IT TAKES WILL POWER and commitment to write a book, and market sense and courage to be your own publisher and agent. Getting a book into the bookstores and on to the shelves is not as easy as it may seem - especially if you happen to be an unknown writer making his or her debut on the shelves. According to one Hong Kong publisher, it is an uphill struggle to try to get the big book retailers to stock, or even display, titles that are not mainstream. All credit then to writers who are prepared to go full steam ahead to publish and promote their own work. One such writer is Douglas Siu, who will be setting up his own booth to launch his book, a self-help manual titled How To Be The Happiest Person In The World. The 54-year-old Hong Kong writer, who worked on the sales front for news agency Reuters for 12 years, has come up with the concept 'blisspology', which he claims is a 'scientific methodology' for achieving peace and happiness. In his somewhat quirky publication (which Siu gave up his full-time job 3? years ago to write), the author is not shy to drop big names in the literary world, such as Ian Fleming and thriller maestro Frederick Forsyth, both of whom once worked for Reuters. 'I was inspired by the idea that no one had ever quantified happiness through a score system according to the intensity of high and low feelings in a 24-hour day,' said Siu. 'I want to help readers maximise their scores by changing their attitude and increase their awareness of common human frailty and pitfalls. It is my belief that a new thought pattern can make a person happier and more peaceful. It is an economical solution for solving vital problems.' His book carries mathematical formulas to define peace and happiness; the reader is invited to work out his quotients for peace, joy, satisfaction and happiness. The book also analyses emotional factors and categorises states of mind under zones such as 'merry', 'aching' and 'neutral (peace)'. 'The method is to have readers maximise their time spent in the neutral zone. I aim to help people attain joy and peace of mind through a new attitude in overcoming weaknesses,' the writer said.