Friday 2 March 2012

Books on The Early Malay Doctors

How many books are there?
So far to date, there are only 2 English titles for hardcopy and 2 English titles for softcopy. All are in the process of manuscript submission.

Printed books:
(i) Research on The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore - FAR/Xlibris (submitted)
(ii) Biography of The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore - FAR/Xlibris (in prep)

e-books:
(iii) Research on The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore - FAR/Xlibris (automatic when i is ready)
(iv) Biography of The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore - FAR/Xlibris (automatic when ii is ready)

Are there more books on the topic?
Initially yes but now no. The idea of a coffee-table book and a pocket guidebook have to go.

Coffee-table book:
Glimpses of The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore - FAR (abandoned)

Pocket guidebook:
Pocket guide on The Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore - FAR (abandoned)

Will there be Malay versions of the books?
No. If somebody wants to translate the book(s) into Malay, the format must be different and cannot be the same as the English version(s), or they will compete for sales.

Will I translate my books into Malay?
I have not given a thought about translation. I don't know literary Malay to be able to translate my own books into beautiful good Malay.

501451 Work behind the scene & Updates: Biography of the Early Malay Doctors




Book Title
BIOGRAPHY OF THE EARLY MALAY DOCTORS 1900-1957 MALAYA AND SINGAPORE
Author: Faridah Abdul Rashid

Total no. pages: 982
Book dimensions: 6" x 9" x 2.1"

Description of contents:
This book contains 43 biographies of the early Malay doctors. The biographies take a womb-to-tomb approach for each doctor. Family history is also included where there is information about the ascendants and descendants of these doctors. This brings the book into reaching farther back into our history. The setting for writing is from 1905 when the Straits and Federated Malay States Government opened the medical school in Singapore, till 1957 when Malaya gained its independence (Merdeka). However, a few doctors were born before the turn of the 19th Century (late 1800s). Their fathers either came to Malaya or they were born in Malaya. Most of the early doctors were the third, fourth or fifth generation of migrant families in Malaya. There is a lot to be learned about our past medical history, the biographies of the early doctors, and their ascendants.

Cover (10 Sept 2012)


Copyright © 2012 by Faridah Abdul Rashid.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012915816
ISBN 13: Softcover   978-1-4771-5994-1
ISBN 13: Hardcover 978-1-4771-5995-8
ISBN 13: eBook       978-1-4771-5996-5

Website:
http://www2.xlibris.com/books/webimages/wd/anz/501451/
(temporary link)

http://www.earlymalaydoctors.net
(this is the official website till Sept 2013)

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/EarlyMalayDoctors


Please check at Amazon. At Amazon, the price is in US Dollars.


- WORK BEHIND THE SCENE -

Update 7 Feb 2012
This book contains 43 biographies which were mostly prepared from primary sources (unpublished sources). The first biography I completed was for Dr Abdul Latiff bin Abdul Razak, our first Malay doctor on record. The last biography I completed was that of Dr Haji Abbas bin Haji Alias. The longest biography is that of Dr Haji Abbas bin Haji Alias (at 28 pages). Most biographies are approx. 10-15 pages. There are 3 very long biographies - Dr Haji Abbas bin Alias, Tan Sri Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin and Dr Ariffin bin Ngah Marzuki. The longest time I took to completely write a biography was that of Tan Sri Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin - I took 2.5 years to complete it. He passed away the very day his biography was ready. It is actually his autobiography as he wrote it; I merely typed it for him and re-drew the illustrations for him. He wrote in his own handwriting. The credit goes to him.

The only doctor who does not have a graduation date is Dr Ally Othman Merican (Dr AO Merican). No published works on him (there are only 4 published records on him) ever stated the date of his graduation. I worked it out that he graduated before 1925 as his biodata was published in The Who's Who in Malaya 1925 and he stated his MBBS in his biodata, but without a date. I guess his MBBS was in 1924 as it would take 1 year to submit to Who's Who for publication.

This big book is a resource for the families and I hope the families concerned will be happy. I will take a last look at the prepared manuscript, write a cover letter, and then submit.  

Update 21 Feb 2012
I have written to the University of Hong Kong to ask for clarification for the date of Dr AO Merican's MBBS. No reply yet. 

Update 23 Feb 2012
I'm still working on the 43 separate biographies. They will need to be merged as one manuscript for submission.
I'm going through each manuscript and picking out the abbreviations to go in a List of Abbreviations.
I'm also writing to Arkib Negara for the photos that were not sent last year. Arkib has a new director now. Will pick up from where we left off.
The photos for Tun Dr Ismail have arrived today.
I submitted a new request for the photos of Tan Sri Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin, to add to the photos he gave me before he died. I still do not have a portrait of him (I cropped his old photo to make him a portrait for a head photo).

Update 28 Feb 2012
List of Abbreviations is done.
I have written the Dedication page.
The Foreword was written by Coco in 2007.
I have written the Acknowledgement.
The TOC/Content will be prepared by Xlibris.
I have made the List of Contributors.
I have prepared 2 important tables. One is the Chronology of Historical Events in Malaya and Singapore 13th Century - 2011. The other is Milestones in Medicine in Malaya and Singapore 1900-2011.
I have written the Epigraph.
I am still not sure which photo to use for Frontispiece. I would like to use a photo of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) if anyone has a high-resolution photo and is willing to contribute. Otherwise I have 3 photos to decide - a photo of Kg Gelam, Singapore; a photo of the electric lamps inside Masjid Sultan, Singapore; a photo of Glasgow Royal Infirmary (if the owner allows it). I have already used the photo of King Edward VII College of Medicine for the Frontispiece in the small book.
I have prepared a short Author's Biography for the rear/inside cover.
I still have to prepare a Preface, Introduction, List of Tables, List of Figures and List of Photographs.
I don't have a map of Malaysia or Singapore.
I have removed all photos from the manuscript that will be sent separately from the photos (450+).
I still have to merge the 43 biographies (minus images) into one large document.
I have to prepare the Index myself first.
Xlibris will prepare its own Index based on what I submit.
Then I submit my manuscript and photos. That's it.

Update 3 March 2012
I'm preparing a Glossary for the book. The terms are taken from the footnotes. As far as I know, there is no limit to the # of footnotes for the book. I have removed some of the footnotes and converted them into terms & text in the Glossary, which is better.
I have re-done 3 difficult chapters which contain excerpts and images from newspapers, etc. I have removed them and replaced them with my own words/text. I have also removed the copyrighted images. I have written to the newspapers to ask and they demanded a high price (eg RM500 for a picture, and some cost more). That way the book remains affordable for me to make. The 3 chapters are that of Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Tan Sri Salma bte Ismail and Dr MJ Che Lah.
I have re-designed the book cover with more appropriate text/wordings. I have added a useful comment from YBhg Tawfik Tun Dr Ismail, on the rear cover.
I have liaised with Arkib Negara Malaysia for continued checks on documents and images of some of the early Malay doctors. Since this takes time, I will include changes/images in future editions. I will proceed with whatever I have at the time of 2012 submission.
I now have 43 biographies to merge and submit to Xlibris. Once I submit, I will not do anymore changes. This is made clear by Xlibris. I hope everyone understands the constraints.
I will check all the Preliminary/Front Pages before I merge all into one large document for submission.
My manuscript will join a queue and that can be very long now at Xlibris.
It will take many months for the manuscript to pass screening for content and for it to be copyedited. Xlibris indicated it may take a few weeks, or maybe up to 6 months.
I have to prepare the Index for my book.
Xlibris Indexing team will prepare the Index for the book,
I will inform when I submit the manuscript for the Big book.

Update 7 April 2012
I have combined 43 biographies into one big manuscript (minus images) as required by Xlibris for manuscript submission online. I'm still arranging images for biographies 32 to 43 (last 10 biographies). There are 400+ images. Some images are not of the required resolution (ie min 300dpi). Xlibris may choose to reject those images which are less than 300dpi as they will not make the 'picture standard' for the proposed book. I plan to submit next week, before 13 April 2012 as I have to go to Penang on 13 April 2012 for a workshop on teaching methodologies.

Update 26 April 2012
The Lost Work?
At about 6 pm today, while I was working on my draft at USM, I lost my 600 pages of text and pictures which I wanted to submit today for printing.
What happened was the MS Word that I was using could not cope. I think I must have busted the program altogether.
I will take a look again tonight and see what I can recover of that 600 pages.
I will then write to Microsoft and see what they can do about their program.
Pray that things will be ok.

Update 27April2012
Recovered Work
Microsoft Word (the program) is what I use for  writing. It has a defect (built-in) that gives writers a scare. This is an account of what happened, what I did to recover my work and the status of writing.
26 April 2012 (After Asar, 6 pm) As I was typing, a MS Word error message appeared suddenly on the screen. It says "Microsoft has stopped working". Then it shuts down - all the open MS Word windows closed. Up comes another query window asking for my next move.  I answered to the effect of 'do an Autorecovery and use a Normal template". Hope was all I had.
26 April 2012 (After Maghrib, 8.29 pm) I checked to see if I still had anything recovered. There were 3 MS Word documents in the working file:-
1) Manuscript 2.11MB
2) Copy Manuscript with images 102MB; it stalled at page 410 of 600.
3) Biography of one the early Malay doctors (Dr Mohamed Noor bin Marahakim).
There were 3 documents that needed to be saved from the above Autorecovery process.  So I saved the 3 opened documents and went on with typing as usual. When I saved, it displays "Word is saving Copy Manuscript with images" in the bottom menu bar.
26 April 2012 (After Isya', 11.48 pm)After some amount of typing, the same thing happened - "Microsoft has stopped working". All the MS Word documents closed and disappeared. The same query window asked what I wanted to do next: "Will automatically save it to normal doc. template. Do you want to save it?" I clicked Yes and saved all the opened documents. It displays "Saving AutoRecovery file Copy Manuscript with images". Other times it says "Word is Saving Copy Manuscript with images".
I continued typing till I had transferred all images into the text-only manuscript. This is a big document and needs a lot of RAM. I had installed sufficient RAM when I bought my laptop. To make things easy, I closed all the other programs and documents and only the big manuscript was on my screen.
27 April 2012 (After midnight, 1.15 am)I printed a PDF of the 598 pages (222,609 words) = 42MB (minus front Cover, Content, Index, and back Cover). I checked everything else was in order and then went to sleep at 2.30 am.
27 April 2012 (After breakfast, 10.22 am)I haven't checked to see what happened to my full manuscript (DOC and PDF).
I will need to check all the sub-titles for all the 43 biographies and also the footnotes (that they all use Times Roman font 10 pt; some are still Trebuchet 10pt). I also need to remove sensitive info. Lastly, I need to re-do the Preface. Then I can submit to Xlibris for copy-editing (proof-reading), etc.

27 April 2012
Manuscript Submitted
Manuscript for the second book was submitted on 27 April 2012. The submitted title is Biography Biographies of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore. No. of pages submitted 599.

I have submitted my full manuscript to Xlibris for checking content and for copy-editing.
I submitted 214.1MB of files to **Rey.Barnes [a] Xlibris.com**
I sent big files & zip files (max 300MB)
Now I wait for Xlibris to reply.

These are the files I uploaded to sendspace server (www.sendspace.com):-
501451 Manuscript FAR 27April2012, 2.312MB (DOC)
Copy of 501451 with images-signed 43.018MB (PDF)
501451 Summary (17KB)
501451 Author biography 27April2012 (27KB)
501451 Inside images - files 1-43 (421 images (photos), 42MB)
501451 Frontispiece
501451 Alternative frontispiece
501451 3 Maps
501451 Bookmark 27April2012
501451 Book cover
Submitted title: Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore
Manuscript is approx. 600 pages.
Content checking takes 1-2 weeks.
Copy-editing takes 2-6 months.
Printing: target after Aidilfitri, by October 2012 (insyaAllah) - will update

Marketing matters:
Marketing costs AUD$5,999 for a 1-minute trailer, Ad Singapore, and representation at 2 international book fairs - in Beijing and Frankfurt.

Book Fair PWTC 2012 - tak sempat
Beijing International Book Fair - ?
Frankfurt International Book Fair - ?

Update 19 May 2012
Rey Barnes (Xlibris) emailed she DID NOT receive my manuscript for the second book (Book 2). She asked when I submitted to sendspace. She mentioned the sendspace server had problems.
I checked my sendspace account and half my files have disappeared from the server. I emailed 2 links to Rey Barnes (the manuscript with images in PDF and the one without images). I also emailed her whatever files that are still there. I checked updates on sendspace and the messages said there was an attack by a Trojan (someone had uploaded a Trojan to sendspace, then the Trojan destroyed a lot of files). I'm now re-uploading the missing files and then will email her a link for her IT staff to download. I'm using a sendspace wizard as it is faster and a lot easier. This wizard is an ftp (file transfer program).

Update 5 June 2012
Sam Daniels (Xlibris) emailed to inform she is the representative for copy-editing (proof-reading) and indexing (to create the index). The copy-edited manuscript will be ready before/by 16 July 2012. Please take note that I will still need to review the copy-edited manuscript and edit or update (which takes at least a month). When the manuscript is finalised, it goes to another department for layout and formatting, and have the images inserted. The covers will be designed by Xlibris (Xlibris will take 1-2 months). The PDF of both documents (now called galleys) will be sent to me for review and comments (I will need at least a month to check). When both documents (covers and inside pages) are finalised, they go to printing.

Update 8-11 June 2012
Rey Barnes (Xlibris) called on 8 June 2012 but I was out in Kota Bharu and forgot to bring my handphone as my husband was using it the night before. I missed her call but read her email later in the evening, and responded. She asked to send the Index which I had signed and promised in my letter of undertaking for this book. I did not send it earlier with the rest of the manuscript and photos as it was not ready and I did not have time to create it. Now I have some time (yesterday, today and tomorrow, insyaAllah). I have made the Index but it is incomplete. I will work on it some more and see if I can prepare a good and useful Index for the big book. I will try to send it in when it is ready, insyaAllah, so the copy-editors can get to work ASAP.

Update 12-26 June 2012
I prepared the Index for the big book. While preparing the Index, I also had to edit the text so that the entries in the Index can be proper (with indents) and duplication omitted. I have not used the indented Index format before so I had to learn that by trial and error, and familiarize myself with that. When that was ok, I prepared the Index using the indented format. For indenting the entries, I just needed to use the colon, however, the terms before the colon must be identical in spelling, font and spacing. Copy & paste technique from Notepad into MS Word will not work as the font for the apostrophe is counted as being different, and therefore a different entry altogether. This created a lot of confusion. It took a lot of skills to spot differences between supposedly identical entries but showed up as a different entry in the Index. I was very annoyed working on the Index. I just wanted to omit it and get on with publishing. But because Rey Barnes at Xlibris had told me fiction books don't have index, only non-fiction books have index, so I had to work on the index, like it or not. Working on the Index alone took a lot of time - it wasted time actually. I made the Index in approx. 2 weeks. It came out ok in the end, Alhamdulillah. I listed mostly names of people in the book. For each person, I indented and highlighted the important things or achievement, DOB, DOD, wife and children where relevant, and if there is information. I also indexed all the states (negeri) and indented the events for each state. That way readers can search by states (negeri). That I think should suffice and be useful for searching contents in the printed book. I think the ebook should have a search function and therefore the index is not that necessary for ebook. I submitted a full manuscript (text and Index, ~677 pages of A4, and 874 footnotes) to Rey Barnes (Xlibris) on 26 June 2012. It will take approximately 2-6 months to get back the copyedited manuscript, depending on the queue at Xlibris. I was told I cannot jump the queue.

Update 27 June 2012
Rey Barnes (Xlibris) wrote back after she received my manuscript (with the Index). She said it is better to wait for the copyedited manuscript to be returned to me and request the editors to incorporate the new changes I have made in the manuscript that I have just submitted yesterday (the one with the index). Also the editors may get confused if they start to incorporate the new changes now. She had cc my email to Sam Daniels who is managing the copyediting service for my book. Sam Daniels will pass the Index that I prepared to the Indexer (yet another dept). It seems that there are so many depts involved in publishing my book, and here I am working all by myself, preparing all the pages, from front cover to back cover - I must be a CPU! Rey Barnes said the copyedited manuscript is ready 27 June 2012 or day after. Sam Daniels informed me that I will get my copyedited manuscript on 16 July 2012, or around that date. So I have to wait 2 weeks to hear back from Xlibris. They have SOP to follow and ISO to adhere to. I won't be surprised if it takes 1 year to complete the editing process, which includes bouncing the manuscript back and forth between the author and Xlibris until both sides are happy that the manuscript has been edited and well-edited. I still believe nothing and no document is ever error-free. There's bound to be errors even as the galley goes to press and print. Nothing is ever perfect.

Update 19 July 2012
I received the copy-edited manuscript from Sam Daniels. It looks really good. The Index is simpler than the one I submitted. I reviewed and added a new chunk for Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin's siblings and their photos, plus update from Raja Adley Paris re Maxwell Manuscript 25. I re-submitted the manuscript (text only) to Sam Daniels. I submitted the photos to Rey Barnes.

Update 31 July 2012
I received the corrected copy-edited manuscript for the second time. I reviewed and edited the tables (removed page column), appendix 6, glossary (definitions for O&G and orthopaedics) and index (Abdul Razak Hussain --> Abdul Razak bin Hussein). I re-submitted to Sam Daniels + approval form for copy-editing and indexing. I also sent the 2 USM logos. All 4 files were sent via sendspace. I asked to proceed to production. Production means: layout, make the inside pages and covers, insert the text and photos in order, make the contents page, make the index, make the copyright page, apply for ISBN, prepare the Press Release Statement, etc.

Update 15 August 2012
This is the email campaign advertisement (EMC Ad) prepared by Xlibris for the main book, which I received late last night, and which I edited. I have no date when the book will be out as I have not seen the galley yet (being prepared). Hopefully this book can be out by Aidiladha, insyaAllah.

501451 EMC Ad
Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore
by Faridah Abdul Rashid

Faridah Abdul Rashid fills in an important gap in Malayan history with her treatise on early Muslim doctors who worked in British Malaya (now Malaysia), Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. In no wise does her book neglect faith in favour of the secular nature of modern medicine. Thus, while Biography of the Early Malay Doctors (from 1900-1957) is a chronicle of doctor graduates from King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, it is also a study in the interaction of faith and healing as these doctors practised grassroots rural medicine to reach “the bottom billion.”
- Xlibris Corporation


Update 16 August 2012
This is the Press Release Campaign advertisement (PRC Ad) for my main book (501451), which was prepared by Xlibris. I received it this morning in the email, edited it and sent it back to Australia. The campaign includes about 124 Book Review Editors and about 5 Australian Producers, including TV and radio stations. There weren't any Malaysian, Singaporean or Southeast Asian ones listed. Please KIV this ad should you wish to promote my book. The date for release of the book (publication date) is still unknown since I have not picked a date yet. The ISBNs are as provided in the ad. At this point in time, I am waiting to see the galley and book cover. Xlibris still has to file for the US Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) for my book, to enable my book to enter the US market and be able to sell on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Still a long way to go. InsyaAllah, the book will be out.


TQ
Faridah
---
501451 PRC Ad
Contact: Marketing Services
1-800-618-969
MarketingServices@Xlibris.com.au

Xlibris
Suite 1A, Level 2, 802 Pacific Highway, Gordon NSW 2072


501451 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Book on Malay Medical Pioneers Takes Up Their Role in Shaping National History
Faridah A. Rashid chronicles the few good men who practised medicine in obedience to Islam to reach the “bottom billion” of their suffering masses

KELANTAN, Malaysia – (Release Date TBD) – Faridah Abdul Rashid fills in an important gap in Malayan history with her treatise on early Muslim doctors who worked in British Malaya (now Malaysia), Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. In no wise does her book neglect faith in favour of the secular nature of modern medicine. Thus, whileBiography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore is a chronicle of doctor graduates from King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, it is also a study in the interaction of faith and healing as these doctors practised grassroots rural medicine to reach “the bottom billion.”

The doctors in this book were the first Malayans and Singaporeans to practise modern medicine. Yet there were less than 60 of them from 1911 to 1957 before Merdeka or Malayan independence. Their significance lies in their providing the groundwork for the Malaysian health system, which is numbered among the world’s most enlightened and progressive health programmes. The said doctors built prayer rooms in hospitals for patients as well as immunized patients.

Another vital part of the history of these medical pioneers was the belief of many people in their capabilities to lead, not just in helping provide good health. Thus, beyond faith and medicine, they were obliged to lead in the political enlightenment of their people. Some of them were stalwarts of the Malaysian independence movement.

The Malaysian health system today operates with a big budget, but it started out with a group of people who became part of the agency of humanitarian change for their suffering masses. The system still proudly practises this part of their history today.

For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.au.

About the Author
Faridah Abdul Rashid was born in Malacca, Malaysia. She grew up and attended schools in Malaysia and completed the Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE) in 1975. She attended universities overseas and holds a double BA in Microbiology (with distinction) and Chemical Sciences from California State University (1980), MSc in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside (1982) and PhD from the University of Western Australia, Perth (1990). She has received prestigious financial, academic and merit awards locally and internationally. She is a lecturer in biochemistry at the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan in Malaysia. Her teaching career began in 1982. She has taught medical biochemistry to medical undergraduates and postgraduates in addition to medical laboratory technologists and nurses. Drawing on her passion in local history and zest in computers, she was compelled to teach subjects pertaining to medical bioethics, history of medicine and research on telehealth.


Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore* by Faridah Abdul Rashid
Publication Date: TBA
Trade Paperback; $XX.xx; # pages; 978-1-4771-5994-1
Trade Hardback; $XX.xx; # pages; 978-1-4771-5995-8
eBook; $XX.xx; 978-1-4771-5996-5
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at 1-800-618-969. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (02) 8282-5055 or call 1-800-618-969.

Xlibris books can be purchased at Xlibris bookstore. For more information, contact Xlibris at 1-800-618-969 or on the web at www.Xlibris.com.au.

Update 27 August 2012
501451 cover
I have chosen this cover over an alternative one.
This is the cover for book Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore. This book contains 964 pages (the dimensions are in the image). The ISBNs were in a previous post and are re-posted below. I have completed editing the manuscript today and will submit the corrections to my printer. 10 images for Tan Sri Dr Raja Ahmad Noordin are still missing and I will need to re-send. Once everything is ok, this book should be out in 2 months, hopefully by Aidiladha, InsyaAllah. Pray hard.

Copyright © 2012 by Faridah Abdul Rashid.
Library of Congress Control Number: Pending
ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4771-5995-8
Softcover 978-1-4771-5994-1
Ebook 978-1-4771-5996-5

Update 10 Sept 2012
501451 cover & SIA
The first version of the back cover had a big photo of me and the tassel looked a bit funny. I requested a change and requested for a bigger portrait for the back cover. This is the new cover design.

Cover (10 Sept 2012)

This design is also used to print the Single Item Accessories (SIA) which include 5 posters, 50 picture postcards, 50 business cards and 50 bookmarks. It will take 4-5 weeks for printing the SIA and an additional 5-7 work days for the printers to mail them to me. The SIA is printed in USA.

Update 26 September 2012
Michael Velazquez replaces Rey Subs Barnes as my Book Representative at Xlibris. Rey left Xlibris. Mike is now in-charge of my book (501451 Biography of the Early Malay Doctors 1900-1957 Malaya and Singapore). Mike helped incorporate the corrections which I had sent to Rey. I had to re-send the (13) photo links from sendspace to Mike (for the production team).

Update 28 September 2012
I received the corrected 501451 Interior Galley but it still had some errors in the captions and INDEX. Some captions were discontinuous. The INDEX had wrong entries or multiple entries for the same person. I submitted a new set of corrections for the 501451 Interior Galley. They were for the captions and INDEX. They were incorporated by the Xlibris production team the same day and Mike returned me the corrected 501451 Interior Galley a second time.

Update 29 September 2012
Since all the needed corrections have been incorporated, the book is good to go. I signed and approved the Galley Approval Form for my book (501451), dated 29 September 2012, and emailed it to Mike. Mike's email auto-reply indicated he had already left his Sydney office and would be back on Tuesday, 2 October 2012.

Update 3 October 2012
I received a parcel (brown box) containing the Single Item Accessories (SIA) for my book (501451). They are bookmarks (50 pcs), postcards (50 pcs) and business cards (50 pcs).

Update 4 October 2012
Mike received my Galley Approval Form. About the book (501451), he said, "Your book has already been publication completed and you should be receiving your initial print anytime from now." So now I wait for my Author's Copy.

Update 21 October 2012
I wrote earlier to inform Mike that I have not received my Author's Copy of my book (501451). Mike replied today that my book (501451) is being printed. That's 17 days already. I'm still waiting for my Author's Copy, before I can approve for mass printing and distribution to the various outlets (Amazon and B&N, etc).

Update 5 November 2012
I wrote to Scott Perry to inform him that I had not received my Author's Copy of my second book (501451 Biography of the Early Malay Doctors). That's 1 month already. I'm still waiting for my Author's Copy, before I can approve for mass printing and distribution to the various outlets (Amazon and B&N, etc).

Update 21 November 2012
Scott Perry sent the retail prices for the paperback and hardcover versions, and the discount rates for both (author rates only). I preordered 100 copies of paperback. Scott Perry added 20 free copies as I have ordered before the offer ends at end of November 2012. I paid for the books by credit card. The printer (based in UK) will send the books in one shipment via air express courier (DHL). I should be getting the author copy first in December 2012. If I'm happy with the author copy, I must inform Scott Perry, who will in turn inform the printer to print my books. I should be getting my books in December 2012 or later. The book should appear at the various sites (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Xlibris) in December 2012 or later.

Update 27 November 2012
Michael Velasquez informed "... we have already processed your author copy". Lorena Luy informed "We have decided to process replacement order for your 2nd book’s Author Copies. [....] Please be reminded that it will normally take an average of 10 business days for the printing plus 3 to 8 business days for the shipping. An email confirmation will be sent to you as soon as tracking information have been generated." Content Distributors informed: "Attached is the confirmation of your recent order with Content Distributors, Inc. Your order should arrive within 1-2 weeks, depending on shipping method selected. You will receive a tracking number for your order once your book is printed and shipped. It takes 2-3 days to print paperbacks and 7-9 days to print hardcover books."

Update 29-30 November 2012 (midnight)
Yanie Cortes informed the PR has been sent (faxed) to 106 organisations including 15/16 in Malaysia and 3 in Singapore. The rest are in Australia. The set price for the book is AUD$39.99 for paperback and AUD$59.99 for hardcover. I have  permitted others to use the PR, book image, and my portrait to promote my book.

Update 30 November 2012
Author copy of the book was shipped out today.

Update 3 December 2012
I received 2 paperback author copies today at lunch time via DHL. The book is also now available at Amazon.

Please check at Amazon. At Amazon, the price is in US Dollars.
http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Doctors-1900-1957-Malaya-Singapore

Update 6 December 2012
I received 2 hardcover author copies today at lunch time via DHL. I wrote back to Scott Perry to ask to proceed with printing the 180 copies. It will take 1-2 weeks.

Prof Faridah