Sir Fong - breaking last year's sales record!

There are several important elements to ensure the success of a book launch:

1. Returning customers -  I have met people who've bought the first book in 2008, and came back to get Book 2! That always makes an author happy!

2. Former students -  I did  not ask many of my former students to come, as I plan to bring the new book to them. But some showed - from the army and before their university days begin. That was a bonus for me. 

 3. Get Help! - I got some of my friends to come down to help. Two former students also volunteered to talk to passing visitors. That got people to know about the books and they got excited about the possibilities.

 

4. Collaborators -  behind each aspiring author aspiring to be the next JK Rowling stand many people who helped pave their way. I must never forget those who showed me the way, though the list MUST get longer and longer with every book!

  
5. Lessons learnt - my booth was blocked by a big commercial display, and I must apologise for not having deliberated more about my booth displays. I won't make the same mistake again in 2010!

6. Friends - who can do without them?

 

7.  T-shirts! - many asked about the shirts we wore featuring Totto. We will be printing them for sale by 2010!

 

8.  Did I mention returning customers? - I cannot mention them enough! This means people loved Book 1! And already I am getting emails asking about Book 3!

 

Thank you all for being a part of my life that weekend! There is much work to be done, but we've just gotten off to a great start! 

 

Thank you from Sir Fong!

Visiting my new baby! (Video)

Sir Fong Book 2 launches!

After 7 months of drawing, I have completed "Sir Fong's Adventures In Science Book 2"!

Today is a good day to announce the book launch because there are two items in the Straits Times:

Tomorrow, Singaporeans will see a partial eclipse of the sun between 8:40am and 9:40am, peaking at 9:11am. A monster total eclipse will be seen in China and India!

Eclipses will be covered in my new book!

The second piece of good news is that Professor Lui Pao Chuen, former Chief Defence Scientist, just received the INCOSE's prestigious Pioneer award at Suntec yesterday. INCOSE stands for International Council on Systems Engineering. In his 41 years of service to the Defense Ministry, Prof Lui grew the nation's pool of defense scientists and engineers from 250 to 5000! He is now porfessor at our two universities, chief scientific advisor to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and board member at the NUS High School of Maths and Science.

Prof Lui has graciously allowed me to include his incarnation, Professor Thunder, and CRISP (Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing & Processing) at NUS into my story!

On board "Adventures In Science Book 2" is also my new partner, LyraAsia.

http://www.lyraasia.com/

They are the oldest manufacturer of quality colour pencils from Germany, and they have graciously sponsored Sir Fong to print 8 pages of full colour (afterall, a Science book on the topic of Light must talk about the 7 colours of the rainbow!).

With your support in the last year (since June 2008), Sir Fong is growing steadily and getting these excellent people and organisations onboard the second Adventures. I'd taken in many of your suggestions and made leaps in improvement.

"Sir Fong's Adventures In Science Book 2: Light" will be launched from 14-16th August 2009, at the Singapore Toy, Comics & Games Convention at Suntec.

Come down and be the first to get a copy of my great new adventure!

Recommendation: "Lament" by Hu Jingxuan

Hello friends! I will soon be printing

"Sir Fong's Adventures In Science BOOK 2"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will update you on this site mid-July!

In the meantime, I would like to recommend a new comic book from a very exciting comic artist. I found her work to be unique, and I see she can contribute to Singapore's comic art scene significantly. Her name is Hu Jingxuan, aka Pinkjellyo.

Her new book is called "Lament", and you can read more about it at her link here:

http://pinkjellyo.deviantart.com/art/official-release-126211350

Last day with AIPS kids, and first day at Expo

How many ways are there to draw Totto, the Sir Fong bunny? Apparently, the answer is "countless"!

Every kid who picked up a marker to draw a "Totto" has his/her own take on the Science bunny! The first two, featured below, are certainly two extremes: one is an amazing replica of the Chemistry-explosion Totto I drew above, another is a Totto with flaming-red Manga hair!

I forgot to inform the readers what the occasion was: today was the first day of Popular Bookstore's June Book Fest at Singapore Expo!

Again, Totto is the main attraction as the kids stopped by to try their skills at drawing the bunny boy!

And a final shout-out to my Ahmad Ibrahim comic club students! A teacher will never truly know how much (or little) impact he/she has on the students. My two wonderful Art teachers from my secondary school never heard me say "THANK YOU!" even though they both made the greatest impact on my life.

But in the end, if I've done my best in making the kids believe in their own gifts, it's just wonderful that we shared that moment in time together.

To the AIPS Comics Club: may your artworks light up many's hearts and minds.

Busy busy busy!

So sorry I've not updated this blog for a while! Still in the midst of drawing "Sir Fong's Adventures . . . Book 2".

There will be more updates soon! In the meantime, here's a hand-drawn, hand-coloured Totto I did using some very good Lyra colour pencils and pens!

Shout Out to the Comics Club at Ahmad Ibrahim Primary!

Hi guys and girls! It's been a whirlwind of a crash course in comics! In the last 5 weeks, I tried to cram in many useful stuff like linework, colour, facial expressions, word bubbles and sounds, so I hope to see you all apply what you have learnt!

Now that you know how to apply cool colours to your drawings using the Paint software, please scan in your masterpieces and start splashing on them paints!

When I was young, I painted whenever my art teachers asked me to. So I had a lot of opportunity to show people what I could do. That's not call showing off - it's called learning to share!

If you have the gift of being able to draw, you must must must draw!

Don't be afraid of your friends who may criticize your works - see them as feedback that can help you improve!

As long as you continue drawing, it will bring you a lot of happiness for many many years!

And don't forget - draw what your teachers ask and don't see them as homework. See them as chances to show the school what you can do better than most people!

And thanks for sharing your drawings with me - keep doing that and I'll make sure you learn even more than what you learnt these 5 weeks!

Yours sincerely, "Mister Otto"