Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Read Malaysia 2009

I was one of the speakers at the inaugural Read Malaysia fair held at MIECC, Mines Resort City. Though the journey was smooth sailing from Klang, once we hit Seri Kembangan, traffic was horrendous. It took us almost an hour to get through the final two kilometres leading to MIECC. The road leading into Mines was jammed up and since I was running late, I got out and walked the final lap of 300 metres. Luckily, a friend had kindly consented to drive me there or I would've been stuck for another fifteen minutes.

My topic was 50 Ways with Words - How to improve your English and have fun, too.



It was nice to have Theresa Lam (in white) in the audience. She was one of those whom I keep looking at during the talk. When speaking in public, it's helpful to establish eye contact with a couple of friendly faces in the audience and she couldn't have been more encouraging with her smiling countenance. She hosts the Reading Corner at Chan Fong's internet radio. (Chan Fong is a popular Chinese DJ. I've heard him on radio and seen some of his dramas. He's a natural.) Hop over to have a listen, Theresa's voice is beautiful and melodic.



Jenna Chan and her two boys came specially for my talk. Her eldest son, Jian Sheng (brown shirt), had a question on how to get a book published. He's only 11 and he's already writing a story book with four other friends. Way to go, boy! Who knows he might just be Malaysia's Christopher Paolini (of Eragon fame).



The crowd wasn't fantastic. Azizi Ali who came after me had all the chairs filled up. It must be the times. People are more interested in how to stay rich than improving their English. I listened to him for more than thirty minutes, then before my body could explode into a gooey green mess, I removed myself from the audience and stalked off to find my two kids who were roaming the hall for a good buy and some free reads (comic books).

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello, Wafflehour selling Crispy Waffle, Tasty Hotdog, Sweet Corn and any other products. Please come to visit our READ MALAYSIA food corner. Visit our website, wwww.wafflehour.com for more information.

lina said...

I was there with my family on Sunday. Must've missed your talk. :D

Didn't look at the program, anyway. Maybe people were too busy grabbing bargain books that day?

Krista Goon said...

Hi Lydia! Was googling for MIECC and found your blog. You are an inspiration - with 4 books tucked under your belt now. Wow. I think you are a natural at marketing your books too. How about letting me interview you about your book marketing techniques? ;-)

Lydia Teh said...

Hi Maya, thank you! Of course, you may interview me. Via email?

Lydia Teh said...

Lina, would've loved to meet you. The sound system is such that only those in the vicinity of the stage would know that there's a talk in progress.

Krista Goon said...

Lydia - Yup. Via email is good or even via chat on Google. Tell me which is good for you. I've known you for so long and I think you are spot-on with your marketing sense of how books can be marketed (innovatively and using today's tools). And it's such a pleasure to know you from those early days too! I am also curious about you unplugging from your Wordpress blog (sometimes I have that feeling too!). OK, let me email you and we can continue our little chat there.

Irenelim said...

Hi, frankly I haven't read any of your books... but those book titles sure are catchy and interesting! Haha.. next time I drop by a bookstore will surely check your books out!

Lydia Teh said...

Irene, thanks. Most of my readers love Honk! If You're Malaysian, so you might want to read that first.

r u m i n said...

I went there. Must've missed it. =(

Anonymous said...

Hi Lydia,

Nice to meet you. I'm one of the readers. I like your books so much. Can be saying that I've read almost all the books that written by you. I just know that your fifth book (Stretch your dollars and sense) has published on June and I was trying hard to get it but unfortunately it is not easy to get as my location is at oversea most of the time. So, would like to know where can I get book at Malacca area as the publisher is not MPH anymore. Thanks!

Regards,
Winnie

Lydia Teh said...

Hi Winnie, sorry for the late response as I only saw your comment today. Thanks for being a faithful reader of my books. Stretching your dollars and sense is available at Popular Bookstore. In Melaka, there's Tesco, Jusco and Plaza Melaka. Please let me know if you have trouble finding the book there.