The Hong Kong Book Fair is so popular that it drew more people last year (900,000) than recent legislative by-elections (579,000).

The Fair, to be held this year from July 21 to 27, has always been something of a publishing pilgrimage. More than one out of every 10 Hong Kong residents heads to the Convention and Exhibition Center (1 Expo Drive; www.hkcec.com), joined by tens of thousands of visitors from mainland China and other Asian nations. It’s a real family affair, filled with grandmas, kids and — if you are in the middle of the crowd — what feels like the entire rest of the city.

Hong Kong, a city that loves its numbers, boasts that the 2010 Book Fair will have 200 cultural events, and 500 exhibitors from 20 countries and regions. Despite its size, the Fair has traditionally not gotten much international critical attention, which mostly goes to the smaller and more elite Hong Kong International Literary Festival. This is partly because the majority of the works at the Book Fair are in Chinese, and partly because much space is devoted to comics, children’s literature, celebrity biographies, stationery, dieting books and other fare that is considered less-than-serious.

But having just marked its 20th anniversary, the fair is spiffing itself up.

This year, Sir David Tang (of luxury brand Shanghai Tang fame) will be moderating open forums with British authors. They include the actor and comedian Stephen Fry, the war historian Andrew Roberts and Frederick Forsyth, known for his spy thrillers.

There will be other appearances by James Fenton, the English poet and critic, and Han Han, said to be China’s most popular blogger and a best-selling author.

And if you want a taste of what the Book Fair is most loved for, you can stop by “Storytelling by Celebrities.”

Check www.hkbookfair.com for a complete schedule, because it varies — opening as early as 9 a.m. and closing at midnight, depending on the day. Tickets range from 10 to 25 Hong Kong dollars (about $1.30 to $3.20). You can watch videos of Sir David Tang interviewing some of the British writers expected at the festival, including the comedian Stephen Fry and Frederick Forsyth, author of “The Day of the Jackal.”

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As for me, I can’t wait until December, as I’m starting out early. In fact, as early as now I am already making my Christmas list of people I’m going to give presents to.I only want one thing though – to publish a book.

This November, I am publishing a book with Xlibris. The good news is I get to enjoy all publishing features at half the price. Nothing can get any better a gift than this.

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You never fail to delight kids with your stories. You know you want to share them with other children from here and there. So you write your stories on paper. What do you do next? Do you send your work to a traditional publisher or publish a book yourself?

Before you take the plunge, it is better to understand first how the world of publishing works. Traditional publishing, in a nutshell, is where a publisher publishes your book. They cover all publishing costs and pay you a royalty on every book sold. From the time you sign an agreement with them, they will assume full creative control of your book. They will also own the rights to your book.

Self-publishing, on the other hand, is where you publish a book yourself. You turn in your manuscript to a self-publishing company and cover all costs for printing the book. They then churn your work into a professional, high-quality children’s book. You also have full control of your book – from its editorial and artistic aspects, to ownership rights and book sales.

The publishing industry is highly competitive; publishers are constantly searching for the next bestselling book. More and more children’s book writers want to become published authors these days. However, not many of them get published. This is where self-publishing comes in.

The flak against self-publishing may still be there, but authors are now getting more discerning, with a deeper understanding of what separates self-publishing myths from facts.

Aside from getting full creative control of your book, you retain ownership rights to it as well. After all, it is you who wrote that book.

Self-publishing is a smarter option especially if you are writing a children’s book that has a highly targeted, out-of-the box subject. This is because traditional publishers usually look for children’s boos that have greater market potential, nevermind if the story is predictable.

Publishing, like any endeavor, always has its risks and it comes with rewards too. And like any endeavor to succeed, you need to work hard and not be afraid to take chances – the tradeoffs may just be far below the gains.

If you want to publish your own children’s book, click to receive your FREE publishing guide.

• Swimming

• Camping

• Reading

• The Beach

• Working

• Playing

• Publish a book

• Summer? It’s the Winter here.

It doesn’t really matter. After all, letting your dad know how much you love and appreciate him shouldn’t just happen on the 3^rd week of June. (Or the 2^nd, if I may insist).

I am proud to have such a wonderful dad. Two years since I moved out of our home to work in the big city, he can still be a crick in my neck, constantly reminding me of things as if I was still a little girl. He’d always tell me to refrain from nights-out that last until the wee hours of the morning; to eat right and at the right time; limit my spending and save more. And when I’d go home on occasions, he’d still cross his brows whenever guys called; pick on my “too-short” clothes, and even impose the Cinderella curfew on me.

But then I guess that’s just my dad’s way of saying that even though I’m all grown up and living my own life now, I am still and will always be his little girl. My dad will always be the number one person in my life. Without him, I wouldn’t be where I am now.  And oh, I’m just so eager to tell him when I go home next month that I’m going to become  a published author very soon. (Yep, the opportunity has finally come, at long last!)

To my dad and all the other dads out there, Happy Father’s Day!

I love Japanese food and have a fascination with Japanese culture. I hope to study Niponggo if my schedule allows.

For now, the best thing I’ve gotten to understanding more about Japan is by reading books.

Nothing beats the experience of fulfilling my fascination of course by going to the land of cherry blossoms. I hope to get there soon. Who knows, I might want to publish a book about it. So much for wanting to become a book author.

The other day, my friend and I had an interesting conversation about Miss California 2009. He thought winner Carrie Prejean was shallow because of her answer to Perez Hilton’s  question regarding same-sex marriage.

I thought she wasn’t. Prejean had conviction and that should be respected despite of differences in opinion.  It’s a matter of standing up for what you truly believe in instead of trying to get the approval of other people. I’m not sure though whether that kind of question was appropriate in a beauty pageant, though.  The question was more political and raised too much debate and controversy.

I told my friend that Prejean wasn’t shallow. I guess it’s how beauty pageants are being celebrated that make women shallow. There’s the glitz and glamour in beauty pageants I know but it can get all too consuming  to the point that a woman’s beauty is based on the superficial and the intelligence on the hypothetical.

My friend then cited his observations about beauty pageants, which I found amusing. I quipped by telling him that he might want to publish a book about it. He said he would if I was on the cover in a bikini and a crown.

I was at wit’s end.

It made me remember what the tour guide said during a visit to the British Library in London. He said that a certain temperature level has to be maintained to preserve England’s centuries-old books written by the kings, royalties and literary geniuses.

I consider all the book authors in my collection worthy of preservation. But I wonder if their published books are printed on materials that really last for ages.

With modern technology and all, I wish they are.

I ended up buying two new copies of some old books. Guess what they are? Book 1 and 10 of Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew mystery series! I have the whole set but lost these two books a long time ago.  Now I  have the collection complete again.

Over dinner, my friend and I discussed her plans and all about this business she has in mind. But honestly, I couldn’t wait to go home – to read Nancy Drew again after what, many years???

Published books are amazing…

The most interesting topic, aside from the delectable Greek-style salad (how could I forget its name!) in an extremely large serving, was our life with the published books we own, kept, lost and gave away.

My meat lover friend declared that she intentionally leaves a book in an airport or some public places hoping that the finder would enjoy reading it like she did. She writes her name and email address on the first page of her books that one time, she received an email from a finder who wanted to return her “lost book”.

The vegetarian found this trick fascinating and thought of doing the same believing that it leads to a wider network of contacts. She said she’ll do this the next time she’s in an airport or somewhere else.

I used to write my name on the title page of every book I bought: I include the date of purchase as a reminder about how old the book has been with me. I stopped doing this when I started to give away some books after reading them. Though I don’t mind receiving second-hand books, some friends may.

Instead, I draw my icon (yes, I have one!) on a certain page of every book I own – whether I keep it or give it. This ritual is not something original, though. I got the idea from a friend who places her signature on a particular page of her books.

My girl friends and I have matchless ways of loving our books.  But what my uniquely gifted  meat lover friend (I must blog about her some time) does with her books is really enthralling.

Until we finished dining, the conversation revolved around the book authors we read and the number of published books we’ve collected all these years.

It’s comforting to know that my friends also have a life with their books.  I am, after all, normal.

Since she had to leave for a date with her husband, I had my late lunch with a dear friend in a Japanese restaurant just close to the coffee shop.

The whole day was so relaxing.  Just the kind I needed.  There were no more sorry-for-bothering-you-on-a-day-off calls. Or those I-badly-need-to-be-in-the-office-soon feelings.

Since we had all the time in the world, my friend and I decided to have a massage but we first went to a local bookstore to check on new arrivals.  And I guess you know what happens next when a book lover goes inside a bookstore.  Buy  books of course!

How can I resist an Agatha Christie when she’s one of my first favorite book authors on mystery stories?

I’m not done with my planned classic reads and haven’t even finished Follet’s sequel to Pillars of the Earth.  Now I have a new published book added to my list.

We had a really good massage after visiting the bookstore.

Yes, of course I  love published books but then some things are simply more important than reading them.

I didn’t do some book readings over the weekend but I did browse several sites about books and publishing and stumbled upon a really good article on How to Get a Book Published.

Instead of reading long articles about the whole process, here’s a succinctly written article on how to publish your book. The writer discussed about 7 Ds of Publishing:

1. Decide what to write about
2. Discover your readers
3. Dedicate time for writing
4. Design effectively
5. Designate a professional editor
6. Deal with a professional publisher
7. Distribute the book effectively

It’s a good find.  And I’m glad I stumbled upon this site.  I find it very useful.

I was in Yahoo Answers this morning and I shared this piece of information to those asking questions about publishing books.

They were finishing dinner when I arrived but I was just right in time for the gang to hop to the nearby ice cream parlor. We indulged in several scoops as we enjoyed watching my friend trying so hard to blow the single sparkling candle on his black forest birthday cup cake prepared by his girlfriend as a surprise.

We moved to Starbucks after and had a really strong coffee around 11 in the evening.  The caffeine was actually enough to keep me awake the whole night. I could finish reading The Catcher  in the Rye tonight, I told myself.

I was home a little after 1am, took a warm bath and I tried to read a few pages of J.D. Salinger’s published book. I  was too tired to proceed that I dozed off a few minutes after.

I never thought caffeine would keep me from reading the witty and humorous book author.

Or maybe, it was because of too much gelato.