Words of Low Kay Hwa

It is really amazing how I can relate the book publishing industry to how life, in general, works. In fact, the more interesting fact is I thought of this when I was in the toilet. In any case, here goes.

 

Sometimes, I get questions like “Your book is only 150 pages. Why price it at $15.90?” Technically, people tend to think that a book that is only 150 pages or lesser should be priced at a lower price. They see the book, flip through the pages and began to think: Hey, the price must justify the physical aspect of the item. If they are my friends… I’ll say this: “We’re not Mcdonald’s.”

 

I wasn’t kidding when I said that we were not Mcdonald’s. The thing is, if you upsize your meal in Mcdonald’s, you pay more. But it doesn’t apply in my books. When you buy a copy of my book, you don’t buy the physical book: You don’t buy the paper, the printings or the binding. Instead, you buy the story.

 

What I meant is this: You cannot judge a book’s quality via the size of the book. A small book might just seem… small. But the information may cost a lot more. Imagine a small book that contains all the numbers of tomorrow’s 4D numbers. Will the publisher sell it at $3 a copy, or at $30,000 a copy?

 

A book’s price can never be determined by the number of pages; it is determined by how the words are stringed to sentences, how the sentences are combined to paragraphs and finally how the paragraphs are placed together to create chapters. I can just write a five-hundred-page book within a month and sell it at $10. But if that is the case, you buy a story that is worth just $1.

 

True, it’s thicker. True, it looks more expensive. And true, it is a story about a man who walks from point A to point B, and that is it: Just a story about a man who walks from point A to B.

 

In every book, the efforts I put in, I dare to say, is tremendous. Trust me, my friends all know that. I once try to get hit by a vehicle just to experience the feeling of near-hit accident. I once dissociate my mind to an extent whereby I nearly forget who I am. I once cried all of a sudden in public while visualizing a scene in my story.

 

Never put a price on a book by its size; price a book base on the story in the book.

 

And in life, so often, people judge someone based on the appearance of the person. Just because someone is wearing Armani means that person is rich and successful. We admire him, and hope to be like him. Yeah, it’s human nature.

 

But just like a book, what is portrayed on the physical aspect should never be reflecting a person’s value.

 

That person may just have rich parents who are his unofficial “ATM”. That person may just bought imitations from flea markets. Or that person can just be trying to impress girls: Once there’s an outing without members of the opposite sex, he’ll be out in Hang Ten.

 

Here’s the thing: Be it whether he is just putting on a photogenic image or not, once we see beyond the physical aspect (just like how you view a book), you’ll see the actual “price” of the person. Spend some time with him. He may look “expensive”, but when you know him, he may be, apparently, “cheap”.

 

So how do we put a price on a person? A student in all branded clothes is more “expensive” than labourer in all Hang Ten?

 

If you’re following what I am trying to tell you, then I guess you get the point. It is useless trying to price oneself base on external factors. The real price is never about how you look, or how you dress. The real price is about you as a person altogether.

 

In A Photogenic Life ( http://www.goodybooks.com/aphotogeniclife.htm ), Linda is trying so hard to impress others, to the extent of hurting others. She is trying to increase her “value” at the expenses of others. But if you really know someone like Linda, do you think she belongs to the “expensive” side, or the “cheaper” side? Who do you price higher: Linda, or Chew Ling?

 

So, readers, whatever is the case, don’t try to price yourself on the outside. It is pointless. It is like us selling a thick book with no substance inside. Instead, work on increasing the price on the inside.

 

You can impress someone with a branded shirt for only one day; but you can impress someone with a sincere smile for one year.

 

All the best!

 

(oh, by the way, for those who haven’t seen the video trailer for Lilith… here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvvdyApjgzM  )

Tags: A Photogenic Life, Destiny’s Cries, Facebook, Goody Books, I Believe You, Journey, Lilith, Low Kay Hwa, Singapore, To Forget You, You Are Here

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