Stories and Book Talk

Tag: Self-publishing in Kenya

Topics on Self Publishing in Kenya

  • I Once Had A Son by Felicita Churie

    I Once Had A Son by Felicita Churie

    I Once Had A son

    I Once Had A Son

    by Felicita Churie

    A Note

    First and foremost, I have written this story as a way of seeking healing and keeping my son’s memory alive. I also hope that parents who have lost their children will find some comfort in knowing they are not alone in their grief.
    And to the kidney patients, may they be informed that there is hope in medicine and in the development of the newest methods of treatment. Donating a kidney may seem a big deal but to me, it was the solution and the best I could do.
    To all doctors that take care of our patients, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for their priceless sacrifice in working long hours to see that their patients get back their good health.

    Kindle | Print Copy

    I Once Had A Son – 2nd Edition is now available. The second edition includes anecdotes and stories about Tobiko and his mother as they navigated harrowing visits to the hospital, and fun plays at school, and pictures of Tobiko through the different eras of his life.

    Where to find this book:

    Amazon: I Once Had A Son Second Edition

    Nuria Bookshop Nairobi: I One Had A Son Second Edition

    Discover more about Tobiko’s extraordinary journey here: Daily Nation’s The Highs and Lows of Kidney Transplant

    Thoughts

    I have had the privilege of working on an extraordinary book called, I Once Had A Son by Felicita Churie. She reached out to me on this blog and asked for assistance to get this book ready to publish on Amazon’s KDP. After we agreed on deadlines, I got to work on the story and fell into quite a unique experience.

    You see, there is a profound sense of awe and inspiration in discovering a story about a mother’s unconditional love for her family, in particular, her son.
    new book alert banner

    In I Once Had A Son, Mrs. Churie lays out the very personal journey she took with her son, Tobiko. She and Tobiko spent thirty-three inspiring years in a medical battle that would stun most. She describes the joyful nature of Tobiko’s birth, the joy of his growing up years, and the dreaded discovery of a struggle with kidney failure. Mrs. Churie and her family then embark on a long journey filled with love, camaraderie, a strong community that holds them down during the worst of storms, and a family bond forged like no other. She opens up and highlights the experience of donating a kidney to Tobiko. In the hope that her surgery experience will give others in similar situations courage and strength to get to the other side.

    This book is an emotional roller coaster. I learned from Mrs. Churie and Tobiko that strength can be found even when it seems like there is none left to find. There is no love more profound than a mother’s love. Truly!

    I Once Had A Son is now available on Amazon’s Kindle| e-book and print.

    Look out for Print Copies in Kenyan Bookshops soon, or simply message Mrs. Felicita Churie to get a copy at Facebook page: I Once Had A Son

  • Copy Paste vs Authenticity – Did You Know Intellectual Property is Gaining Importance in Kenya?

    Copy Paste vs Authenticity – Did You Know Intellectual Property is Gaining Importance in Kenya?

    This post is going to explore the threat of plagiarism faced by most writers, bloggers, content creators, and others. Since the world is online, and content has become a means to earn, copy-paste is more prevalent than authenticity.

    I recently received a message from a reader about content that might have been copy-pasted from my blog and posted elsewhere. Since the information in question is in the public domain, I was not overly concerned.

    I am eternally grateful to the lady who found the content and was happy to message me about the suspected infringement. I think that is the best and more awesome thing to happen. I love all my readers, but she is amazing for telling me.

    Now, the truth is we all post content online with the knowledge that after a time, someone somewhere is going to find it interesting enough to copy-paste it. It happens. It is not okay, but it does. Instead of getting worried, scared, or angry. It is better to arm yourself with the tools to face this threat. Empower yourself with the means to protect your creative content.

    So, I have two stories to share with you.

    The first story is about an author who got their work plagiarized on a site called Inkitt by a second party. The plagiarism incident consisted of this second party taking the author’s work (novel), changing the title and the names of the characters, but keeping everything else similar down to the spelling and grammar. The second party got a couple of readers and comments complimenting them on the work. Of course, one of these readers happened to know the story belonged to someone else. And so, the author received a message on Instagram from a fan who wrote, ‘Someone tried to copy your book on inkitt’, included was the link to the copied work and the account of this second party.
Now, after the initial shock, this author friend of mine started a search for what to do. The first and most direct thing she did was to contact inkitt.com and see if they can help.
Inkitt.com wasted no time in dealing with the matter. They do not tolerate plagiarism, and the second party was penalized the moment the complaint was verified. The incident lasted less than twenty-four hours. The plagiarized story was taken down.

    In this story, the author learned about the case of plagiarism because of a fan. This is the first line of defense an author has and should cultivate. If your work is good and authentic, and it engages your readers, your readers will be the first people to tell you if your content is published elsewhere without your consent.

    Now, if it happens to you, and you find your creative content plagiarized online, you are empowered and there is no need to feel as though you can’t publish again.

    1. The first line of defense is to approach the site you found the content and make a simple request. Claim the work as yours, and ask that it be removed. A ‘cease and desist’ request. Five out of ten times, the person who has plagiarized will bring it down without reaching out to you and you won’t have to worry about it.
    2. If no response happens, discover the FAQs about the website. If the person who has plagiarized the work does not own the site. If the site is owned by an organization like Inkitt, you can reach out to the organization and ask them to pull the work down. They will do it if you can prove ownership of the work. If the site is owned privately, and the author has refused to respond, then move on to the third option.
    3. Search engines like Google offer tools like Content Removal if an incident of copyright infringement occurs. They slap a DCMA complaint on the site and the content is no longer crawled on the search engine. The burden of origination and verification is on the original author, but if you are confident and have the information needed, Google is quite efficient in removing copyright infringement articles and content. You will find the instructions on how to do this here. Bing also offers you the same tools. If you’re running a wordpress.com site, Automattic offers you the means to file a complaint of copyright infringement. This brings me to my second story.

    The second story is about a Kenyan-based business name owner and an international organization that registered the same name as a trademark. In November 2022, the international organization used Automattic to file a complaint of copyright infringement on their trademark against the Kenyan-based business name owner. The complaint was written as follows:

    A clear and detailed explanation of how the above content is in violation of the trademark in question, thus creating consumer confusion: We are contacting you on behalf of the French company “xxxxx”, whose head office is “xxxx, PARIS”.
We have noticed (see below) that you are using the mark "XXXXXX” without the consent of the owner of the trademark and are therefore violating their intellectual property rights.
By this letter, we request that you cease all disputed use of the trademark and/or take all appropriate measures to ensure that the infringing uses are removed.
I have a good faith belief that use of the trademark as described above is an infringement of the rights granted under United States and/or foreign trademark law.: Yes
I understand that a copy of this notice, including any contact information I provided above, will be forwarded to the blog owner.: Yes
Signed on this date of (today's date, MM/DD/YYYY): 10/11/2022
Signature (your digital signature is legally binding): XXXXX

    Obviously, the Kenyan-based business name owner started a frantic search for how to handle this complaint. Why was dealing with this complaint so important?

    1. The blog in question is over ten years old, with great traffic, and an enormous amount of content.
    2. The business name represented a physical business in Nairobi, Kenya.
    3. Kenya has signed these treaties that help international companies protect their copyright.

    At first glance, there is the thought that this person making the complaint is located in another country, France to be exact, which is on another continent. How could they present this big a problem to a business in Kenya?

    A second glance brought out all the weaknesses. The business name owner in Kenya may have started out not intending to infringe on the France-based organization. However, as time continued, the blog grew, and the physical business grew, it drew more attention. The legal standing of the business name owner in Kenya came into question.

    Now, if the business name is not registered with the company’s registrar or trademark office in Kenya, they have no legal standing to fight the complaint. At the time of this complaint, they had no legal right to fight the complaint.

    So, the right answer was to comply with the complaint. The blog is also under Automattic’s jurisdiction. If Automattic wanted to stop hosting the blog, then they would, of course after a conversation with both parties.

    After painful deliberations, the Kenyan-based business name owner decided to approach KIPI with a different variation of their business name and complete the necessary registrations in order to stop this from happening again.

    The reason I tell you this story now is that it is 2023 and our dear country has grown up. Intellectual Property is becoming more important. There are more court cases settling matters of trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and copyrights. The copyright office is making a larger effort to document and offer authors, creators, companies, musicians, artists, and artisans the means to claim their copyrights.

    In this same case, it is getting easier for international companies to log copyright infringement cases against Kenyans.

    Why? We start our websites on wordpress.com, make content for Youtube, and want to crawl our sites on Google. These sites have to comply with various copyright laws, and so should we.

    So, I’ll end my blog post on copy-paste and authenticity on this note.

    As you create your blog, website, social media account, start a business and write your novels, work on making your content authentic. Cite your sources where you need to, and most of all, don’t claim other people’s work as your own. It is also important to note that search engines penalize copy-pasted content. It is much harder to rank on the first page if you have simply taken information from someone’s site, and pasted it on your own.

    Work on Authenticity

    If you practice copy-paste, learn how to cite the original content. Know that it might cost you.

    happy February 2023.

  • January 2023 Updates

    January 2023 Updates

    Happy New Year 2023!

    Book Reviews this January!

    Book Reviews – January 2023

    I Made A Place For You is Damien White’s debut poetry book.

    This short compilation of poems speaks on spirituality, inner thoughts, and their power on our souls. Each poem is matched to a colorful, thought-evoking illustration done by Francesco Orazzini.

    It’s a beautiful, colorful book that I loved reading.

    Are you thinking of trying your hand at writing a story this year? Check out this free guide for some free tips and information and get started. Make 2023 your magical year!

  • Print on Demand – Book Publishing in Kenya

    Print on Demand – Book Publishing in Kenya

    Q. Should I Use Print on Demand for Book Publishing in Kenya?

    Answer: Yes. It is a reasonable and affordable way to print your books on a budget.

    Here is a scenario. If you have tried to publish a book in Kenya, chances are you have approached a large printing press and they have quoted for you a minimum of 100 books. (500 copies in our case). The price of this entire job comes to around Kshs. 100,000 or more depending on the size of the book, color requirements, etc. If you do not have this amount, you will feel instantly discouraged and think, “Ah, publishing in Kenya is very expensive!”

    The most interesting truth about the printing press’s quote is, that it is cheaper to print a large number of books with them. It also guarantees the availability of the book.

    However, Smaller Printing Press shops offering Print-on-Demand are the best for authors who are growing, starting out, and hoping to get out there in the market. They need an affordable starting-out option that will not make publishing seem impossible and obliterate the savings account amounts.

    What is Print on Demand?.

    Print on demand in book publishing is the production of a small number of books as requested by the publisher, author, or customers.  The printing happens at a fixed cost per copy each time regardless of the size of the order that is, 1-5 books or 50 books. It allows the author to keep up the availability of their book for their customers, and have a dependable printing source who will always make the books as needed at the same price.

    The author’s biggest challenge is finding a Print-on-Demand company that will keep the fixed cost per copy reasonably intact. There might be fluctuations as per current inflation challenges in Kenya, but there should be no life-changing increases.

    For example, a book first printed at 180/- per copy cannot suddenly change to 350/- per copy the next time it is needed for print.  Such a change would increase the retail price and the author might have a hard time finding customers with a new price to match the new printing cost. The author might not be able to afford this change of printing cost either.  It is important to find a Print-on-Demand shop that will work with you and keep prices reasonably intact for your book.

    Kenya has gone through a very large shift in terms of offering Print-on-Demand Services. There are more Print-on-Demand printers, alongside the Offset Printing shops.

    So, if you’re on the verge of finding a printer and your budget is not at the 500 copies level, find a Print-on-Demand shop. I will shamelessly plug Publish4All Kenya here.  They have been quite reasonable to us and always fulfill our orders without issue. They are the best printers we have dealt with so far.

    An author hoping to put out books can easily find a printer who is willing to print out 5-10 copies of a book at a reasonable price. The author can then sell the books and return to print another set. The more the book’s demand grows, the more you can print. In time, you can work up to getting the 500 copies, of which you’ll find an offset printer to keep you stocked at mass-printing levels.

    For entrepreneurs in Kenya, the Print-on-Demand industry has a clear existing gap waiting for you to fill it.  Affordable printing prices are attractive to budding authors. The existence of these services at reasonable costs and offering quality end-products will also encourage more people to print their books.

    Are you interested in printing a book, You can email Publish4All Kenya for a quotation. – p4akenya@gmail.com

  • June Adventures and 2o22 so Far!

    June Adventures and 2o22 so Far!

    June is a great month to reassess plans and ideas. 2022 has been a series of small and massive changes, from stocking up on cooking oil to learning how to seriously create TikTok vids, trying not to binge on Stranger Things on Netflix, and seriously failing, the ’80s were fun.  The year is on a roll, and it’s all about managing everything in your life to keep moving forward.

    Here are a few updates from our corner. June is dry for us in Nairobi this year. I garden and we have to water veggies and flowers on a serious note to escape drought. In any case, putting in some effort with watering has gotten us some pretty results. Mom harvested some bananas, and the flowers are looking pretty.  I miss the rain. Wondering if we should learn how to do a rain dance…hahaha.

    I got to work on a very simple book cover this past month. We create content and make eBooks for sale at The Amari Baking Center. Here is a look at the pricing eBook we put out lately.  It has great content about how to manage your product pricing if you’re thinking or working on starting a small business. You can get it here. Pricing Book/Amari

    On my reading list, I’m caught up in the Ash Princess Trilogy for the month of June. Ash Princess and Lady Smoke are read, and I’m left with Ember Queen. Can’t wait to get to the end of this series. I have a plan to read Wings of Ebony, I’m hoping it is an interesting read. My book count is slowly going up. I hope I’m at 52 by the end of the year.

    On writing, I think I’m doing better this year than I did last year. I have a lot more chapters out than I expected. It does take effort to add in the word count between daily life activities, general chores, and that fabulous villain called procrastination. I hope to keep winning on the word count as the year continues. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to put out a new ebook in December 2022? Let’s do this!

    June is at the end and six months of 2022 with it. I hope that I’ll manage to make the next six months more productive for this blog. On the plus side, I’ve finally learned how to make a blog calendar work for me! Which is an accomplishment I really cannot explain, just know it is a big, BIG thing! I’m too excited about it. That’s my happenings for the year.

    I hope your next six months are full of productive and amazing events that fill you with accomplishment by December 2022.  Work on finishing that book you’ve been writing, get your projects done or plan one you’ve been thinking of getting done.

  • What Information Goes on the Copyright Page of a book in Kenya?

    What Information Goes on the Copyright Page of a book in Kenya?

    You have completed your book.  You are now ready for publishing in our beautiful country of Kenya. You need a copyright page in both the e-Book and Printed Format.  The copyright page is the second or third page depending on the items you have planned for the first pages. It should contain the following information:

    1. Title of the Book

    – This one is easy. Your Book’s Title and the Subtitle if you have one.

    2. Name of the Author

    – The author who has written the book.  Make sure to add in all authors and contributors if there is more than one.

    3. Copyright Holder

    • This looks like this: Copyright © Year by (Name).  If there is more than one author, include their names.
    • Copyright holders should be named for the text contributed, and images found in the book or the book cover. Sometimes, the image owner may give copyright to the owner but require a credit on this page for producing the image.
    • Copyright holders can be authors, publishing companies, businesses, and organizations.

    4. ISBN Number

    • If you have an ISBN from the Kenya National Library, include it here. You can write the number and/or include the barcode that comes with it.
    • If you are internationally based, you might have a Library of Congress number, which you can include on this page too.

    5. Rights & Permissions

    This is the paragraph that reads, All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. There are different variations of this paragraph, ending with the means to contact the copyright holder for permission to quote, use or adapt the content in the book.

    6. Contact Information

    • You will most likely put down the contact information of the person who will be responsible for handling the permissions in the Rights & Permissions paragraph. This can be the publisher’s contacts or the author’s contacts.

    7. Permissions

    • If you quote or use information from another publication, author, or image copyright owner, you need to credit their work. You can use this page to include the permissions given or granted to you by the owner of the borrowed content.
    • This includes lyrics from songs, which do have copyright ownership.  The Kenya Copyright Board has a site for these registrations and searches. Consult with the site to check out who owns what and how to get permissions.

    To remember:

    • If the author is the writer/ editor/ and publisher, then he or she will include their information in all the parts mentioned.  Otherwise, include the names of those who have contributed, depending on agreements of services rendered.
    • If more than one author writes the book, make sure to add in all authors.
    • Images and book cover creators may ask you to credit their names on the Copyright page.
    • A Printing press/ book formatting service may include their logo on the copyright page, as well as their information.

    Here is a copyright page sample to see what it should look like:

    Title
Author

Copyright © 2022, Author
Cover Art © 2022 (Moon Artist)

Edited by Awesome editor
Published by (Abc Publishers)
ISBN Number: 
(ISBN barcode) optional
Library of Congress Number:

All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole
or in part in any form.
Or
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your
use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard
work of these authors.

For Permissions reach out to Abc Publishers info or Author’s Information/ email and phone number and/or Address.

You can include a disclaimer if you have written fiction.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Some publishers in Kenya do include the Kenya Copyright Law that governs copyrights on this page. You may include this part depending on how much space you have left on your book’s page.

    The copyright page is there to say who the copyrights belong to, and who to contact for permissions to reproduce, copy, adapt, quote or reuse the content found in the publication. It also helps to know who has contributed to the work.

    Do not forget to visit the Kenya Copyright Board website to copyright your work.  You get a certificate for your efforts, and your rights are searchable in the database.

  • 3 Popular Questions Asked about e-Books in Kenya

    3 Popular Questions Asked about e-Books in Kenya

    Question 1: How do I create an e-Book in Kenya? Is it easy?

    A. This depends on the type of book you want to create. A book filled with prose like a story, or a non-fiction book with no graphs, tables, and pictures is easy.  You only need Microsoft Word/Apple’s Pages to create an e-Book.  You can turn your word document into a PDF, and/or ePub with Pages, and voila, you have an e-book.

    The challenge starts when you have graphs, tables, and pictures that need specific formatting and layout requirements.  You then have to think of how your readers will access the e-book and the type of app they will use to read your e-book.

    If you are selling your e-book yourself, there are decisions to make, for example;

    • – Do you want the e-book printable? If you do, the PDF version is sufficient.  You only need to make sure it is formatted correctly so that the graphs fit within the margins and are readable on a phone/tablet/ laptop etc.
    • – Do you have a print book and do not want the e-book printable? My advice would be to keep the book in print form. Do not turn the print book into an e-book if you’re absolutely against getting it in an e-book and having it printed out by readers that way. I tell you this because a motivated reader will find a way to turn your unprintable e-book into a printable version. We are in an age when there is always software somewhere that can do the conversion.
      • In any case, if you must turn the e-book non-printable, ePub is your best option.  ePub allows you to disable the printing option at creation ePub reading apps do not provide a means to print the eBook. Once again, it depends on the platform you have chosen to use to distribute your ePub.  When you are creating PDFs, you do get to choose whether to make the PDF nonprintable too, but you have to have software that allows you to lock up the contents.  Otherwise, as I said earlier, motivated readers will find a way to bypass the password version. ^_^

    I hope this sheds some light on this constant question in my inbox. ^_^

    Question 2: What type of software do I use often to make e-books?

    1. Microsoft Word

    The most basic and easiest way to create an e-book in Kenya is to use Word from Microsoft Office, or its equivalent on Apple called Pages.  This is because I have used Word for a long time, since my school days, so I find it easiest to use.  I am able to make the necessary formatting changes on Word without problems. It is also easy because platforms like Smashwords take the word documents and turn them into PDF/Epub/and all other types of formats for the different types of devices on the planet.  Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing can also use .docx for their Kindle Create software to make upload files for Kindle. Word is quite diverse and easy to use.  Microsoft Office 360 is also a great way to save documents online so I don’t worry about crashing laptops and loss of work.  You can also do that with Google Docs, though I rarely use google docs as a way to work on ebooks to publish unless I’m doing a collaboration with someone else and we’re storing notes or giving feedback that needs everyone’s input.

    1. Publisher

    I love Publisher for when I’m creating mini books that will not be uploaded online, or used as e-books. I use this software for little books we are printing ourselves.  It has a lot to offer in terms of formatting, and the little bubbles and asides and graphs and ways to arrange pictures excite me.  It’s my favorite for brochures, info notebooks, or just a short printed book.  I do not use this for e-books though.  I also do not use this software when sending a document to the printers.  The few times I tried it, we had great and epic mix-ups with formatting issues, so I reverted to word, and shifted to Indesign.

    1. Adobe Indesign

    This is my favorite software.  It offers a very wide range of possibilities and is perfect for magazines, novels both non-fiction, and fiction, brochures, ebooks, and anything you can think of creating that will open like a book.  It is important to note that it also has a wide learning curve.  You’ll need to take the time to get to know how to format paragraphs, shapes, designs, images, and all that, but once you master it, anything is possible.  You can save your documents as per the printer’s requirements, and create ebooks turning them into PDFs or ePubs. The only limitations with this software are caused by the wallet ^_^. You can work on upgrading it as you grow.

    Question 3 – Where do I sell my e-Book in Kenya now that I have made it?

    Everywhere!  There is no limitation on where you can sell your e-book or printed book for that matter.  What I can do is give you three ideas on how you can create outlets for your ebook.

    There is no limitation on where you can sell your e-book

    1. Create a Page on your preferred Social Media Platform. There are very many: Facebook /Instagram/ Tiktok/ Twitter to name some of the most popular. Discuss and talk about your book on your pages.  Facebook/ Instagram allows you to create a shop and you can sell your book through them.  Tiktok allows you to direct your followers to your Instagram page. Well, you can also Tweet the process of how to get the book. (This is the least amount of work for setup) You can also sell your ebook through Whatsapp.
    2. Create a website and make a landing page for your book.  Do you know how to create a website? If you do, then we’re halfway there. Create a landing page highlighting your e-book. I’m hoping you have a following or have at least been marketing it by this point. Explain to your potential readers how to buy your Printed Book/e-book. Provide an email, phone number, and how to pay for it.  Please make this process seamless for the reader. (An Mpesa plugin allows you to set up a seamless payment system. This method does require a considerable amount of knowledge when it comes to setting up a website. You can learn to do it yourself, or reach out to the website designer of your choice.)
    3. Signup on an ebook selling platform like OkadaBooks/ Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing/ Smashwords / Draft2Digital/ Litireso.  What these platforms allow you to do is upload your word document or pdf, please check their requirements, and sell your book through their shops and/or distribute to other ebook selling shops like Barnes & Nobles and Apple Books, etc. This method is the easiest as you rely on already established resources.  The cost of this is that each of these platforms does take a percentage of your sales. Decide which platform best fits your needs.

    I hope this information gives you some insight into creating your own e-book for distribution to your readers. Find the software you are most comfortable with and work on mastering it, formatting documents, so that you are able to send out beautiful ebooks to your readers. Most of all, I wish you the best of luck on your publishing journey.

  • Belonging – Review

    Belonging – Review

    Belonging by Christine Warugaba

    Published by Furaha Publishers, based in Kigali, Rwanda. This book is available in March 2022. I received an Advanced Review Copy from C. Warugaba.

    Summary

    Belonging by Christine Warugaba is about Keza Rugamba, who was born in Kampala, Uganda to parents originating from Rwanda.  Their tribe is Tutsi and her parents fled Rwanda to escape the genocide of the Tutsi in the early 1960s. Keza grows up in Kampala, Uganda amidst the background of a military regime marked by raids in their home, and deadly robberies that stole her uncle’s life.  Despite the chaos, Keza’s family lives a relatively peaceful life and she completes her primary and high school education.

    Two years before Keza’s high school graduation, Rwanda endures a tumultuous period, and soon after welcomes the restoration of peace.  A peaceful Rwanda has Keza’s father thinking of a return to their homeland.  However, Keza’s mother is traumatized by the loss of their extended family and is unwilling to return, so they remain in Kampala. In contrast, Keza’s Aunt Stella, her mother’s sister, makes the decision to return to Kigali, Rwanda.

    Fresh out of high school, Keza begs her mother’s permission to go along with her Aunt Stella to see their homeland.  To her mother’s surprise, Keza insists on attending university in Rwanda.  Keza arrives in Kigali to live with her Aunt Stella and attend med school at the National University of Rwanda.

    Belonging is a
    Conversation Starter

    ellyinnairobi.com

    Rwanda soon becomes Keza’s second home. In a reflective moment, between holiday visits to see her parents in Kampala, Keza wonders, “Where is home?”

    When Keza completes her university, she applies for and wins a green card.  A new adventure in a foreign country begins when Keza lands in New York. She finds herself working to survive a fast-paced, alien-biased world.  She is a qualified doctor in Rwanda, but in the United States, she needs to return to school and qualify for an American Medical License.

    She works odd jobs to help meet basic needs and afford her new life in New York.  Keza almost drowns in the tedium of shift jobs, paying rent and upkeep, while studying for her medical license examinations.  She catches a break when she lands a job working at a weight-loss clinic in New York and gains a Kenyan friend and boss who does understand her struggle.  Keza strikes a work/school life balance as she works at the Makena Clinic.  She remains at the clinic for six years before she is disillusioned by the American Dream, and she finally decides to return to Kigali with a new dream, starting her own business.

    The moment Keza lands in Kigali, her cousin Ivan warns her that Aunt Stella will make it a mission to get Keza married.  True to Ivan’s prediction, Aunt Stella embarks on a full campaign to get Keza married, which includes prayers and fasting.  Despite Aunt Stella’s obvious efforts, Keza starts a sincere journey to solidify her roots and create something belonging to her.

    Thoughts

    Belonging as a novel illustrates a quest to find a home.

    Keza is in search of a place she can truly call hers.  She carries on her shoulders a difficult past faced by her ancestors: her parents, grandparents, and relatives in her Tutsi tribe. Because of this past, and an initial loss of her homeland, Keza becomes a woman forged by three distinct cultures from three different countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Western world.

    She is highly educated.  Thanks to the experiences she faced in each world, she becomes intensely hardworking and independent.  By the time she is landing in Kigali, her mind is set on a specific goal, that is, building a successful business.  A goal she finds difficult to push aside to accommodate her aunt’s search for a husband for her.

    At every step, Keza’s family remains supportive.  From her steadfast Aunt Stella who gives Keza unconditional love and support, marriage plans aside. To her cousins and nieces who help Keza when she is at her lowest and in grief.  They also celebrate with her during her highest moments.

    Belonging does showcase impact points meant to start a larger conversation. The most prominent point speaks on the weight of traditional expectations concerning marriage beset on African women’s shoulders.  No matter the extent of their education or accomplishment.

    Aunt Stella’s quest to get Keza married before she turns forty serves as a perfect example of this expectation.  In sharp contrast, Aunt Stella does not show the same desperate concern for her own son.  Her quest climaxes in a party with a house full of bachelors so that Keza may try to find someone who sparks her interests.  Aunt Stella’s desperation and concern for Keza’s marriage leads to health problems caused by constant fasting.  Concern for her aunt’s health forces Keza to the extreme idea of getting a fake boyfriend.

    It was probably the only way Keza was going to meet someone. The experiences Keza lives through forge her character and her ultimate goals. The events of her life give her the strength to build a successful business in Kigali.  They also make her opinion on marriage different from Aunt Stella’s. I do appreciate the fact that in the end, these life experiences help Keza choose a partner who is right for her, on her own terms.

    Belonging unfolds in the form of flashbacks at the start.  Much of the first part of the novel is told in a memory stream.  Keza remembers her past as she packs to return to Kigali. It is not a fast romance read. The story needs time to assimilate, as Keza works to find her place in the many worlds she encounters.

  • Where to Sell or Share your Complete Story in East Africa

    Where to Sell or Share your Complete Story in East Africa

    The one thing writers all need, no matter the level of their creative journey, is feedback from readers.  Readers who will dive into your work and get back to you with legitimate feedback on what they think/thought about your work. Feedback will help you grow as a writer, and gaining readership will allow you to discover what else you can do with your work.

    This post compiles a list of options to use as an author based in East Africa and hoping to grow your readership.  From sites to post free content for immediate feedback to e-book and printed book distribution websites to aid your book sales.

    Here are platforms that offer authors options on what to do with their work:

    Five Free Reading/Writing Sites:

    These sites allow you to post your work in chapters or episodes.  You can publish your work in one go or post weekly to gain followers and readers.

    1. ebonystory.com

    Ebonystory.com is branded as the Home of Interesting African Stories.  It is quite easy to create an account and start posting your chapters.  You’ll be in the company of fellow African writers and a diverse readership ready to consume your content. They offer you a slew of story genres for which you can write.

    2. Wattpad.com

    Wattpad brands itself as ‘…the world’s most-loved social storytelling platform, where new voices write and share, and readers connect with the stories they love.’ Writers can create an account and start posting their story chapters right away.  Readers can access books on the web or by using the Wattpad app.  It is a highly competitive environment for authors.  You need to do some work and social sharing to get your work read.  If you hope to get feedback immediately, you must proactively direct readers to your page and your stories. Wattpad.com offers authors different opportunities like Wattpad Stars and Ambassadors and chances to get books in awards like the .  They also offer paid stories, and authors may apply to join this program depending on content and readership base. ( It is important to note that Wattpad is a platform still finding its footing in the African Continent, and they have yet to trickle down these opportunities to African Authors; if it has, it is happening in a slow trickle.) This aside, Wattpad allows you to have a platform to share your work for free at no cost, and you can gain readership through hard work.

    3. Inkitt.com

    Inkitt is the world’s first reader-powered publisher, providing a platform to discover hidden talents and turn them into globally successful authors.  This platform is similar to Wattpad, allowing you to create an account and publish your stories chapter to chapter to gain readership.  The more popular your work, the more likely you will get published by Inkitt’s unique publishing system.  It is worth a try if you hope to gain readership and build on your work.

    4. Webnovel.com

    Web Novel's Inkstone platform
    Web Novel’s Inkstone

    Webnovel.com – Webnovel is a Chinese-owned publishing platform. They brand themselves as >>>Webnovel a global online reading platform for all kinds of marvelous novels and comics. It updates serialized content daily, dedicated to micro-transactions and in-game-purchase mode, defining new trends in the online publishing industry. They mostly publish stories translated into English from Chinese or Korean.  However, they offer a platform named Inkstone that allows you to share your work chapter by chapter.  Webnovel’s author platform takes a bit of work to understand.  Their library of stories is full of translated Chinese/Korean works.  If you decide to delve into this platform, you may create the same types of stories or create your own brand. Either way, it’s a great way to introduce your work to new readers.  My only tip would be to read more about Webnovel before you decide to publish. Read more about them.

    5. . Dreame Stories – starywriting.com

    To write for Dreame Stories is to write for Stary Writing, which offers the platform.  They offer the opportunity to become an exclusive stary writer and get paid an income.  Dreame Stories does have a large readership base. As always, the work falls to the author to direct readers to the page and gain a following to reach paid status.  Please read up on the requirements at starywriting.com so that you know what kind of content they accept and what they expect of their writers.

    Ebook Distribution Platforms

    Smashwords.com / Draft2Digital

    I’ve been a longtime fan of Smashwords. It offers authors a great service in distributing books to various ebook stores like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Scribd, and Amazon. Smashwords.com also has its own store that allows the purchase and download of ebooks. 

    To note: Smashwords.com has recently merged with Draft2Digital.com.  I hope it remains as amazing as it has been.  You can publish both free and paid ebooks.

    Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing

    This is a great platform to get your e-books published.  You can bring your work to a global audience as Amazon’s Kindle is worldwide.  Their only downside is payment for Kenyans.  Kenyans can only receive $100 checks in their mailbox. Which is very old-fashioned in a world of digital money. Hahaha. Amazon’s payment offer for Kenyans is still wanting.  They do not allow us to use PayPal/or our banks. (This might be different for authors with bank accounts and addresses abroad) Your payment comes when you manage $100 in sales in the form of a cheque to your mailbox.

    Printed Book Distribution Platforms

    Nuria Store – The Honest Online Shop (Printed Books)

    Nuria Online Bookstore is a one-stop shop for books in various categories, such as Self-help and motivational, Religion and spirituality, Fiction and nonfiction, Business and Management, African Literature, and Kids and teens. Customers can also shop for a wide range of bookshelves and study desks. You can distribute your printed books through their platform here.

    Jumia.co.ke (Seller Account)

    If you have a seller account on Jumia, you can sell your printed books if they have an ISBN barcode on the back cover.  All you need to do is follow Jumia’s seller account guidelines and ensure your book is well-stocked to meet Jumia’s delivery demands.

    International Book Printing Platforms

    1. Lulu.com
    2. Ingramspark.com
    3. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing

    These three international platforms have long-established guidelines on how you can sell e-books and get your books printed.  If you’re in Kenya /East Africa, these three will require you to contend with fluctuating global shipping rates.  If these shipping rates are doable for you, these platforms are a great resource to tap into and get your books to a broader audience.

    Please Note: The platforms listed above allow you as a writer/author to sign up with minimal fuss.  You register an account, follow guidelines as specified on each website, then do your best to market yourself. Registration is free for all of them, with no money required for membership/or to get your book or work listed. All you need is your own work/ebook, a reliable computer or mobile phone, and internet access.

    Happy Writing and Selling.

    Check out The Hidden Queen Here

    The Hidden Queen
    by Elly Ann © 2024, All Rights Reserved.
    Book One

    Asukai
    Asu Kinga has lived all her life in the mortal realm. Her parents are hardworking, and though they don't shower her with affection, they have never let her lack for anything.  She has a little sister who she loves to bits. She thinks her grandmother is the best in the world. Asu and her little sister, Hera, spend their school holidays at their grandmother's home. 
    One rainy November, Asu wakes up in the deep of night to the horror of intruders invading her grandmother's house, and her younger sister is  kidnapped.  Her grandmother turns hysterical and thrusts Asu into a new world, demanding she save Hera at any cost.

    Tarron
    Tarron is the son of the hardest man in Goshalion. They call Goshalion the Eternal Realm, but for Tarron, it has been a realm filled with hardness and scarcity. In his world, he must always be the best, but also second to his father's true son.  When he comes of age, Tarron chooses to leave his father's house for good. However, the assignment that takes him out of a cruel palace, threatens to unravel everything he knows about his life.

    When Tarron meets Asu, they are sworn enemies bound to harm each other.
    Will Asu manage to save her sister's life or will Tarron end her life before she can fulfill her duty?
  • Publish your World

    Publish your World

    My grandmother told us (her grandchildren) folktales in her kitchen, while we waited for her to finish cooking.  She told us tales when we finished eating and waited to go to bed.  I remember the sound of her voice, her laugh, the scent of the sweet potatoes she roasted in the hot ash under the firewood coals.  Most of all, I remember the warmth of her kitchen, as she spun wild tales about an ogre in the forest who ate naughty children.  Her stories could be quite frightening at times. 

    She’s long gone now.  All we have are the memories of her tales.  Most of which are not as clear as we wish they would be.  We were young, the years have gone by and us, her grandchildren, are often sad because her stories while entertaining are lost to memory.  I wish someone had written them down.  I wish I knew them well enough to write them down and print them.

    I tell you this memory because you must also have stories you enjoyed, you experienced and hold close to your personal history.  They are yours, told in your language, your way.  To never forget them is a gift, to share them is your privilege.  Write them down and get them read by others.  Share your experiences in our beautiful East Africa with the generations to come. 

    Publish your world.