Recently I was approached to co-author a textbook. It would be about financial derivatives in Asia, with a focus on the legal aspects. This topic happens to be exactly what I do for a living (and have been doing for a living, for many years now). So I have the right type of professional knowledge and expertise.
I've checked out my co-author's profile. As he may want his privacy, I shall not mention his name here. All I shall say is that his credentials are pretty respectable. Among other things, he has previously written more than half a dozen legal textbooks, which were published by two well-known legal publishers, namely Sweet & Maxwell, and Lexis Nexis.
So he has solid experience in writing legal textbooks, and I have solid experience in derivatives. I guess we could make a pretty good team. Right now, we are at a preliminary stage of planning - sorting out the contents page, which is an important first step as it will give a clear framework for the entire book.
I do not know how long it will take to get the entire manuscript written. I suspect that it would take somewhere between 9 months and 2.5 years. Obviously this project will require a fair amount of commitment and hard work. But I am willing to go for it because I think that it is a very worthwhile goal, with good rewards to reap for all that labour.
Among other things, successfully writing and publishing a textbook is an excellent showcase of one's professional knowledge. Furthermore, the shelf life of such an achievement is fairly long. Years after the book is published, people in the relevant circles may still have a copy in their personal library, and will remember you because of that.
But quite importantly, I also enjoy writing, and editing, that sort of stuff. Organizing facts and ideas onto a written page is intrinsically appealing and interesting to me.
After Two Baby Hands was published, I always knew that one day I'd get around to a second book. I thought that it could be poetry again, or perhaps a collection of short stories, or a novella. But now it looks like Book 2 will be a legal textbook. Who would have guessed? But I'm game for it.
14 comments:
That's wonderful Godfather!
Thank you, Goddaughter. How have you been?
Your friend (D Chong) was just asking last week how you are, and where in the world you have disappeared to ...
Congrads! It's a great way to share your professional knowledge earned over the years.
I am not so sure how long the shelf-life would be though. Would it not need to be updated as the Market changes it's rules? e.g Would the EU doing something to stablize the Euro affect derivatives?
At which level is the textbook suppose to be for? Undergrad, postgrad, etc?
Undergrad market is tough, nearly as bad as primary/sec school. Lecturers are lazy people who want their textbooks to come with exercises and stuff, so that they don't have to prepare them. If got solution, lagi better.
Postgrad is more forgiving.
Mr Wang,
How many pages will the book be and the number of chapters out of the total will you be writing?
Who will be the target readers?
I ever came across a management text where the cover listed up to 5 (co)-authors.
Congratulations!! I do agree that coming up with a book is a nice way of showcasing your knowledge and achievements. =)
From Chong Han
You work in the area of financial derivatives? Contracts surrounding these.
I'm really baffled by why the MAS allows the proliferation of some of these derivatives such as CFDs by companies like Saxo, IG Markets etc. to set up shop here and offer these products to retailers. The counter-party risk and does Singapore have juristriction should something happen to these companies?
What is gained by allowing them to operate here? Their office has only 6 people...not many jobs created.
"Their office has only 6 people...not many jobs created." Lucky Tan above
Well, there are many taxi driving jobs out there for those who are jobless and above 30.
In fact, one jobless PMET turn taxi driver even remarked in the papers that the job is "not bad" with decent income!
Lobo76, maybe "textbook" is not the right word. The book is intended for people in the finance sector who encounter derivatives and want to better understand the legal aspects.
They would likely be traders, structurers, salespeople, operations staff, credit risk officers, finance officers, compliance, treasury ....
Anon 4:32 pm ... I think I would be writing most of the book, except for the chapters on Islamic finance and Islamic derivatives. That I leave to my co-author. However he will be helping me to structure, edit and proofread all my stuff too.
Oh, forgot to add fhat it will have an overall Asian focus, so it can be marketed in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc
Nice! If anyone can pull this off, I reckon you can. Hopefully it will win you some corporate brownie points too!
Hey Seang Pin, how are you doing? Surprised that you're still reading this blog. My wife sometimes works with your sis .... Mrs Wang is now GC for that hospital
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