ON THE SHELF
Why Khanyi's book bombed
SHE may be the self-proclaimed queen of bling, but when it comes to book sales Khanyi Mbau’s story is not quite as sparkling.
Mbau is one of several local celebrities to have jumped on the bandwagon of international stars such as the Kardashian sisters, Pamela Anderson and Tyra Banks, whose tell-all books raked in millions.
But the locals have not had much luck. Contributing books editor Michelle Magwood said it was “interesting that so many South African celebs are writing their stories”.
“I think it’s a result of publishers seeing that readers are responding to these stories. They’re hungry for new role models and hungry for gossip, too. Many of them wouldn’t have found a publisher 20 years ago,” she said.
Mbau’s biography was written by journalist Lesley Mofokeng and titled Bitch, Please! I’m Khanyi Mbau. The book revealed her extravagant yet scandalous life, including her relationships with sugar daddies Mandla Mthembu and Theunis Crous. Even those salacious details could not score her a bestseller’s title — in South Africa put at 5 000 copies — by managing only 4 000 book sales since its release last year.
Mbau, however, has bragging rights over her former rival, singer Kelly Khumalo, whose The Kelly Khumalo Story, authored by journalist Melinda Ferguson, sold 2 500 copies.
Sports personalities’ books have sold far more than others. Former Springbok Victor Matfield’s book, Victor: My Journey, sold 51 000 copies in English and Afrikaans, and former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers’s Politically Incorrect: The Autobiography sold 23 000 copies.
Radio personality and book reviewer Jenny Crwys-Williams said Khumalo and Mbau’s books were “not as thrilling as other celebrity books”.
“Their books are quick reads — more of fun reads that you just drop in the bath and move on to something of more substance and relevance,” she said.
Other celebrity books that have been released since 2011 include:
Former e.tv news reporter and Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela’s My Father, My Monster sold 11 000 copies since its release in September 2011;
Radio personality Redi Tlhabi’s Endings and Beginnings sold 10 000 copies within its first six months of release; and
Actress Bonnie Henna’s Eyebags and Dimples sold 4 500 copies since being released nine months ago.
The figures for singer and playwright David Kramer’s ’n Biografie and former TV personality Casey B Dolan’s An Appetite for Peas were not released by the publisher. Magwood and CrwysWilliams agreed with the sales figures, saying Polela and Tlhabi’s books were by far the best of the batch. Both books were more serious reads, capturing tragic and emotional details of the authors’ past.
“Both of them are excellent. The best life stories are those that widen the lens from the individual to reveal more about the society that shaped them.
“The reason they’ve sold way more than the others is because McIntosh and Redi have triumphed. They’ve survived appallingly traumatic childhoods and risen to admirable levels of success,” said Magwood.
Crwys-Williams said Kramer’s book served its purpose because “many know of his work and not about the man himself”.
“When the subject being written about is a brand, people are intrigued to know them better, but some tell-alls are written not to last and are soon forgotten.
“And people will remember David, McIntosh and Redi’s books more out of all these books,” she said.