The Book Council is organising a book club on 18 May 2012, Friday, at Earshot, The Arts House. The author for the upcoming book club is none other than Eric Alagan. He has written two novels (adult thrillers) and three business books (for SMEs). One of his books, Property Valuation – Secrets of the Roman Valuation Model – made the Sunday Times Bestseller List for eight consecutive weeks. As a teaser to what his new book, Code Shield, is all about, here is a review on it. Enjoy!
CODE SHIELD – A Peek Into Singapore’s Secret Services
So it is a pleasure to say a few words in celebration of CODE SHIELD – a book which challenges us as readers. And this is a real compliment – few books do this. It is hard to put CODE SHIELD down once we begin reading – at least for me this is true (and I must say that I am a fastidious and demanding reader). The author, Eric Alagan has to be congratulated on writing a book, a novel, which demands we put it alongside some other wonderful fictions dealing with cross-national issues, particularly in the world of crime and crooks. It is, admittedly, in the realm of popular fiction. And there is no need to be apologetic about this wonderful genre as millions of readers world-wide enjoy and derive a great deal of satisfaction following their heroes and heroines as they struggle to break the insidious underworld of gangs, treachery and intrigue.
CODE SHIELD touches on several themes, which dominate today’s globalized world: from the very start, we are made to enter – even penetrate – a world in which men and women often become pawns in the hands of those who manifest power and money. Drugs, human-trafficking, political crossing and double-crossing are just some of the issues which Alagan’s book treats with due diligence and sensitive complexity. There are many characters – as there must be when we engage with such huge international issues – and Alagan’s treatment of these characters underlines a humanity tinged with reality grounded in experience.
I do not wish to spoil anyone’s enjoyment by giving more of the book away. Suffice that here is a Singaporean novel, which will I believe, find its rightful place among some of the more popular titles in this large but challenging field of detective and crime fiction. I look forward to seeing more books come out from the pen – or computer – of our gifted writer- and one who is not afraid to try to break new ground.
Written by:
Kirpal Singh
Kirpal Singh is Director of the Wee Kim Wee Centre at the Singapore Management University. A poet, fictionist and critic, he is well-known speaker in the arena of Creativity, Innovation and the Future.
To register for the book club, kindly visit http://singaporebookcouncil.eventbrite.com/.
Admission is free. See you there!
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Project AFCC Wire
Posted: March 30, 2012 in NBDCSTags: afcc, afcc wire, books, children, Children's literature, Festival, journalism, Singapore, students
We are looking for student journalists to cover the Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2012. It will be a great opportunity to meet professionals from the literary world. Don’t miss out!
To sign up or for more information, please contact:
| Kenneth
Call: +65 6848 8292 Email: kenneth@bookcouncil.sg Web: www.afcc.com.sg
|
Faith
Call: +65 6846 6726 Email: faith@bookcouncil.sg
|
Have You Got A Story To Tell? Story-writing Contest
The Curriculum Planning and Development Division of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Academy of Principals (Singapore), is organising the Have You Got A Story To Tell? story-writing contest. The contest aims to provide all budding writers a platform to showcase their creativity in telling Singapore stories that are not only engaging but will help children understand and be proud of Singapore’s history, culture and folklore.
Writers whose works are selected will get to work with professional editors to refine their manuscript. Selected stories will also be published in a range of formats so that they can be enjoyed by children and be used as reading resources in the curriculum.
Stories must be of original material and must not have been previously published. Writers can choose to submit stories for the following age groups: 5 to 6-year-olds, 7 to 12-year-olds and 13 to 17-year-olds.
The closing date for submission is 31 May 2012 for the Open Category.
More information on the competition can be found on the Academy of Principals’ website, www.aps.sg/stories. Entries must be accompanied by the official entry form and submitted via email to stories@aps.sg. For clarification, please email stories_enquiries@aps.sg
The rise of the new media has changed the manner through which people consume content and information. Giants in the industry are changing their game plan to keep up. Just this past week the Encyclopedia Britannica has announced they will stop selling the print version and become fully digital. The method of book selling is changing too and so has the booksellers’ (and authors’) marketing strategies.
Book Marketing Expert and author of 1001 Ways to Market your Books, John Kremer, was here in Singapore to conduct a 2-day workshop on effective book marketing. The workshop was attended by authors, publishers, marketing executives, editors and others who were interested to learn the strategies of books and ebooks marketing.
Word of Mouth
In our increasingly digital world, relationships, whether personal or commercial, are formed and maintained in the World Wide Web. Large companies are using social media to connect to their target audience and sell their products. If you are a writer or publisher, your product would most likely be a book or an ebook.
So how do you rise above the cacophony in Facebook and Twitter and compete with other pages and websites to get your book noticed?
Treat it like an election: Appear, in person, to your target audience. Share your “cause” with them, which in this case is your book and its content. That’s not to suggest that you should hire a lorry and start driving around the neighborhood with loudspeakers blaring “I have a new book coming out – go and buy it!”. That might get you arrested.
But you should leave the relative comfort of your office, desk and computer, come out from behind your author profile and web persona, and meet face-to-face the people whom you want to sell your books to.
No one can remember every single tweet on their timeline but we do remember a person’s face and voice. Speaking to people, through talks, workshops or seminars, is a great way to leave an impression.
Author Denyse Tessehson, while doing research for an earlier book,discovered the late Errol Le Cain, a Singaporean illustator, animator and children’s books author. She was intrigued by his life and extensive body of work, and decide to devote a full book to him. Just last week, she shared some of her findings during a presentation at the NLB. and also announced that she is publishing a biography of him, and is looking for sponsors and support through pre-orders. Guess what? Several attendees at the presentation pledged their support in pre-purchasing copies of the book.
You believe in your book, the content you have created. And you know that once you convince people to open your book, they will love it. There’s no better way to persuade people to do so – get out there and speak. Such energy is contagious and someone in the audience will catch your fire. The audience may be small in the beginning but remember word travels!
A good way to begin would be to conduct school talks and speak at literary festivals. Be aware of what’s coming up on the calendar, and look out for platforms where you can be invited to speak. You can check out the Bookcouncil’s Facebook, Twitter and WordPress. We are constantly updating our social media platforms with events in the literary world.
To sum it up: speaking is a good and quick way to get it started!
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Digital Storytelling Workshop
Institute for Adult Learning, 1 Kay Siang Road, Tower Block Level 6, 21-23 March 2012, 9 am to 5 pm
CET Professionals (Adult Educators, Training Managers and HRD Professionals), training executives, and anyone who want to be refreshed and learn good skills and powerful ways to present your ideas – this is the workshop for you.
Digital Storytelling Asia and Institute for Adult Learning Singapore offer this workshop that will help participants produce a 1-2 minute video to powerfully communicate a personal story. Participants typically embark on 3 different journeys in this workshop – a material journey in which they will birth a product – their personal digital story; an inner journey in which they will gain clarity and ownership of something important to them; and a community journey, in which they will find friends and allies in places not looked for.
For more information, please contact Angeline Koh at (65) 97889245 or email info@digitalstorytellingasia.com or register at http://www.ial.edu.sg/iform.aspx?fid=102&cid=420
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Metaphors, Meanings, and My Story: A Storytelling Workshop
Kennel (Union Experience), Blk 8D Dempsey Road, #03-03/04. Map to 8D Dempsey Road (free parking). Dempsey Hill Free Shuttle Service Schedule, 24 March 2012, 9:30 am to 6 pm.
Every good product or business has a great story. This is an opportunity in one full day with Johnny Gillet, Angeline Koh and Carl Rognstad to discover your own story, the hidden power of metaphors and exploring both oral and digital techniques in the retelling of your own tale.
Johnny Gillet retells tales from the past, from distant lands and then weaves new myths to speak from his own life experience. Through stories, exercises, creative activities and lots of laughs, Johnny will enable participants to firstly identify their own true stories then marry them with their own natural metaphors. Angeline Koh and Carl Rognstad will introduce participants to the process of producing a one-minute video that powerfully communicate their personal story with their own voice and image/s. Participants will have a hands on experience developing Story, Voice, Digital Skills (iMovie/Movie Maker), Images, and Design.The event will end with a showcase of the stories created in the workshop.
For more information, please contact Angeline Koh at (65) 97889245 or email info@digitalstorytellingasia.com or register at http://digitalstorytellingasia.com/registration/
