[authorafrica] Focus of Discussion
- From: "Bruce Cook, AuthorMe.com" <cookcomm@xxxxxxx>
- To: AuthorAfrica ListServe <authorafrica@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 09:58:31 -0700 (PDT)
Salaams, everyone,
And thank you all for our conversation so far. I know
we are all busily engaged in making a living, and I
appreciate every word we can share, for it has to be
carved out of the small amounts of free time we have
available.
And, yes, I agree, African writing should indeed be
genuine and represent the truth about Africa. We
cannot dilute this.
Here are some more challenges to think about?
Part 1 ? Why would we focus our discussion on needs of
African writers?
Part 2 ? Do writers in other areas have problems that
differ from ours?
Part 3 ? What is the main problem new writers have in
common?
Part 1 ? Why would we focus our discussion on needs of
African writers? I feel that, to be effective, a
discussion needs to be limited. Too often as new
writers or new students, etc., we tend to broaden the
scope of our consideration, thereby weakening our
work. Once I wrote a seminar paper on international
broadcasting, the whole world, for Dr. Sydney Head,
who wrote several books on this and related subjects.
When I attended the next class I expected him to
praise me. Instead, he said, ?This is just an
introduction. Now you need to write the paper!? I was
crushed. I had earned the hard way, again, that I
would be more effective if I would limit the scope of
what I did. Thus my instinct has been to limit our
discussion to African writers, but to watch for
international implications to be sure.
Part 2 ? Do writers in other areas have problems that
differ from ours? Let?s look at other geographical
areas in particular. For example, we could have a
listserve for Indian writers or for European writers,
etc. And, if you become familiar with these areas, you
will soon realize that the problems of writers in
these areas differ markedly from those in Africa. In
each area, writers need to examine the limits and
opportunities afforded by their distinctly different
cultures. (And, like Africa, each area has many
countries and sub-areas with problems all their own.)
Part 3 ? What is the main problem new writers have in
common? Access.
It is my personal view that all writers face the
problem of monopolies in media. For example, we all
notice that a news broadcasting station repeats the
same news stories again and again to the exclusion of
other stories we may wish to hear. Another example: in
an American political election, maybe 3,000 political
candidates are being elected in a given area on a
particular day. But, when you want to hear the
results, all the broadcasters do is to repeatedly
describe the results for 12-20 candidates, again and
again, with no mention at all of the other candidates.
In the same way, book publishers become a powerful
monopoly. They have the revenue, the distribution
channels, and everything they need. We individual
writers have almost nothing of this, but they are
willing so sell us access in little pieces. A fee to
print a book. A fee to edit a book, A fee to put a
book in a catalog, or list it on a publisher?s
website. A fee to stock the book in the publisher?s
warehouse. A fee to feature the book on radio. Fees
fees fees.
But we do not want these fees. We cannot afford them.
Nor are we looking for a handout. We are asking for
equal access when it comes to editorial consideration.
And it is demonstrably true that we do not have that
equal access. Every kind of prejudice seems to thwart
our efforts to be considered. Even a British contest,
made for our benefit, seems to be biased against us!
Our goal is to have the publisher recognize the
quality of our work, be it African or Indian or
Italian or Irish. We desperately want the publisher to
print the book and front the money to publicize it and
to send us a small royalty. Even the smallest royalty
would satisfy us.
As little known writers, as writers from Africa or
India or Europe or the US, we do not have equal access
to consideration by the editors. Literary agents
intervene, for one thing. But commercial prejudices
also get in the way. And the very best books are
trashed simply because the publishers will not ?
perhaps cannot ? consider and publish the best works.
Instead the publishers follow the easy track, and they
republish established authors. They seek out
celebrities who don?t even know how to write. And, in
so doing, they pollute literature and exploit it for
commercial purposes.
What does technology offer to allow new writers like
us to solve this problem? Do websites like AuthorMe
solve it? They are a help. But they are not the only
solution.
I wonder if we as writers can achieve what Napster did
for music. Can we do for publishing what small
Internet news websites have done to cripple the
ability of broadcast networks to restrict information?
Specifically, I look to the power of the ebook and
audiobooks presented in bite-sized chunks (e.g.,
chapters) to be consumed as desired by readers who are
stranded in a waiting room or in public
transportation, thus having a moment to read or listen
to our works via cell phone. This is inherent in the
new ?Podcasting? movement, which is not tied to the
iPod, as I understand it. Can we individual writers
achieve equal access to interested readers by using
these new technologies?
For example, the ebook gets more viable every time the
mobile computer gets more mobile, like the new Nokia 3
by 6 inch portable. And this will be especially true
when the screen becomes flexible and we have a
?floppy? ebook to curl up with when we relax in a
local park and read whatever we want. And if we can
download each other?s ebooks we not longer have to
restrict our reading to the books that
publisher/monopolists chose for us.
I hope some of these ideas will strike a nerve or two.
Let?s talk!
Thanks,
Bruce
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