I dunno 'bout 9ja novels 4 now,

Buh I 'member when I was in Secondary school,

I saw some Ghanaian novels, crappy novels 2 be exact!

Anoda avenue for p0rn!!! 

Imagine d title of a novel, ", mathematics in d bedroom"!

What da, !

cultey:

I dunno 'bout 9ja novels 4 now,

Buh I 'member when I was in Secondary school,

I saw some Ghanaian novels, crappy novels 2 be exact!

Anoda avenue for p0rn!!! 

Imagine d title of a novel, ", mathematics in d bedroom"!

What da, !

That is so funny! I have not seen a Naija book like that sha. Though to each their own, book na book right? LOL,

The Concubine
one man one matchet
Our husband have gone mad again
My Command By OBJ

The Lion and the jewel by wole soyinka.I picked it up this week out of boredom but i noticed i keep loving it mo' and mo'.

Joys of motherhood, wedlock of the gods, things fall apart, benson street, the dreamer, fate, tears, such is life. And so on. Nigerias novels ar really intrestn.

Bukittes:

do we have nigerian authors/novels? walahi i didnt know!!!

There is definitely Nigerian budding talent out there. Check out the stories on n a i j a s t o r i e s . c o m for example.

The problem is that distribution channels for books are very fragmented.

Lord Of The Rings = Chriz Brawn.

hi guys.am still new here.i never read nigerian book.but i really love to have it. nice to meet u all broda n sista, peace,

purple hibiscus
yellow yellow

i've only read one this year. teenager at war (can't seem to remember the name of the author). it depicted the civil war through the eyes of a teenager. i wish i can get to read more but i never seem to find them anywhere

@Dom,

Ask in the bookstores.

dominique:

i've only read one this year. teenager at war (can't seem to remember the name of the author). it depicted the civil war through the eyes of a teenager. i wish i can get to read more but i never seem to find them anywhere

@myne-white
i wish it was that simple. there are no bookstores around me, just book stands and all they have to offer is foreign material.

Dom,

too bad to hear that. But you know market responds to demand? So I'm sure if you start asking them for Nigerian books, they will be happy to find them for you.

@myne whitman

actually, i once asked a book stand owner why he doesn't have have any Nigerian books. his response? nobody reads them. the way he spoke about them as if they are never going to be good enough annoyed me a bit. i'm sure i'm gonna get when i ask around tho.

dominique:

@myne whitman

actually, i once asked a book stand owner why he doesn't have have any Nigerian books. his response? nobody reads them. the way he spoke about them as if they are never going to be good enough annoyed me a bit. i'm sure i'm gonna get when i ask around tho.

Youre right!

topup:

Thank you for this lovely topic!!

I will get ordering a few.

Has anyone mentioned those written by Chimamanda Adichie??

Great!

I just rad this article and I think it will answer a lot of the issues raised in this thread.


**************************


Reading culture not dead but poor in Nigeria -MD, Evans Publishing company

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/features/2907-reading-culture-not-dead-but-poor-in-nigeria-md-evans-publishing-company

Mr Gbenro Adegbola, MD, Evans Publishing company, in this interview with Associate Editor (Features), Femi Olukunle, believes that the harsh economic environment cannot kill the publishing industry.

What has been your experience in piloting the affairs of Evans Publishing company?
It has been both challenging and fulfilling; challenging in the sense that, in the book industry in Nigeria, the early turn of the millennium was just emerging from a long period of depression occasioned by many years of neglect of education and strikes in the school system. There was a particular year, I think 1995 or so, when schools were hardly opened at all.

So, all that was bad for business, but since about 2000, 2001, the industry has gradually emerged from that period and it has been fulfilling because, as I have observed, our strategies are working; our plans are being achieved. So it is both a combination of challenges and fulfillment.

I believe that among the challenges confronting you is piracy. In these days that students don’t buy books and some people illegally reproduce your works, how do you cope?
Piracy is a huge problem that faces the industry. Photocopying by students is the least of our problems. When we talk of piracy, we are talking of wholesale reproduction by way of printing of our books by a few young boys who are traders. They contribute some money and go to South-East Asia to bring in these books in large quantities, and because of the advancement in technology, it is almost difficult, if not impossible, to know the original from pirated copies. It has assumed a very dangerous dimension. Under the auspices of the Nigerian Publishers Association, in collaboration with the Nigerian Copyright Commission, we are trying to tackle this, but it would have been better if we were able to tackle it at the point of entry into the country. Unfortunately, that has proved difficult so far. We are now establishing contact with the Nigeria Customs Service, even the Nigerian Standard Organisation had also been of help in the past.

All the law enforcement agencies in and around the ports are being contacted to help stop the influx of these books into the country because the danger is that piracy will become a disincentive to authors such that they may stop writing, and that will be a disaster for the educational system.

In spite of the attacks, we shall continue to battle on; we cannot give up. We shall continue to wage war against them while trying to expand our distribution network and improve on the efficiency within the network.

It is said that Nigerian students prefer watching movies on television to reading, and this is killing reading culture. How do you react to this?
Reading culture is not dying but it is slightly poor in Nigeria. Television, internet and computer are only alternative media of transforming information and knowledge. They can never or neither do they intend to replace the book.

It now depends on the individual to allocate time to the various media transmitting knowledge. You in the media also know that reading culture is relatively poor in Nigeria compared to a place like Japan, where an average newspaper sells two to three million copies daily, because their literacy level is close to 90 per cent. I think the problem that confronts the people is the dwindling buying power of the average individual. Over the past few years, people’s incomes have shrunk; I think that is the problem and reading is a pastime that flourishes in a progressive economy.

Since people’s income has been noted to be shrinking, it will surely have an effect on the publishing industry too. How do you break even?
The problem does not affect the publishing industry alone, it affects the entire economy; we just continue to battle for our own share of the meagre purchasing power of the average individual. Of course, in the individual’s hierarchy of needs, food is primary; housing and clothing are in secondary position, followed by other things like books.

It has surely not been easy but in a country like Nigeria, we have the advantage of the buying power of the elite class that manages to sustain the industry.

How do you cope with the rivalry among the publishing houses?
The relationship between us is very healthy because it is a fairly small industry. We come across one another and we always cooperate at various levels. I mentioned earlier on, the anti-piracy efforts of the publishing association which is one of the areas we cooperate with one another. The relationship and competition are very interesting, and you know, competition itself is the very nature of business and enterprise. Where there is no competition you have the monopoly and that is not healthy.

How do your shareholders react to the instability in the economy which affects every industry including yours?
Basically, the publishing industry is a peculiar industry and anyone who invests in it knows that, really and truly, he is not in it for the money as such. I am not saying that they are not going to make money, but they are not really in for the money. If they were after money, they would have invested in the oil industry or the financial sector. These people are those who have passion for knowledge and education, so they have a good understanding of the situation in the country, but this is not to say that we have not been delivering profits to them by the end of the year. I can confidently say that our shareholders are happy with what we are doing here.

Let’s talk about infrastructure challenges. How have these been affecting your operations?
We are not existing in isolation. We exist within the larger economy and I find it boring to be complaining about infrastructural challenges. We have spoken ad infinitum about power problem, piracy and the rest of them, and I hate complaining about these things. What I like is finding a way to circumvent them because I cannot go to the shareholders meeting at the end of the year to tell them that PHCN is poor. Am I the only one the PHCN is bothering? So, I don’t like harping on these problems.

However, having talked about infrastructural problems, the peculiar problem facing the publishing industry is the lack of a credible distribution network within the country. We are combining the work of two to three links within the book distribution chain. We are publishers, almost book sellers, and suppliers to institutions and government. Part of our plans for the future is to work out some kind of alternative distribution framework which will have greater efficiency.

Given the tight official schedule you have, how do you recreate?
It is important that one establishes a balance between work and personal life. I must confess, that is one area that I have not done too well, because outside of work, there is very little that I do. I have decided to pick up on my golfing, which I have left rusty for the past three or four years. Of course, one is not getting younger; one needs to be a little more active physically. But I wish to say that I read a lot. I can say the nature of my pastime has to do with my job.

Myne white, cam you please sged some light on the payment and delivery system when purchasing these books? i'm quite paraniod when it comes to business dealings with people i can't see physically.

Hi Dom, which particular people are you talking about? Is the online sellers? I believe you pay by your bank card and they will deliver it to your address. But the easiest option is still to go to a book store direct and pick up your choice.

Well 4 me, i've read STANLEY OHANUGO'S - Brotherhood of d Inverted Cross; BUCHI EMECHETA'S- Naira Power and a host of African Press books we treated in Secondary School[quote][/quote]If u want d rainbow, U hav 2 endure d rain

Recently? Why, in my life, I think they can't be more than a dozen and half of those are a rite of passage.

Well get ready to read more because Nigerian writers are going places.

Yeah. That is the truth but I'd rather the Nigerian readership blossomed more too. Most Nigerian writers of note are read more by foreigners than their fellow countrymen. Sad, no?

I Do Not Come To You By Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Imagine This by Sade Adeniran
In Dependence by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
I read a lot of Nigerian writers, goes without saying; probably because i'm an aspiring author and I know that there are lots of interesting Nigerian stories waiting to be told. It's a shame that most of us would rather read foreign authors.

vescucci:

Yeah. That is the truth but I'd rather the Nigerian readership blossomed more too. Most Nigerian writers of note are read more by foreigners than their fellow countrymen. Sad, no?

Yeah, that is why I started this thread. And it is not stopping here. Over on Naija stories website, we encourage reading and writing of Nigerian books. Don't miss the train. A competition with free Nigerian books is coming up soon.

Suzanne84:

I Do Not Come To You By Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Imagine This by Sade Adeniran
In Dependence by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
I read a lot of Nigerian writers, goes without saying; probably because i'm an aspiring author and I know that there are lots of interesting Nigerian stories waiting to be told. It's a shame that most of us would rather read foreign authors.

This is what I like to hear. Kudos Suzanne. You know you can earn money by writing a review of such books? Check out naija stories website. I wish you luck in you own writing. Can't wait to read you.

What's the website, Myne?

What's the website, Myne?

It's

h t t p : / / w w w . n a i j a s t o r i e s . c o m

Or you can just google Naija Stories

I was not into Nigerian authors until recently. Put differently, I've never spent a kobo on any Nigerian author up until like a month ago for the lame reason that i always found them inferior to western authors in originality of thought and delivery and it has led to some obvious gaps in local knowledge in my warped mind I'm now trying to fill. In keeping with the independence brouhaha ive scooped up a number of them on my kindle and Im currently reading Politics and Elections in Nigeria since 1960 : A case studyby Mr Kelly Mgbe. I was drawn by the free sample version and decided to purchase the full version. But nna the book is so riddled with typos I'm wondering if anyone read a draft of it before going to the publishing house. Next up is I do not come to you by chance by Adaobi Nwaubani.

I read 'Half of a yellow sun' by Chimamada Adichie recently and believe me, it's a massively rich book.

The Shadow Speaker - Nnedi Okorafor