Publishes Spaces and Them in October
Tyler Majaga, 28, is a researcher, content writer and producer for Bookbinder Business Law. He has prior experience working as a journalist for Mmegi Newspaper and INK Centre for Investigative Journalism, and holds a BA in Motion Picture Medium (Writing and Directing double major) from AFDA.
Majaga started writing in high school, when I was 14 years old. He fantasised of selling lots of books and making millions of Pula but reality hit hard.
“Batswana do not read like that,” he lamented. At most, he said, he would be lucky if I sold 500 copies.
His first book, TEENAGER’S TALE - a fictional memoir of his high school days, sold just 50 copies.
“I was naive, the publisher and retailer of the book both had little to no interest in helping me push the sales, and so in the end, I made no profits from the book.”
“The depression that followed me was of Biblical proportions. I had quit varsity in the hope of making it big as a writer, and that plan backfired,” he said.
Majaga spent two years out of school, with no hope but with the time he had on my hands, he got a chance to interact with a lot of private school kids, who gave me a glimpse into their middle-class lives.
“That inspired my next book, BLUE SKIES IN THE SOUTH: PREMISE, which was a recount of three young adults in Gaborone who try to shine in a city that numbs dreams. It was released in 2019 to astounding success, selling 200 copies through pre-orders before its release date.
BLUE SKIES IN THE SOUTH: PREMISE was self-published under my publishing business, TEENAGER’S TALE PUBLISHERS. “It was a poetic nod to the attempt I had made as a writer three years earlier.
The subsequent projects I released thereafter were all released under my publishing business. With every project, I learned a new lesson about how to navigate the usually non-receptive market. It is a profitable business, being a writer.”
He said that grassroots inulcating of the reading culture is the best approach. “Let us invest more money in libraries and incentivise students with writing competitions that will force them to read. Throw money at intellectually enhancing programs.” Majaga said that he would love to one day see my books read in government high schools across
the country, especially in rural Botswana. “I was raised primarily in Molepolole, and went on to be a boarding student in Tsetsebjwe and Bobonong. Most of my peers were smart kids who just needed a glimpse of what the city they all aspired to go to is like. My books touch a lot on the rural-to-urban transition, and I believe it is only a matter of time before someone in a relevant government department calls me and asks me to step in.” During the Covid19 lockdowns, Majaga started re-writing BLUE SKIES IN THE SOUTH: PREMISE. The original was a short novel of approximately 32, 000 words, and he added over 50, 000 words to it to produce the current full-length novel. He also collaborated with two other writers and compiled poems and short stories from two anthologies. The compilation, SPACES AND THEM, will release in October along with the full-length novel, BLUE SKIES IN THE SOUTH.