Writers: What are you waiting for? Nothing any more, because A rough guide to small-scale and self-publishing is here

Sharon Meyering

Wednesday 5th October marked the launch of a book set to give new hope to aspiring writers nationwide. The book, A rough guide to small-scale and self-publishing, written and published by Colleen Higgs, will be available across the country and in four official Southern African languages, namely English, Afrikaans, IsiXhosa and IsiZulu.

"In this booklet," writes Colleen, "I attempt to offer practical guidelines, advice and resources, as well as to offer stories about publishing, from those who have a great deal of experience and from those who have just begun to learn about it." (Foreword: p4)

Colleen Higgs has worked at the Centre for the Book since January 2001. She is the programme manager and manages several projects, including the Community Publishing Project and Writing Development. She also provides key administrative and management support and is involved in marketing and publicity for the Centre and its projects. She had been involved in small-scale informal publishing since the mid-90s, and when the Community Publishing Project was launched in August 2001 she took the reins. After a steep learning curve and providing countless, heartfelt hours of assistance to writers, she has self-published A rough guide to small-scale and self-publishing, with the generous financial backing of Via Afrika, MAPPPseta, and others.

How did the book come about? Years of questions on how to get involved in The Centre for the Book's Community Publishing Project and, more importantly, how to get published in today's book climate, prompted Colleen to compile this guide. The guide has a long history, starting with Colleen's telephonic and email answers to questions on self-publishing from a number of people. The guide evolved over the years, becoming a thicker and more comprehensive document until it reached its now published form of 78 pages.

This is the guide writers have been waiting for, especially those who are unable to find an established publisher or who choose to deny mainstream publishers access to publishing their work.

A writer, Khosi Xaba, says of the book, "This rough guide to self-publishing is smooth. It takes you through, step by step. It gives examples of successful projects. It makes self-publishing achievable. If you have been waiting for that little push, this guide is for you. If you have been confused, in the dark, this guide offers crystal clarity. After this guide there can be no excuses."

And what do publishers like Kwela and Tafelberg have to say about the book? They see it as a way to empower writers. Hannes van Zyl, previous head of Via Afrika, calls it "a fine, very necessary booklet". Often large publishers are simply unable to support all the publishable projects presented to them. Nèlleke de Jager, head of Kwela and member of the Centre for the Book's Community Publishing Project selection panel, strongly recommends self-publishing as an avenue for aspiring and competent writers.

In general, publishers see independent publishing, or self-publishing, as the way of the future, especially in view of South Africa's lack of widely available indigenous writing and recorded "oral history". Hannes van Zyl took the opportunity at the launch to encourage people to support libraries and become more community-based. Local writers are as capable of telling captivating, entertaining and important stories, through writing and poetry, as international authors, and we need to support them, he said. The concept of Proudly South African should refer to what we read as well, and should be extended to supporting the publication of books in all the official languages, as the problem which persists today is up to all of us to correct.

So, if you have a story to tell but never realised you would find an avenue to tell it, get hold of a copy of A rough guide to small-scale and self-publishing. You won't be sorry.

This book will soon be available from all good bookstores, and at R69 a copy you can afford to buy a batch and hand them out as Christmas gifts.

If you're a Capetonian and can't wait, pop in to The Centre for the Book, 62 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town, and pick up a copy, or contact Blue Weaver on orders@blueweaver.co.za and order one.

For more information about the Community Publishing Project or other projects being run by The Centre for the Book, like the Children's Literature Network and The Writers' Network, contact them on: info@centreforthebook.org.za or visit their website www.centreforthebook.org.za.



LitNet: 07 October 2005

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