KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — When it comes to picking a new book to read, most often we reach out for the same authors or our favourite genre. Face it; we definitely judge a book by its cover.
Avid book lover Arlina Arshad hopes to change that mindset by setting you up with a blind date with a book. “I was looking at the concept and I remember saying this to myself... why is no one selling this in Malaysia? But then I realised that I can be that someone and so voila, our business happened,” she said.
In September 2014, Arlina started My Date is a Book. This February, her friends Anis Suhaila and Fikri Azzim joined the business. They registered My Date is a Book as a business that same month.
Currently, Arlina is in Australia doing her medical studies, while Anis and Fikri continue running My Date is a Book in Malaysia.
The idea is simple: Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm and 9pm, check the My Date is a Book Facebook and Instagram for updates. Anis will post three to six books that are wrapped in brown paper.
There is no indication what book it is, except a quote from the book on the cover. You can then order the book and it will be delivered to you. For local books, the price is RM10 for each book, but for international books, the price ranges from RM15 to RM20 per book.
“My initial intention was to bring the blind date with a book culture to Malaysia and provide this service to those who are interested. Also, I want people to get out of their comfort zone and read something new.
“I really believe that every book will teach you something, so there is no harm in giving any book a chance and of course, I really want people not to judge a book by its cover, literally,” said Arlina.
According to Fikri, My Date is a Book is not a substitute for a date but a platform for the next book you read. A lot of people refuse to read certain books because the cover might not be appealing or they don’t like the author.
My Date is a Book is a way for people to discover good but under-rated books.
The books picked cover all genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Anis and Fikri will pick out books based on ones they have read as well as recommendations from the Internet such as the reading site, Goodreads.com.
To date, My Date is a Book has 3,714 followers on Instagram. So far, more than a hundred of their books have been sold through this social media platform.
Their customer base are people who are in their twenties, late teens and a number of people in their forties. There is a woman in her forties who buys from My Date is a Book every week.
“We get the books from wholesalers or we buy them from our readers. Sometimes, people also donate books to us. We have new and preloved books,” said Anis. Fikri works in a bookstore so he has contacts as to where to get books at a good price.
To avoid any problems, My Date is a Book does not sell any controversial books. “We try not to mislead our customers when we put the quotes on the wrapping,” said Anis.
Some fans of My Date is a Book buy more than one book at a time. Once, a customer actually bought everything they released in a day. The books were sold within seven minutes after Anis uploaded the photos of the books on social media.
“I believe this is the first time in Malaysia that there is a concept like this. BookXcess did it for Valentine’s Day this year but that was after we started it,” said Anis.
Besides English books, My Date is a Book also offers books in Bahasa Malaysia and those written by local authors.
“I feel that physical books are still popular among Malaysians. The industry of e-books is still in its infancy here. Also, I feel that the youth started reading again, when local book publishers like Fixi started,” said Anis.
“One thing that is quite prominent about our customers is that most of our customers are more interested in buying books that are related to love and happiness. I guess that says something,” said Arlina about the trends she notices with My Date is a Book’s customer base.
Anis and Fikri are both bookworms themselves. Anis reads about four to five books per month while Fikri reads a book per week. Anis enjoys political and legal thrillers, while Fikri is into fantasy and science fiction and Arlina loves reading motivational and self-help books.
The trio met in Australia and became friends. Anis and Fikri came back to Malaysia while Arlina is still living there. Arlina plans to come back to Malaysia after her studies to continue My Date is a Book. “One of our long-term plans is to expand our business by widening the product range and adding new means to reach more customers,” said Arlina.
If you want to donate your books to My Date is a Book, you can. However, if you want to sell to them, they will pay a maximum of RM5 for your book. Besides using the social media platform, My Date is a Book also sell their books during events.
The biggest challenge Arlina finds about running My Date is a Book is having to explain the concept to people over and over again. “We are planning to write a FAQ and maybe even make a YouTube video about our concept,” said Arlina.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mydateisabook
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mydateisabook
* My Date is a Book will be participating in the MMO x George Town Festival collaboration on August 30. Look out for them at Soo Hong Lane from 4pm (across from China House) and get yourself a date. Or two. Or three.
