Authors, publishers optimistic about 2017 prospects
SOME stakeholders in the writing industry have expressed hope that this year will be better than last year. Others have already launched projects for 2017, thus unveiling new opportunities for local authors. In different interviews, the stakeholders said they expect to release a number of projects as well as shore up their brands to suit the changing times.
Dr. Samuel Makore, chairperson of ZimCopy, a local reproduction rights organisation, said this year his organisation aims to complete the licensing process targeting the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and about 29 institutions through the blanket licence.
“We are also expecting to recruit more rights holders who include cre- ators and publishers, establish a formal secretariat and create awareness of copyright to creators, publishers, users of copyright material like Government institutions,” said Dr. Makore. He added that ZimCopy would also widen publicity of its role within the country and the region.
Dr. Makore also leads the Zimbabwe Academic and Non-Fiction Authors (ZANA) which he said will this year concentrate mainly on recruiting more members in all the provinces, develop writing skills among authors and potential authors, create awareness of copyright and help them develop negotiating skills on contracts.
Jane Morris of AmaBooks, a Bulawayo-based publishing house, said although 2016 was a difficult year in the book industry due to the economic climate, writers in Zimbabwe continued to submit high quality works and this was very encouraging. Zimbabwean literary talent, she said, never ceases to attract readers internationally.
“Outside of the country, Zimbabwean writers continue to attract interest. We have several exciting projects lined up for 2017 and we look forward to working on these,” said Morris.
AmaBooks has already posted on its blog a call for short stories with no restrictions on length and theme.
A new publisher/author, Tatenda Charles Munyuki, said he was hoping to change the lives of writers through the sale of their works.
“As a publisher, my expectations are to definitely get my writers have more than 10 000 books each sold out there, make them make a living out of their works,” said Munyuki, who has a passion for publishing weekly or monthly book series.
He hopes to improve the livelihood of writers under his stable through turning some of their poems into music and their novels or short stories into films.
Munyuki has launched a new series under the title “Girls Have Voices” under which he hopes to attract as many young writers as possible. He has already trail-blazed the series with three of his own stories.
Another new publisher, Forteworx Publishers, which so far has published about four anthologies in both Shona and English languages, is expecting to grow into a recognised publisher in Zimbabwe and beyond. Brian Tafadzwa Penny, the company’s co-director, said they were expecting some growth in high-quality submissions from new authors.
“We expect improved passion in writing, more collaborations and publication of works which go beyond the borders and compete on international platforms,” he said. The collaborations with other organisations will see Forte- worx conducting writing skills training workshops so that raw talent is developed to fully-fledged writers.
Forteworx, said Penny, had an Eng- lish short story anthology project which was now at advanced editing stage. The anthology will be published this year.