Ross on how to self-publish books in Indonesia.

It is always a matter of interest, fascination, even, to walk round Jakarta bookshops and see how many expats put pen to paper and reveal what they think about the country they’ve adopted. Some of these are a darned good read, but how easy is it to publish here?

Speaking from personal experience, very.

Having had some modest success elsewhere, I didn’t bother writing much when I arrived in Indonesia. It was quite enough to get a handle on the enormous changes in life-style which the “Big Durian” demands on its guests.

But after I had lived here a couple of years, read as much as I could of its history and politics, and got to know a lot of locals, it seemed worth a try. Of course, you can use an established publisher, but that surrenders control, and if you choose not to cleave to fashionable opinions, both publication and distribution can become problematic.

Better to do it yourself and secure your integrity. (Of course that issue doesn’t arise if your opinions are strongest on what sort of gado-gado is tastiest- it’s when you interpret history unacceptably that you hit hurdles – a lot of folks get awfully uptight to hear opinions they don’t agree with – just read some of the posts not too far away from here!)

The advent of the computer age means that almost everything is within your powers to make a book, except when you want hundreds of copies printed commercially, but the prices of the tukang cetak (printers) in Indonesia are incredibly low. You can order by the dozen, depending how quickly orders reach you.

And so far I’ve sold hundreds, mostly by email and empat mata sales.

Perhaps most readers are already familiar with these facts, but if not, check it out. A lot of literature may be in your personal pipeline, just waiting to pour forth in laminated binding.