A little history. When I was last in Malaysia, my martial arts teacher asked me to write a childrens book.
Yacob my teacher is an artist and a professional childrens book illustrator.
I wrote an imaginative piece called "The Sensai and Whitey."
Yacob didn't want to illustrate it.
I left it a while. my friend Tilo, a web designer has a father who likes to do cartoons. He did a graphic diary on his Asian holiday. It was good. Tilo put some of his work on his webpage:
http://www.backpackingasia.com/Article/Backpacking_in_Asia_an_introduction/14
His father, Claus has been kind enough to work on my project. Tilo has been overseeing his contribution.
It is my intention to publish this book and give the royalties to Charity.
So as to avoid any revenue coming to me, I have requested the charities open a Kindle account. They can upload the file. The revenue will go directly into their account.
Firstly, I was going to put the book with a local (Basildon Essex UK) charity. They were totally happy to accomodate me.
However, without going into details, I felt very uncomfortable with their constant political waffle.
I decided against using them. I then went to my local Citizens Advice Bureau. I used to work there. They were between managers and did not seem interested.
I then went to a local Hospice. They were very professional, and ethical. I was impressed. However, they did not feel comfortable opening into a contract with Kindle/Amazon.
They did however tell me that they would not be associated with a book that used the term "Whitey" as it could be misconstrued. Political correctness was important.
The first book was about Whitey, his mum (Sensai) and his sisters. Some hugging and kissing took place.
At this point I rewrote the book so that nothing can be misconstrued. It was an interesting process. I feel that Yacob would illustrate this version. He wanted to put it forward for the Malaysian education board for schools.
My new illustration team were less impressed! They, without asking me came up with their own storyline and illustrations!
It caused a little friction, and for a while I thought the book was still born!
My latest charity is not secular. I am sorry for this. However, I hope that any money generated is used for the good of everyone, not just fellow travellers in their belief system.
A few weeks ago I sent a letter to some Lotus contacts, making them aware I have written an Open Letter to Dr. Mahathir.
Dr. Mahathir is adviser to Proton/Lotus and Petronas.
http://motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com/index.php?id=31
It's been ten years since I first annoyed Lotus management with this proposal. Their inertia is amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment