I can never forget the first week of launching my cookbook, as I was standing in my room looking at 400 parcels awaiting collection, thinking:
“WHY? Why do these people from New York, LA, Chicago, Wisconsin, Iowa, Canada decide to buy a book from me, a Malaysian-born Chinese in Melbourne?”
I mean, I know why why:
a. the pandemic;
b. exposure to 300k members on the SAC Facebook group;
c. my non-conventional way of writing recipes, and;
d. plenty of dumb luck.
I unintentionally wrote something specific, tailored for a specific group with a specific interest.
I’m just not sure of the why me why.
How did we manage to connect despite the generational, geographical gap, the measurement unit, and time difference? How did we end up sharing the same childhood, the same relationship with food, as our great-grandparents boarded different ships, landed different lives, speaking different dialects, over 100 years ago?
My wife phrased it better: “Why? You’re not even interesting.”
It opened a few doors for me and I have considered them all - a new book, food writing, normal writing, a Youtube channel, a podcast …
But you know what, generating viral content isn’t what I want.
There is already a HUGE disconnection between the media and reality when it comes to home cooking and I’m not really sure if the world needs another TikTok dumpling-making video.
I think, most of you are just tired of all that BS.
I know I am.
Ultimately, the reason I did what I did was because of what I do.
Send and pick my daughter up from school. Cook for my family. Work, observe. Convert those observations into thoughts.
The only difference now is that I write about those thoughts and converse telepathically with people who are interested in what I have to say about what I do.
(Actually, not all of you - some abusive DMs and online trolling comments come to mind, but still, the black outperforms the red.)
For that, I’m always grateful.
Please accept my 90° Japanese bow.
If you’re good at something, never do it for free.
A pearl of wisdom by The Joker from Batman.
For 12 months I’ve written for the SAC group because I saw it as a symbiotic relationship. I owe it to them.
For 10 months I’ve written newsletters because I appreciated everyone who spent money on the book. I owe it to you.
The complimentary writing is a marketing vehicle to sell another product/image. In my case, the book. I gave myself a deadline - to sell 1000 books in 12 months.
I hit my goal in October, and I’m happy to simply let the book be.
Once November 20 arrives, I’ll be writing to sell … my writing.
Once November 20 arrives, I’ll be directing my food writing, recipes, stories, reviews, experiences here, and I’m hoping 50% of my subscribers will stay on and 10% of that will be willing to pay for my time to keep this going.
In an ideal world, I’d like to be able to do this for free.
But I have to see this as a cost of being physical and mentally absent from my wife and daughter.
Likewise, people generally do not appreciate free shit.
So hopefully, by shouting me a good thai meal / 2 bottles of truffle oil / a seating of dimsum / one peking duck / half a portion of lobster noodles / one tank of petrol / 3 bags of coffee a year, you’ll be invested in this relationship as well.
In return, I’m offering recipes and food hacks based on my Chinese/Australian/Japanese upbringing, behind the scenes of my food photography assignments, interviews with local chefs/business owners, maybe even some old-fashion restaurant reviews, and of course, the cultural exploration through food, the therapy through cooking.
It will provide an incentive for me, a pressure to perform.
Sure, I’ll still post to SAC and Instagram, but those are bathtub writing.
This space, right here, will be dedicated to my stare-out-of-the-window-in-search-of-synonym writing.
My new home.
And I look forward to hosting you.