All I can say is HALLELUJAH, all glory to our God and Lord Jesus!

 

I have a testimony to share with regards to the Chinese edition of "Same God, Different Stories." It is simply amazing! 

        I have never seen something as low the cost of books as this. This helps me to understand how the American publishers are able to print a few hundred thousand copies and still breakeven, and make money for every title they launch.   

        The cost of most books that I print, due to the smaller number of copies per print run, is usually  high. But, in the case of this Chinese edition, God has made it possible for it to be printed at very low cost! 

        In my opinion, this is also because the owners of Akitiara themselves are Christians and they understood the reason for the book. In fact, after factoring in the cost of translation, the cost per book is ridiculously lower than the cost of RM2.11 that I mentioned earlier. 

        It is now at RM1.91 per copy. This is also partly because I have paid for the other costs of production and we are only using the same template to do the Chinese edition.

Never Happened Before

        This is the first time I am printing 7000 copies of any book that I have written. If anyone is thinking I am making tonnes of money out of this `labour of love', I am personally forking out RM1000 from my publishing fund to pay for the books in order to keep stock and sell later. 

        Sorry, those who want the books later, they will have to pay based on the market price and they can either get them from the bookshop or from me directly. Since this arrangement is a one-off print run, unless there is a second print-run of 7000 copies, the price of RM1.91 per copy would be impossible! 

        To be honest, the whole project was nearly derailed as the initial response from the few Chinese churches I had contact was rather lukewarm. Despite offering it to them the rights to translate, publish and circulate the books either at cost or at a reasonable price, there was no response.  

        Meanwhile, a sister whose story is featured in the book said that her friends were asking for the Chinese edition. I was already saying, "No, we will not proceed with the printing," but if this book was to be ready before Chinese New Year, I had to organise - and even pay for the cost of -- the translation first. 

        I would then charge it back to the churches. But, I was still dragging my feet over it, because utilising the publishing fund for this project would mean I will not have enough budget to publish another two books. 

        God turned things around when a brother-in-Christ from Penang offered to fund the translation. It was with this that I decided to publish the Chinese edition although I can hardly read Mandarin! 

        After getting the quotation from the printer, I was laughing to myself. If we could only reach 5000 copies, the translation fee could be costed into each book for only 20 sen per copy! And, it would still cost RM2.11 a book.

        The brother who generously offered to fund the translation can then use the money for his other ministry work or I could utilise the money for the printing of more books so that he could give away to people within his circle of contact. 

        It is such a wonderful conclusion to this whole thing: I get the translation work done and paid for, the brother gets the books to give away to people in Penang whom he has been feeding and churches get the Chinese edition for only RM1.91 a copy!  

        This is simply so amazing! I can only say, Praise the Lord! 

Two Ladies Responded, then their Pastor 

        By now, we already had two translators' work being assessed by an independent person, one Bro Ng Mun Hong, who used to work with Bridge Communications. He was recommended by Sister Angie Ng from Sea Park Baptist. 

        Of course, initially, I viewed the comments as 'biased' since Bro Mun Hong also does translation himself. Not able to read Mandarin myself, I was at a loss as to how to assess (now) the work of all three translators now. As a writer, I know each has his own strength. Some translators are good at non-fiction stories, others are better at translating more formal documents. 

        When I was in my despair, God reminded me of Datin Thun Kooi Lan, who was the principal of my son's primary school. I was initially reluctant to approach her as she has long retired from teaching and may be busy with her grandchildren. 

        Yet, the moment I approached her, her response was very fast. 

        She reverted to me that she thinks the third translator's work was the best of the three. I have to depend on her independent assessment. 

        Anyway, the translators' work was labelled based on alphabets, Translator A, Translator B and Translator C. When she picked C, I knew this was the third translator, Bro Mun Hong. 

        Mun Hong took up the job although he knew it was going to be a rush job. Thank God, he was willing to rush it to be finished before Christmas. 

        Work started and went on full steam. By Christmas eve, all the chapters had been translated and proof read. We only needed to finalise everything right after Christmas. At the time of writing, the book is already scheduled for printing. Praise the Lord! 

Funding

        Meanwhile, pledges were coming in but money had not gone into the printer's account. I had to make sure that both set of figures tally: the amount of funding and the number of copies requested by churches. Both must tally; otherwise, we would end up with excess stocks. 

        The first person who pledged and paid into the account was a brother from Singapore. This took care of almost half of my worries. Choosing to pay the money into my account, the moment the transaction went through, I transferred the money to GoDev, a company belonging to Akitiara. 

        Then, we had one sister-in-Christ, Grace Wang who said she wanted to buy the books to bring back to Bukit Mertajam. Together with her sister, Michelle, they both transferred a total of RM1,500. 

        Despite the urgency, things were moving at a snail's pace for me. I wanted my Christmas to be a relaxing one, but understandably, people were all busy with Christmas preparations. However, God had His own way. Soon, the money started coming in one by one after Christmas. 

(Donors, please check this screen grab which GoDev sent to me. I have blanked out the names of individual donors as I suspect most people prefer to remain anonymous. Some are donors, others are purchasers. There is another of RM1000 from a bookshop which is not reflected here). 

        Initially, I was settled for 6000 copies, not realising that I had looked at the wrong figure. It wasn't until this morning when I was told that we have enough money to print 7000 copies. I went through my record and it looked correct for me, but not until the printer could confirm the figure, I was still worried that I had made an error. 

        Just a few nights ago, I was telling the brother from Penang that  I was struggling to figure out how to place his sponsorship in an Excel sheet to reflect all the transactions. He was willing to sponsor a total of RMx000. Three-quarter of this was supposed to go to the translator, and the remaining to the proofreaders. 

        At least this was based on our earlier discussion. Although the translator had asked for a slightly higher fee because it was to be a rush job, he was willing to do it for the same price that someone else had quoted. However, knowing the principle of the 'ox that threshes the floor must not be muzzled', I kept on my mind that if the proof readers chose not to accept the balance of the money, part of this would be given to Bro Mun Hong. 

        Thank God, I was able to compensate Mun Hong for the urgent job. Proofreaders who did not want the money but willing to serve the Lord with a willing heart can now get the balance of the money but in the form of books. This also helped to prop up the figure to 7000 copies. 

        Not only Datin Thun and Sis Angie, I learnt at the eleventh hour that a third person was also involved in the proofreading work! He is a pastor of Sea Park Baptist Church. Praise God! 

        Not only the proof readers but also the brother who sponsored the translation, they are getting their share of the books too! How this all works out is still amazing even for me to look back. While I was figuring out how to reflect it on the Excel sheet, like any good accountant would do, now things just fall into place with all the figures tallying! 

        Praise God, the amount that is in GoDev account is enough to pay for the 7000 copies print run. God surpassed my expected 5000 copies. In fact, it is not only enough, there is even a surplus to take care of the additional copies that may be 'purchased' from the printer at half the price!

    On Thursday, Jan 6, 2022, the printer informed me:

At 12 noon, none ready yet. Waiting for further update.

Hi Stephen, on the 29th Dec, we were still confirming to proceed with 6 or 7K. It is slightly over a week (6 working days to be precise) that is not a lot of time provided for printing and binding 7K copies.

        I panicked, wondering whether we will be able to get the books to everyone before Chinese New Year. On Friday, Jan 7, 2022, the printer informed: 

Hi Stephen, the books are ready. Can we deliver to you tomorrow morning? Total 2 pallets. 

         Wow! Not only that but,  

All 7000 copies are ready.

        I wish to thank everyone for this partnership in the gospel! 

        Isn't the Lord wonderful! Hallelujah!