KUCHING: Local Iban writer, Veronica Chendang sold over 600 copies of her book entitled ‘Redak Seribu’ in six months throughout Malaysia and in Singapore.
The good sales have inspired her to write another book about life.
Since 2015, Veronica, who originated from Bintulu, has been working part-time online as an e-Book Marketing Officer for the International Market (IM).
She is now completing her second book entitled ‘Mencari Cinta’.
She said Redak Seribu was the first book that she wrote in English and that it took her about five months to finish — from writing to publication.
“The inspiration came suddenly. I had never thought of publishing a book before. It all started with an acquaintance on Facebook who suggested that I write a book,”
“My friend, Nasrullah Amranin Selangor, guided me a lot,” she revealed.
Veronica said she did not expect to receive such a positive response to the book from the readers in Peninsular Malaysia who were unfamiliar with the term “Redak Seribu”.
Perhaps, this had piqued their interest to know more about the story, she said.
Challenges and hardships
Self-publishing her book was a great challenge to Veronica, especially in terms of layouts and graphic designs.
“I also came up with the capital to produce the book myself,” she added.
She confessed that one of the difficulties she faced was lacking ideas to write. She said she took weeks to come up with fresh ideas.
As a newcomer to the world of writing, competing with well-known writers was also a great challenge, added Veronica.
“I thought readers will not be interested to buy a book if the author is not well-known.
“It turned out that I was wrong. My first book was well received in the market,” she said.
The fate of Redak Seribu
Her book is on sale in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak as well as Singapore for RM18 a copy. So far, Veronica has sold 200 copies.
“It can be found in Popular Bookstore, Hasani, Kinokuniya KLCC, and SMO bookstores. It is also available online on Shopee.
“Besides that, my friends also helped me a lot in terms of e-book sales and thanks to business knowledge and Internet through digital technology; this book can be sold online.
“Hopefully, by the end of this year or early 2022, I will be publishing my second book entitled “Finding Love”.
“I still use the same genre, which revolves around life and is interspersed with love stories,” said Veronica.
Encouraging youth to read
Veronica urged youth to cultivate an interest in reading books.
“Reading makes our brain active, improves our knowledge and enhances our imagination.
“Reading is one way we can sharpen our vision because the more we read, the sharper our memory is,” she said.
Veronica added that reading made a person’s life more productive because the time spent on reading would not be wasted.
“A book can influence our minds, actions and attitudes for the better,” she said.
