INSPIRE– this one word sums up BOOKSOUL International.

We specialise in books that inspire, Books based on real-life experiences, That leave imprints on the soul.

What we call Soulprints.

Our Mission

To inspire and connect souls, through borderless network of alliances, for the betterment of themselves and society

BOOKSOUL International is the brainchild of George Tan who established the company to assume full control – and accept full responsibility – for the publication of his books. He explains:

“When I first approached publishers with my life story, they wanted to dramatise it and exaggerate certain facts. I was not comfortable with that. I wanted to be responsible for the way my books are written, as well as the way they are designed, printed, marketed, distributed and sold.

“I want to publish real life experiences – experiences that leave an imprint on the soul. By sharing real life experiences, I hope to inspire others and to spread this philosophy of ‘never say die’. BOOKSOUL International starts off with my own books but I might consider other writers in the future. My criteria is this – the stories must be real.

“When I was young, I liked to read autobiographies. During my school vacation, I would go to the library to borrow books about great leaders, like Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai Shek, Golda Meir, Josef Stalin and others. I guess BOOKSOUL carries on from where I left off back then.

“The idea of BOOKSOUL International came to me on Christmas Day 2004. I am someone who normally sleeps through the night. That day, I woke up at 3am and could not sleep. I decided to take a bath. All of a sudden, the idea came that I should start a publishing company and publish my story to share with others, to inspire them not to lose hope.

“I am a newcomer to the publishing industry, but a fast and eager learner. I consult industry veterans and whoever else is sincere about wanting to help me succeed. I have many talented and experienced people helping me.

“ I have just published my first book, Soulprints I - BreakThrough and am pleased with the results. The feedback has also been positive.

Below is an excerpt from the Acknowledgements of Soulprints I – BreakThrough, which gives a summary of how the first book arose:

The origin of this book goes back to 1996. I had a conversation with Mr TC Tan who was my ex-boss in National Semiconductor in 1987 and he encouraged me to write my life story. I started and I wrote80 pages. But, it came to an abrupt stop because I was involved in another crisis which would be part of another story. I was not in the proper frame of mind. The moment was not right. I was not ready.

In August 2004, Ruth asked me “What is your dream?” I said I want to share my tumultuous life journey with others, in the hope that they will do the same and share their life stories. We can all learn from each other and inspire each other for the betterment of ourselves. Ultimately, a critical mass of sharing and inspiring could create positive changes in society at large.

This is only my dream. But, I am not born with a writer’s genes. So where do I start?

It was the ever-helpful Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who got me started (again) when Ruth mentioned my dream to him and he asked for a two-page synopsis of my life story. That was on 29 September 2004. That same night, I sat down at 8pm to write my first draft and did not stop until 5 am the next morning, by which time I completed 30 pages.

For the next 10 days, I tried and tried, but could not fit my life-story into a two-page summary. In the end, I submitted an eight-page synopsis, secretly hoping that Prof Koh would pardon my long-windedness. I am deeply grateful that Prof Koh took time from his busy schedule to read those eight pages, for I know he is a very busy man wearing many other hats: Chairman of National Heritage Board, Chairman of Advisory Board of National Book Development Council, Director of Institute of Policy Studies and more that I may not be aware of.

Prof Koh then passed my synopsis to Prof Kirpal Singh, Associate Professor of English Literature and Creative Thinking at the Singapore Management University. Both of them felt it was great for me to share my story, and they asked for the manuscript.

Manuscript! It was not supposed to be part of a dream! All I had wanted to do was to tell my story, not ‘script’ it. But, I did not want to disappoint the two highly-respected professors. I decided to give myself a second chance to write my story. Eight years after my aborted attempt, I decided to take it as a challenge. There was no turning back.

Fortunately for me, Prof Singh is well-respected in literary circles for nurturing writers. I began to meet the ever-encouraging Prof Singh more and more frequently. I began to learn, from scratch, about writing, writers and the literary world.

My original intention was to write one book. Prof Singh encouraged me to write a series of books as he found my rocky life journey to be colourful and eventful. We explored various possibilities: docufiction (semi-autobiography), autobiography, English Literature, movie script, etc. He challenged me to think big and to think outside the box. His encouragement sowed the seeds for my dream to touch the hearts of many in the old frontiers, new frontiers and lost frontiers.

Along the way, I met many more mentors, many more dear friends.

I am indebted to the encouragement of international best-selling authors and top motivational speakers: Brian Tracy of Million Dollar Habits, Danielle Kennedy of Seven Figure Selling, Joan Brock of More Than Meets the Eye, Maggie Dent of Saving Our Children from Our Chaotic World, Mike Schlappi of Bulletproof Principles for Personal Success, Patricia Fripp of Get What You Want, John Amatt of Straight to the Top and Beyond, Catherine De Vrye of Good Serviec is Good Business, Ray Wiseman of A Difficult Passage, as well as Roger Crawford of How High Can You Bounce? In particular, I am touched by those who sincerely shared their writing experiences and advice. I have drawn great inspiration from their extraordinary character and courage displayed through their life journeys.