Silverfish Writing Programme for spring 2014 now open for registration

Silverfish Writing Programme for 15 February, 2014 now open for registration


The next intake for the Silverfish Writing Programme will be on Saturday, Feb 15, 2014, and will run for 10 consecutive weeks (except for holidays) from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Registration will open on Dec 1, 2013. The past few programmes have been extremely popular and we have had to turn away many late inquiries, because the maximum number of participants we can accommodate is 10 (ten). We have, to date, received 30 inquiries already. So we encourage those who are interested to register early and avoid the last minute rush. (Please, tell your friends who are interested, too.) The registration fee will be RM1000.00 per participant for the full ten week programme, but an early bird discount of 10% will apply until (and including) January 1, 2014.

The world is full of stories. Humans are the only storytelling animals on the planet. We may miss meals (ask your teenager buried in a book or your aunt or mum hooked on a television soap) but not our stories. Even in famine-stricken zones, while people wait for the food trucks to arrive, they tell one another stories to keep alive. In war zones, where life is in danger every single minute, people cannot resist telling stories. All religions have tons of stories that are constantly repeated. Stories are part of our very being, our claim to be human.

We are surrounded by stories every waking minute of the day. When we turn on our radio or television to listen to the news, or to watch a drama or sitcom or even a cooking show, when we open our newspapers or surf the net for news, when we go to the movies, to a dance, listen to a song, or look at a painting, when we go to the office, pitch a proposal to our boss, our clients, meet our co-workers when we relax over tea and gossip, or tell them about our day, or listen to their stories. When we read books, we read stories. And stories will make us laugh or cry, or be angry, and invoke dozens of other emotions. We will love characters, or we hate them. Good stories never leave us indifferent. We have a desperate need to tell stories in whatever form. That’s why some of us want to become writers: to tell our stories. But what do publishers want?

That's what the Silverfish Writing Programme is all about: what publishers look for.

READ MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAMME and REGISTER

Year-end offers -- 50% off

We have changed our site layout (again). (Yes, we have itchy fingers). We have decided to make the online bookstore the home page. Why? Because it comes with a nifty little slideshow and we thought it would be great for advertising. And it's FREE!

We know what it's like to be a small publisher. We certainly don't have huge budgets, and mainstream media often ignore us. So we're offering the space on our website 'home' page for book related advertisements for free for one week (renewable on request, subject to availability). So if you have a new book, or an offer or an event; send us a visual (550px by 250px -- landscape -- in png or jpg format, about 50k) and we'll put it up for you at no charge. Call it our small contribution to the book industry in Malaysia. (And hence the caveat; the ad-space is offered for books, offers, services or events pertaining to Malaysian writers, authors or publishers. Eg. a new book or event by Tash or Twan Eng will be welcomed, but not Fifty Shades. Fair? Ah, yes, one more thing. The book or offer must be available at Silverfish Books.)

To celebrate the new website and year end, we are offering 50% off (yes, 50 % off) on all titles three Inspector Mislan titles by Rozlan Mohd Noor and the three books by Isa Kamari. You'll have to pay for the postage, of course, but if you are a resident of Malaysia that will come up to RM12.00 for up to 3 kilos! That is, it will cost you RM8.00 for one book, or up to 10 books if it's like Rawa (and fewer for others). Please check the postage online before you order. Since you can mix and match (and kongsi with friends) you can save yourself a bundle. Of course, if you want to pick it up from the shop then you save the whole lot on postage. There are no limits as to how many you can order (or who can order), but it will be subject to the availability of stock. So enjoy.