For aspiring writers, getting their book noticed for publication is a big deal.

And getting published for the first time, by a notable publisher like Penguin Random House SEA, is a most coveted deal.

Malaysian artist, Kopi Soh managed to do this with her first fiction book titled, Looking After The Ashes: Old Wives’ Tales, Taboos, Supernatural And Childhood Superstitions.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

This is the first fictional writing by Kopi Soh as an author although she has previously written two books prior.

Her first two books, Oh, I Thought I Was The Only One!!  and Oh I Thought I Was The Only One 2 are in the self-help category, born out of research and writing as a professional counselor with a Masters’s in Psychology, Specializing in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling.

Many know Kopi Soh, firstly as a freelance artist, who creates healing art for terminally ill children.

She is also the founder of the Facebook community “Stick It To Me,” which mobilised volunteers to produce and share art as a way to uplift the spirits of the children and people at hospitals and welfare homes.

As it turns out, Kopi Soh’s latest work that adds fiction author to her resume has not been won by any fluke.

It is the result of more than 10 years of earnest intel gathering on writing and publishing a book.

Below is her interview with Eksentrika on how she managed to get the attention of numerous publishers and fulfill her dream of becoming a published author.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

We’ve known you first as a comic artist and now we learn you are a writer of interesting titles too! Tell us more about your books “Oh, I Thought I Was The Only One” and “Looking After the Ashes”

Oh, I thought I was the Only One, both children and adult versions, were born from the desire to help people feel less alone; to help keep them from committing suicide due to thinking they are the only ones suffering from their problems.

I remember reading in the newspapers about people committing suicide because of their school results, or loss of job, or failure in their relationships. It struck a chord in me, as I too have gone through a depressive stage when my father passed away suddenly.

I remember how difficult it was to dig myself out, how dark it was.

For Asian societies, especially,  there is a stigma around seeking counseling. I thought perhaps the next best way to reach these people would be through a book. For the kids’ version, I added EQ skills, teaching them how to deal with bullying in school, anger, sadness, grief, etc.

Looking After The Ashes is a compilation of stories that I used to tell my son when he was little.

He’s always been interested to know how it was “when I was a little girl”. So through this book, I shared snippets of what I grew up with. The different taboos, superstitious practices, Peranakan traditions, ghostly encounters, old wives tales, etc.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

How long did it take you to write each of your books and what was your process like?

The first two books were quite fast, less than a year. I think the first one was six months and the second was a tad bit longer.

Since the first two books are non-fiction it was more research and writing. I had been blogging for a long time so I used materials from my blog.

The second book was based on interviews I did with Malaysian children on what were the problems they faced and a book was developed from the feedback I got from these kids. I wanted specifically to help Asian children living in Asia.

As for Looking After The Ashes, it took an insane amount of time, more than 10 years. 😂

I was afraid to let the characters talk to me. I had to tap into the darkness to get to where the spirits are. (Not sure if that makes any sense).

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

How did you come about getting your first manuscript published by Penguin? Was it a cold email submission or perhaps you managed to get connected from someone working at Penguin?

It was a cold submission. I have been emailing various publishers and the manuscript had gotten accepted with at least 5 publishers before Penguin, but somehow due to one reason or another I just did not sign with them.

Being a noobie I also did not know that usually, manuscripts submitted by agents are more likely to be accepted.

What is the process like? Might you elaborate from the very first step to the last?
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• Step 1 – Do your homework – Google, ask friends for recommendations, join Facebook writers’ groups to get tips, spend time in the bookstore searching for books similar to yours and see who their publishers are.
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• Step 2 – Read the requirements of each publisher. Also, pay attention to the genre that they publish.
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• Step 3 – Email the first three chapters, a brief synopsis of my work to the publisher.
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• Step 4 – Wait.
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• Step 5 – Wait some more.
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• Step 6 – Hear back with acceptance or rejection.
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• Step 7 – Do whatever they ask you to do (e.g., expand manuscript, add chapters, trim down, etc).
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• Step 8 – Go back and forth with the editor and do all necessary edits.
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• Step 9 – Once all approved and final edits are done, that’s it, your heart is placed on a platter for the world to see.
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RELATED: How To Approach Literary Agents To Get Published Overseas?

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Tell us more about why you chose this strategy.

I send it to any and every publisher that I have googled or been recommended.

Yes,  I have very thick skin. What’s the worse that can happen? My manuscript gets rejected. Not the end of the world.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

What would you recommend about getting published with Penguin? Is it different from your experience of publishing your first two titles?

As of now, I do like how they handle things, I feel like I am in good hands.

They communicate well and they are understanding as far as deadlines and such. I feel that they listen well to my needs.

Is there anything in your publishing experience that was a challenge? How did you overcome this?

Publishing is not so much a challenge as marketing and selling books.

For my first two books, I was very lucky I was supported by many people in terms of sales.

Additionally, my aunt and cousin sponsored my books as a fundraiser for my alma mater Methodist Girls’ School, Penang.

YB Teresa Kok also sponsored my books for donation to different non-profit organizations.

Are there any costs involved in publishing and marketing your books? Can you share a range and breakdown of it if any?

My first two books did have printing costs. The cost of printing depends on how many books you print. The more books you print the cheaper the cost.

MPH was my distributor so basically, I did not do much marketing except to post on my Facebook.

Would you know if any criteria exist for writers to be able to get published by Penguin?

If there is I am not aware of anything other than the submission criteria they state on their website here.

How can other Malaysian writers try their hand at getting published? Any recommendations?

Just write, and write and write then submit your writing to publishers, for competitions, or call for papers, etc.

There are always tons of opportunities we just need to have the courage and the thick skin to submit them.

Speaking from personal experience, I started off having no experience; didn’t even know much about writing.

I didn’t know rules about story writing or any such thing but I just wrote what I knew.

I don’t use flowery language, I stick to what I know, which is basically simple language. My description of events is straightforward.

We are all continuously learning, there is no such thing as perfection so if you are waiting for your script or writing to be perfect before submitting it, you may never get published.

Just do the best you can and then if a publisher likes what they see they will guide you on what’s needed to make it better.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

You’ve been an anonymous in the local arts scene under this monicker “Kopi Soh” for a long while now, any chance we might soon get a reveal?

Haha, probably not any time soon. I love the freedom that anonymity affords me. But who knows, things can change.

What was it like publishing as an “anonymous” with Penguin? Did you have to go any extra miles to convince them?

Penguin was actually very amazing. They were very understanding, with no extra miles needed at all. Even my author photo is my Kopi Soh cartoon avatar. In the past I have been hired to do artwork by big companies like Julie’s biscuits, TMC Fertility, AsPaCC, Community Hospice, Empower Malaysia, Social Grooves, SAYS/8Share Malaysia, etc and they have never had an issue with me being anonymous. In 2013 I was the official illustrator for TEDxWeldQuay and they did not hesitate at all to hire me even though I was anonymous.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Copied and pasted from Eksentrika.

Looking After The Ashes: Old Wives’ Tales, Taboos, Supernatural And Childhood Superstitions is written by Kopi Soh and illustrated by Kulit Baru. The paperback copies are available for purchase at bookstores in the USA, UK, Canada after 15 September 2021. Due to pandemic restrictions, the availability of books in Malaysian bookstores has been delayed. You can however pre-order copies here, here and here or purchase online here.

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All images were supplied by Kopi Soh. Artworks by KULit. 

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