, thanks Gk
Thanks for the guidelines.
Thanks for the info. The most important thing is, just focus on local market, firstly. Then, can goo on to the international market
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