Home » book launch

Tag: book launch

Help us launch some Malaysian Magic!

Join our launch team

 

We’re gearing up to launch our new book, A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic: An Anthology, this November.

If you’d like to join in and help us share the news PLUS get an advance readers copy (ARC) for review, fill up the form below!

We’re SOOOOO excited that this book is just about ready to be shown to the world!

P/S: if you’re at the SEA Lit Circle Writer’s Festival this month, come hang out at our Mini Expo booth from 5PM – 6PM on 8, 15, and 22 July. You’ll get to see an early preview of this anthology too!


New on Tablespoon: Is there love here? by Yasmin Jasmy

A few months ago, we had the privilege of working with Yasmin Jasmy from Pause to edit and format her lovely book of poetry. Is there love here? released today, and we’re proud to carry the ebook in our Tablespoon store!

Congratulations, Yasmin!

The ebook is priced at RM14 but will be on sale at RM19 until 5 June 2023. Get it now!


About the book

is there love here? by yasmin jasmy

Contrary to popular belief, love is not blind.

Love sees with eyes and ears wide open, absorbing everything it encounters as it exerts its subtle influence on our physical, mental, and spiritual health. If positive relationships with ourselves and with others can lead to spiritual growth, will the lack of love then lead to spiritual decay?

In this collection of 175 poems, Yasmin Jasmy explores the dynamics of love and not-love and the way our bodies have been calling us to pay attention to the status of our hearts. In an effort to encourage self-awareness and radical self-love, Yasmin invites you to pause and ask your heart: Is there love here?


About Yasmin Jasmy

Yasmin’s heart is most content when she is creating content from the heart. She discovered her passion for words while studying a postgraduate course entitled “Reflective and Creative Practices for Social Change” at the Institute of Development Studies based at the University of Sussex.

Yasmin has been writing poetry since 2019 – it helps her say what her mouth won’t speak. Since then, writing has brought her great relief and empowerment.

She is the creator of Pause and the host of the Pause with Yasmin podcast. She grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Absolution soft launch at George Town Literary Festival

We’re counting down the days until Absolution reaches your hands!

Our ebooks and international print versions are all on track to be released by 24 November as planned. Pre-order your ebooks now at books2read.com/AbsolutionNovel

However, we’ve hit a slight snag in the Malaysian print run. Rest assured, we’re working towards getting that resolved with as minimal delay as possible. Either way, you can still pre-order your copy now and we’ll keep you in the loop!

 

Join us for our 10-day online launch tour starting 21 November 2022!

Here’s the line up for our online launch tour, including TWO physical events: GTLF Soft Launch and Karnival Oren!

24 November

22 November

23 November

24 November

Teaspoon Publishing presents (soft launch) Absolution by Anna Tan. Absolution is the culmination of Anna's Absolution trilogy, young adult fantasy books set in a magical Nusantara. Come listen as the author talks to Daphne Lee about what inspires her creations, the main challenges she faces as a writer of Asian fantasy, and her hopes for the future of the genre in this region. Date: 24 November (Thursday). 10:30am - 11am. Digital Penang, Event Hall

24 November, Thursday | 10:30 – 11:00 am | Digital Penang, Event Hall

25 November

28 November

29 November

  • Karnival Oren @ Komtar (Details forthcoming)

30 November

 

Launch Week Sales

We’ll be dropping our prices for the duration of the launch tour, so if you’ve missed getting any of the books, you can plan to pick them up then!

How to Publish, Promote, and Remain Sane – A guest post from Kopi Soh

Most people, especially first-time authors, have the misconception that “being published” is the end of the road in an author’s journey—You’ve made it. You have arrived at your destination. Errr.. actually no, you have not arrived. In fact, being published is just one milestone. There are a lot more hurdles that you need to jump over. I have been a self-published author of two self-help books (Oh I thought I was the Only One and Oh I thought I was the Only One 2) and recently, my semi-biographical fiction, Looking After The Ashes, was published by Penguin SEA.

Illustration by Kopi Soh: Image of girl holding Looking after the Ashes book with text "Yaay...I am Published!!!"

Each road has its own challenges. After publishing, I went through a period of almost going insane. Endless googling to find out where (other than Amazon, Book Depository, Shopee, MPH, Kinokuniya, Times) my books were “Available for purchase” and if they had ready stock. The publisher or distributor may provide you with a list of where they intend to send the books to but as the author you need to check if those books are actually available on those sites. If you don’t do this step and you send your readers to a site or bookstore that does not carry ready stock for your books, your readers may end up being extremely frustrated.

Illustration by Kopi Soh: image of girl clicking on her laptop, thinking "where my book?"Then comes the media and social media part: if you don’t promote your own book it may not get the publicity it needs and it may eventually just die out. If you are someone who is not very tech-savvy and not active on social media, it’s time you buck up and learn. Yes, learn Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Goodreads as fast as you can because that’s where books get promoted a lot. Do your research, know who are the bookstagrammers/booktokkers/bloggers in your genre. Reach out to them via email asking if they would do a review for you in exchange for a free copy of the book.

Illustration by Kopi soh: two people surrounded by a cloud of text captioned "So many things to learn"

Grow thicker skin and approach podcasters, bloggers, reporters, or journalists and ask if they would like to interview you and cover your book. Connect with other authors and be generous in your promotion of their books too. Your reach will be far greater if you work together and inter-promote. Do Giveaways if you can in return for Reviews. Approach libraries, universities, and schools offer to do book signings and talks.

Illustration by Kopi Soh: image of girl with face mask holding up a Please sign

Next comes the more insane part that you’ll find yourself doing (well maybe not you but certainly me). I find myself googling daily to see if there’s any media coverage, clicking on Goodreads and Amazon a dozen times a day to see if there are any new reviews, entering random bookstores and pretending to be a customer searching for my own book so that their system will detect that someone is looking for the book and hopefully the bookstores will put in an order, even re-shelving my books (a few copies) to a more prominent place in bookstores. Some authors even go as far as going into bookstores and start signing their own books. Please DO NOT do that—if you truly want to, at least ask permission from the Managers of the bookstores first. Yes, there is that temporary moment of insanity where just like a first-time parent, you wonder if you are doing everything you can to help your newborn thrive.

Illustration by Kopi Soh: Girl in bookstore asking staff, "Ekskew me... Do you have Looking After the Ashes?"

So what’s the solution? How did I stay sane? Well basically, I don’t think there is a solution; many of the things we need to do are necessary evils. I stay sane by pacing myself and taking short breaks from social media. One can easily get obsessive with commenting, posting, and replying to comments. What’s the point of this article? I am writing this to give you a heads up that this may happen to you, to let you know you are not alone, and you are not mad for doing some or perhaps all of the above.

Just remember to BREATHE and PACE yourself. Take a break if you need it.

Illustration by Kopi Soh: Image of girl sitting on a leaf and meditating

Wishing you all the best in your publishing journey and always feel free to contact me (FB/Instagram) should you have any questions.


Kopi Soh is the pseudonym of a Malaysian author and illustrator best known for her book Oh, I Thought I Was The Only One. She founded the Facebook community “Stick It To Me“, a page centred around producing healing art for the sick and needy, and organises a group of volunteers to produce art for hospitals and charities. Her work with “Stick It To Me” was recognized in the Digi WWWOW Awards 2015, winning an award in the Social Gathering category. She also served as the official illustrator for TEDxWeldQuay 2013 and has worked with various nonprofit organizations such as AsPaCC Community Hospice, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya (PPUM), Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Bukit Harapan Orphanage, and Cambodia Water Project.

Find out more about her latest release, Looking After the Ashes, on The Star, Free Malaysia Today, and The Sun Daily

Amok: Surprise lockdown launch!

Surprise Lockdown Launch

In light of our not-so-surprising Total Lockdown, we’ve decided to push up the release date of Amok for a surprise lockdown launch!

Yes, Amok ebooks drop today, 1 June*, so that you can hunker down in your house and entertain yourself with a great read. We’ll still honour our launch prices, so our ebook preorder prices of RM12 (USD2.99) will remain until the 23rd of June and will rise to RM20 (USD4.99) on 24 June.

You can grab your copy right here on this site, or at your favourite ebook retailer!

 

But what if I want a paperback? It’s pretttyyyyyyy

If you’ve preordered a paperback and/or still want to order one, we’re also maintaining the preorder price of RM35 until we actually have the printed books in hand. We’ll also sweeten the deal by sending you an ebook copy to keep you occupied until the paperback finally gets printed.

 

More Bonus Content!

And while we’re at it, send a screenshot of your Amok purchase receipt (wherever you purchased it) to admin@teaspoonpublishing.com.my by 24 June to claim a free copy of The Painted Hall Collection! Also tell us if you’d like it in ebook (e-pub or mobi) or if you’d like a paperback—we’ll ship** this to you for free.

 

Happy reading!

Stay safe, stay home, and get vaccinated.

#LindungiDiriLindungiSemua

* Some other retailers might release it on 2 June. 

** Malaysia-only. Those overseas will have to settle for the ebook, sorry! 

Amok quote: "Yet what is faith, except hope in desparation?" - Mikal (Amok by Anna Tan). books2read.com/amok

Organising an online book launch

In recent months, we’ve personally been getting several queries about book blog tours and online book launches. After typing up email summaries several times, we’ve decided to just compile all those emails into one post about organising an online book launch!

organising online book launches

There are several ways to do an online book tour, but most of them have to do with bloggers. Bloggers are your friends, if you still know anyone who blogs (you’ll probably find some on KLBAC).

Organising an online book tour/launch is as easy as asking all your family, friends, and random strangers on the internet to host you during launch week (or any random dates you think up). It’s also as difficult as planning launch materials, coordinating dates with the bloggers, or maybe hosting a live Facebook event. There’s a lot of coordinating and networking to do, so it may be best to leave it in the hands of the professionals!

If you’re considering an online book launch, here are several standard posts to consider.

The Cover Reveal

The cover reveal is like a pre-release drip, where you share the cover of the upcoming book plus basic details. This post works best if there are existing fans who are excited about the series, and if there is an ability to pre-order the book. At the bare minimum, post materials should include:

  1. the shiny new book cover (duh!),
  2. the book blurb/description,
  3. pre-order links (you gotta channel that excitement somewhere), and
  4. pre-order sales or promotional announcements (e.g. discounted price for pre-orders, exclusive goodies, additional bonus material, previews, etc)

The Launch Post

Usually posted on the day the book goes on sale, this is a general announcement to say hey the book is now out! Post materials usually include the following:

  1. the book cover,
  2. the book blurb/description,
  3. buy links,
  4. launch promo/sales announcements, if any (e.g if the launch price is only valid for a period before it goes up, discounts on earlier books, etc),
  5. author bio,
  6. author picture,
  7. tour graphics/banner, if any (mainly because pictures make it easier to share & garner interest), and
  8. an excerpt or preview (not too long, preferably an exciting hook from the book).

A Review Post

Reviews would usually be posted on or about the launch week/month. If they’re posted before the launch, resharing these posts will help you build more organic buzz as this is what others are saying about the book instead of you just announcing BUY MY BOOK. Reviews have the most impact 2 weeks before (if you take pre-orders) and 6 weeks after the actual release date (crunch time for a new release).

Review posts are slightly trickier because you need to send a review copy (digital or otherwise) to the reviewer hopefully one to two months before the launch so that they have the time to read and write the review. It’s also tricky because there’s always the chance that the reviewer might not like the book! If you can, politely request the reviewer to also post their reviews to Amazon & Goodreads when your book is available.

Post materials should include:

  1. a review copy to be sent to the reviewer/blogger 1 – 2 months before launch (they shouldn’t be sharing this with anyone else), and
  2. Everything from the launch post (the blogger can then decide what they want to add to the post)

Guest Posts

A guest post is usually an opportunity for you to talk about your writing and/or your book. Some bloggers have a theme for their blog, others keep it open to the authors. If a blogger offers/agrees to host you, check with them if they have a specific topic in mind and if they have word count limits. Post materials would generally include:

  1. A guest post of about 500 – 800 words, and
  2. Everything from the launch post (the blogger can then decide what they want to add to the post)

Author/Character Interviews

This is just a bit of fun to get to know the author better. You can predraft a generic interview with FAQ-type things, but most bloggers would have their own questions to ask the author. Just make sure you have everything from the launch post on hand (especially your book cover and buy links)!

Facebook Live Events

Got a Facebook Page? Schedule a launch event where you invite all the fans on your page, and your newsletter, and random Facebook strangers to listen to you ramble about your book! Some launches use the live facebook video (which can be a scary thing) whilst others use frequent posts concentrated around a few hours on the web. This is a great way to interact with fans (and friends), give out some freebies, or con them into buying your book.

 

Book launches and blog tours can be exciting things… or they can be super dead. It really depends on who’s on your team and who’s excited enough to share your books (and about you) on social media! It’s also really cheap to organise if you’ve already organised your materials, can work out some graphics on Canva, and can work out a simple spreadsheet to coordinate who’s posting what when. Make sure you also share their posts on YOUR social media!