MPH LitBloggers’ Breakfast Club 5
“There’s no one here!” Zhang Su Li, the morning’s featured author (of the book A backpack and a bit of luck), cried out.
“Oy, I’m here, lah!” Me, the lone regular, standing next to her, countered.
“Oh yah. Sorry.” She offered, looking over.
I can speak the way I spoke to the author because we used to hang out together quite a few years ago. She was horrified to learn I still have the pictures from those days. *evil laughter*
Yes, I was the only regular present at the 5th MPH Litbloggers’ Breakfast Club 5 held at the BVII outlet on Saturday, 23 June 2007. Okay, Eric Forbes and Janet Tay were there, too, but in addition to being regulars, they were also the organisers.
There was the usual worry of “what if nobody else turned up?” But as with previous BCs, once the event got under way, the audience started turning up. In the case of BC5, there were also two surprise visitors, both from MPH – En Zafri, Area Manager in charge of Bangsar Village II and MidValley MegaMall outlets, and Renee Koh, Marketing Manager.
They must’ve heard about the fun we had in previous months’ BCs, and decided to come and see for themselves. Although BC5 might not have been the usual BC event, as it was sans the usual crowd, it turned out to be another fun event – more fun, I personally think – all thanks to Su Li’s highly entertaining perform … I mean, reading (more on this in a while).
For me, BC5 also proved that such author events do help sell books – the presence of the author puts a face, as well as voice and rest of the body, to the writer behind the book.
According to Kam Raslan, author of Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato’ Hamid Adventures, “a reading is important because it is hoped that they will enjoy it and tell other friends about it.” (“Good response to reading event”, The Star – Metro North, 5 June 2007).
Case in point – Kam Raslan was not a featured speaker at the MPH Breakfast Club in April, but he was in the audience, and someone recognised him, and went looking for a copy of his book in the store for him to sign; unfortunately, MPH only had 3 or 5 copies of the book that morning. So, yes, book events do sell books. I think part of the sales comes from passersby in the store at the time of the reading, passersby who stopped to look and listen, and realised “hey, that’s a writer! I must get the book and have it signed by them.”
Sounds simplistic? Probably, but then I never claimed to be a smart cookie. I just say things as I see them. Where was I?
Despite the absence of the other regular attendees, BC5 turned out to be an enjoyable event. The source of the enjoyment was the author herself, Su Li, who read various excerpts from her book. In fact, the audience enjoyed her reading so much that they nodded in favour of more excerpts instead of moving on to the Q&A session.
But Su Li did more than read from her book. Those of us who attended the readings at Seksan in February would remember the North English accent she put on when reading one of the excerpts from her book. Well, she did it again at BC5, and not just a North English accent but a very passable Indian accent that brought to life the reading of the excerpt from “The Dance of Life”. For me, she not only read, she performed the excerpts. Indeed, in “The Dance of Life”, she mentioned learning the Indian dance form during her travels there, as she was staying with an Indian classical dancer, and I regret not asking her to show us some of the dance movements she’d learned. An interesting aside to this particular chapter is that when the classical dancer learned that Su Li is from Malaysia, asked if she knew Ramli Ibrahim before inviting her to stay.
Su Li’s “performance” also included the knack of engaging the audience, looking directly at a particular member of the audience and speaking as if to a friend. And the way she read, too – slipping from looking at the page as she read, to looking at the audience and talking on as if off the cuff – also made me wonder where the reading ended and the chatting began, and made it a most enjoyable morning.
A backpack and a bit of luck by Zhang Su Li is published by Marshall Cavendish. In addition to readings and signings at various bookstores in the KL / Klang Valley, Su Li has also read at Borders Singapore and Select Bookstore in Singapore, as well as appeared on Radio Singapore!
Bonus
Notes from the author from online Google chat:
i think most ppl like it for the style and the fact that it appeals to 2 targets – the mature, intellecutal ones, and the younger target who may not underatnd the nuances, but are still entertained.
the style, everyone says they like cos it involves the reader, and pulls them into the scene. It’s actually not a journal about me at all, as ppl who havent read, mistake it for it’s actually taking the reader into the picture, seeing it from my POV, but allows them to make their own conclusions.
