Tech for Writing & Publication

I always wonder how John Calvin could have published so much before the advent of modern writing technology. With a laptop I could type for hours and revise and edit many hours thereafter. I just need to click the delete key and correct or add whatever words I want. But even with all the modern tech I find myself wishing that I might be in another career. It is ironic that in the past couple of years when my publishing has gathered steam, I realised as a matter of fact that I am fulfilling my calling, first as a "doctor", a PhD in Biblical Studies. What else does a PhD in the Bible do except writing commentaries on biblical texts?

I have numbered my Galatians' commentary as TSCS no. 3 or in Malay, STTS no. 3. It stands for Tony Siew's Commentary Series or Siri Tafsiran Tony Siew in Malay. After the Gospel of John and then, the Song of Songs and now Galatians, it is time to call it a series with the hope that it could reach no. 7 being a perfect number before I call it a day (in terms of writing commentaries).

Before Departure Points (my 2nd book), I thought I might not write another book again after my dissertation published by T & T Clark 17 years ago. But now I am onto no. 5, but commentary wise it is still no. 3. After Galatians, I plan to write commentaries on Ecclesiastes, in English and Malay, making it no. 4 and no. 5 in the TSCS or STTS volumes of commentaries. Then, no. 6 could be the 2nd volume on John's Gospel (John 13-21) and no. 7 is on the book of Revelation. I probably need to live until at least 70 years old to see all that accomplished. But at least that's the plan and everything is in God's hand, whether one is successful or not. 

Coming back to tech, I write with my 2017 model MacBook Pro 13inch which I purchased in Feb 2018. It has now done 4 books, at least more than one that I thought the laptop could last. I have a large monitor with my Mac Mini (M1) with which I check and revise on a larger screen what I wrote on my laptop. If I am happy with what I wrote I would air-drop that (apple's amazing feature, airdrop) to my iPad Pro 2017 version which also has served me well over the years. I re-read my manuscript on my iPad 10.5 inch and correct whatever errors again on my laptop and the process is repeated until after the umpteenth time, when I am happy with it, I submit my final manuscript to my publishers or printers as the case may be. 

I have asked for four quotations for my Galatians' book, only one came with a RM18.00 per copy price tag but I am not sure of its quality, so I may go for the RM23.00 per copy quotation. The estimated selling price is RM50.00 and this time there will not be any discount except for the first five buyers who booked through my Instagram and about 6 more people who texted me through WhatsApp.