Expat's ambition to put asia on the literary map

South East Asia doesn't get a look in, contempt the facts that 1000000 of people in the part speak English language as either their first or sec language, and that English language is the functionary government linguistic communication of the Association Of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Prince Philip Tatham is on a missionary post to alteration things. He has a big aspiration: to put Asia at the heart of the literary map.

He's an expat Englishman who took a grade in South East Asian survey from Hull University, then moved to Malaya. Here he spent over a decennary in publication, before moving to capital of Singapore where, in 2004, he established Monsoon Books (www.monsoonbooks.com.sg).

In the past four years he has built up an impressive backlist of titles, across all genres. "I'll try anything once, to see if it works," he told me, "and if it doesn't, I'll learn from my error."

His fiction list includes both literary and commercial message novels; in nonfiction he publishes across the range from life to true crime, via travelog.

He is soon to start publication for the young adult marketplace, and Monsoon's first illustrated title, coupling Wine with Asian Food, by Edwin Soon, is one of his big hopes for next season.

I met Prince Philip in Monsoon's headquarters, which are in an business office block seductively close to Singapore's biggest shopping Mall, Vivo City.

If I worked for him, I'd blow all my wages on blink of an eye fashion from the chain shop across the road. Prince Philip, however has something much nicer than apparel to distract him: he and his Chinese Malaysian wife are the brand new parents of a baby girl.

"Sorry I've got bags under my eyes," he apologises, as we settle down to talk.

I happened to arrive just as Philip was reading a new manuscript from Nigel Barley, one of his star authors who had previously published books with Penguin, Time Warner, and Little, Brown. Why, I wondered, had he decided to swap to Monsoon?

"I think it was because we give him the freedom to write the books he wants to write, whereas the London-based publishers wanted him to write less humorous books. Also we're better than the big London publishing companies at reaching his target markets in South East Asia."

Nigel Barley, like many Monsoon authors, is English. Others are from America, Australia and New Zealand. But what about local authors, writing in English?

"We have several Singaporean and Malaysian authors, for example Awang Goneng, a Malaysian journalist based in London, who turned a blog about his childhood into a memoir: Growing Up In Trengganu."

How did Philip go about turning a manuscript into a book? After all, Singapore does not yet have a huge pool of publishing professionals.

He explained that Monsoon is much more international than many of the so-called international publishers based in London and New York.

"We use copy-editors, and designers, in San Francisco, Dublin, London and Perth."

Printing takes place in Singapore. Once books are printed, what about selling them? Granted, online bookshops mean a book published in Outer Mongolia can be bought with one click by a reader in Aberdeen, but it's still important to get actual, physical books into actual, physical bookshops.

"We've signed distribution agreements with a number of companies. Tuttle is our biggest partner. They distribute us in the USA, Canada, South America, the UK, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East. We have other partners in Australia, New Zealand, and some of the Asian markets."

Fine. But once the books were in the shops how did Monsoon ensure potential readers knew about its titles?

"We have a freelance publicist here in Singapore, and we'd consider using them elsewhere, for example, in London, if we felt a title warranted it."

What, I wondered, were the particular difficulties of running a publishing company with international ambitions from Singapore?

"Sorting out distribution was a big problem, but I think we've cracked that one now.

"We also face constant problems getting paid in some of our smaller markets - getting money out of the Philippines is an ongoing battle. It's also a struggle to get agents to take us seriously. There are very few agents working in Asia, and agents in London and New York as yet seem reluctant to show us manuscripts. That should change, as we become more established.

"What international agents now tell me is that they understand where Monsoon is coming from, that we're running a regular publishing house but we're based in Asia. I hope that makes them feel comfortable doing business with us."

Why shouldn't they? Monsoon finished 2007 with Top Ten bestsellers in three countries - Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia - and translations into French, German and Indonesian. Not bad for a company less than five years old.