The Emotion Book Party Takes Over!

To be wholly devoted to some intellectual exercise is to have succeeded in life – Soren Kierke Gaard
    An intellectual is a man who takes more than necessary to tell more than he knows – John Adams.

The Emotion Book party is born out of the great need to marry intellectualism with entertainment, while at the happy end promote the reading culture in Nigeria. It is a brainchild of The Emotion book club, a literary organization strongly bent on building the leaders of tomorrow through books.
We believe Nigeria is encountering problems socially, politically and economically because the Nigerian society is either misinformed or rather not informed at all.
The Emotion Book Party Takes Over is a great platform for the Nigerian public to be informed about books and its informative capability.
That is why we are enjoining Nigerians local and abroad to join us in taking over streets and homes with the Good news of The Emotion Book Party.
The Emotion Book Party will be featuring the following speakers : Muhtar Bakare [Farafina Books, Lagos] Publishing: A Nation Builder
Steve Shaba[Kraft Books] Publishing : A Nation Builder
Hyginus Ekwuazi[Author, I have Miles To walk Before I Sleep, Winner ANA/CADBURY PRIZE 2010] The Gatekeepers: Writing For The World
Ayodele Olofintuade [Author, Eno's Story; Best Three Shortlist NLNG PRIZE 2011]
 The Impact Of Children’s Literature On Adults

Guest Reviewer : Babatunde Onikoyi [To Review I Do Not Come To You By Chance by Tricia Nwaubani, Winner Commonwealth Best Book 2010]

Entertainment: Comedy Sketch, Poetry Performance by Rhyme House, Solo Music Performances by our Guest Artistes, Refreshments, Special Gifts for the first twenty people to arrive event venue and so on and so forth.

Date : February 17, 2012
Venue: Arts Theater, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
Time: 1pm.
Gate Fee: FREE.

BOOK A SEAT
As we have limited seats for the expected large audience, we are making seats open to the interested public before hand.
Mail your Name and your contact information to Emotionbookclub@gmail.com. We will confirm your seat within 48 hours of receipt.

The Emotion Book Club: January Reading

The Emotion Book club  hereby invites the general public to her reading for January. The January reading will be featuring our book of the month, Shimmer Chinodya’s Dew In The Morning. Shimmer Chinodya is an award winning Zimbabwean writer. He wrote Dew In The Morning at the age of nineteen.
Come and network with fellow literary enthusiasts on the 21st of January, 2012[Saturday].
Time: 3pm
Venue: Small Lecture Theater[Room32],Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan.
To perform a solo or poem, read a short story or a novel excerpt, please call: 2348093728869.
Better still, you may mail us at: Emotionbookclub@gmail.com.

Emotion Press:Seasons Greetings

On behalf of the management of  Emotion Press, led by Our CEO/Managing Editor in the name of Folarin Olaniyi, I am wishing all our clients and fans a merry Christmas and happy New Year in advance.

As you await the release of our two new titles, The Man In The Moon and The Grasshopper Race, we are pleading to all writers that had sent manuscripts to us for more than a month now without reply to kindly bear with us by the spirit behind the season.

We are putting the necessary machinery in place. By January, all manuscripts will be sorted out by time and notifications, sent to writers.

Introducing Book Republic

Book Republic is a Nigerian literary blog established by Emotion Press. It is basically dedicated towards promoting the reading culture in Nigeria.
In our creative way, as usual, we plan to write on both old and new books and other things that matter in the Nigerian literary scene.
Every forth night, from January 2012, we will be hosting a Guest writer. The Guest writer series will feature essays and interviews by the writer.
The Book Republic blog is www.progresspublishing.wordpress.com
As Emotion Press’ two releases – The Man In The Moon and The Grasshopper Race – will be out In December, the first ten followers of the blog will be given the electronic copy of those books free of charge! They will be the first ten people to read the books. You can follow the blog by visiting www.progresspublishing.wordpress.com and enter your name and e-mail on the given space.

Editing Job Made Simple

Publishers are busy people. It disgusts me all of the time, much more disgusted when in a bad mood, at my realization of some silly mistakes committed by writers. These are flimsy mistakes that could have been avoided if a personal editor had been properly consulted before submission.
I have learned uncountable  lessons from editing writers.I have been humbled.
In this write-up, I will ruminate on the steps every writing usually pass through before the final recommendation to the management for publication or otherwise.

- FIRST READING – In this stage I do not bother to find errors. I seek for entertainment and logicality.The extent of logicality will be premised upon the genre.
I dread boring scripts. Scripts lacking realistic settings, scenes and actions.
Out of every five, there are one or two with the potential.
I dislike a non-entertaining and opinionated non-fiction, so when I read the first chapter and I am not entertained nor educated, I drop it for other scripts.
I have read a 20 page children’s literature for three weeks before. You blame me?
- EAGLING
I would seek for general errors. I love asking questions at this stage. Is the title original?What is the background in relation to the the language?  What makes the whole concept unique? Does the story touches the heart?
Sometimes I ask stupid questions, but it is all for the good of everyone. It is the eagle’s eyes section.
- GENERAL ANALYSIS
I will again read the first 20 twenty paragraphs of the script. Reviewing the general concept of the script is quite essential if it is seemingly amusing and unique.

Frankly, the editing job is tasking and quite challenging. Editors, like publishers and literary agents are busy people. And that is why you need a personal critic to edit your work before forward them to a publishing house.
I wish you good luck in your publishing.

Folarin Olaniyi is the Managing editor at Emotion Press. For editorial consultation, mail him at Olaniyibooks09@gmail.com. Emotion press blogs at omojojolobooks.wordpress.com

The Fear Of The Pirate

     I was at Ondo recently for my annual vacation. As a bookaholic,
one of those places I visited was a bookshop not far from the Oba
Osemawe’s palace.
The shop attendant was less receptive to my gentlemanly greeting. He
peered at me and my shopping bag, as if I will steal some of his
pencils or one, two , three of his educational books.
‘ Do you have fiction?’
‘ Wetin?’
‘Fiction?’
‘Mister man, I no understand wetin you dey say.’
‘Oh, I mean do you have novels or plays in your stock?’
‘ Stock? Is that not a novel, because I no understand
stock_ fiction?’
He pointed his finger to an angle in his medium sized shop. And there
I saw a copy of Ngugi’s Weep Not, Child. It was pirated.
‘How much?’
I looked at the first page of the book, and it was inscribed: N200
‘ Na N300.’
I switched to pidgin, for the first time since the start of this conversation.
‘No be N200 you write for the book?’
‘Bring money.’
I handed him a 200 Naira note and demanded for a receipt. He was
totally transformed, it was in his shaking voice I firstly discovered
this.
‘No receipt!’ Silence invaded the bookshop. And then I
laughed from the depth of my stomach.He joined me in this harvest of
laughter.
‘ You dey fear?’ I asked, just back from laughter land.

Our writers write day, noon and night, hopeful that their words will
make a way for them. They will survive the hassles of getting the
right publisher that would be faithful to the creative art of
packaging words.
Quite disheartening will it be for them,when discovery will show it
that some uneducated rascals are the ones reaping the fruits of their
labour.
The pirates are people like us. They fart, urinate and even
laugh. Only some divides make them pirates.
Most of them are uneducated and do not know the great influence
writers have on their worlds.
Some of them are educated but blinded and therefore turned ignoramus
by their greed and desperate thirst for a better living.For the
easy-way-out!
The pirates drain our resources. They call us fools. We the
educated. We the lovers of literature. We the future.
The pirates  turn our books to automated teller machine. They
transmogrify our packaged words to bank vaults, which they can
manipulate for their monetary gains. And they are the Anini, Osama Bin
Laden or Boko Haram of the publishing industry.
They know the act of pirating is illegal. And they are aware of
the fact that they are literally killing the book industry.
Afraid of the sanctions from authorities like Nigerian Copyright
Commission? YES. That is why the bookshop attendant could not issue a
receipt.
We need to ginger the pirate’s fear for duplicating our books.
Publishers, writers, critics, readers and buyers of books, must
resolve to fight piracy.
The pirates dread us. They are mere thieves that can be curbed from
stealing. They need us to help them catalyze that fear for pirating to
inestimable heights. Let us all refuse to buy pirated books and report
suspected pirates to the nearest Nigerian Copyright Commission office.
The commission should respond quickly to petitions; they should bring
there offices closer to lovers and buyers of books.
Publishers should DRAG books closer to readers. Publishing
outfits should encourage reading as an habit, and sponsor events
dedicated towards this cause.
One of those events, The Emotion Book Party is a bi- annual literary
event dedicated towards celebrating books and it is hosted by Emotion
Press.
Government and corporate organizations should make funds available
to upcoming publishing outfits.Nigeria needs more than five hundred
publishing outfits to cater for our yearly upsurge in writing talents.
Grants should also be provided for writers that wants to write full time.
An enlightenment campaign against piracy, involving workshops on
the dangers of piracy targeted at sellers, readers and buyers of
books, must be kick started by individuals and organizations.

Folarin Olaniyi is the Managing Editor at Emotion Press and The
Coordinator of The Emotion Book club, Ibadan. Visit our blog
www.omojojolobooks.wordpress.com.

Q

Celebrating Independence

• On behalf of the management and staff of Emotion Press, Ibadan,a Publishing cum PR outfit dedicated towards projecting the future ones, I will want to congratulate Nigeria our country for her 51 years of independence.
  As part of our little way of celebrating independence, we will be accepting short stories and poems to publish on our blog.
  We will also be postponing the deadline for submission of entries to the Omojojolo magazine till further notice – www.omojojolobooks.wordpress.com/ omojojolomagazine.
  To be published on our blog, forward your poems and short stories to Emotionpress2011@gmail.com. Make the subject Independence Entry.
  Endeavour to submit a short Bio alongside your entry. Once again, happy independence. God bless Nigeria!

  Reply

The Author’s Forum By University Press Plc.

Date: 22nd of June, 2011

Venue: Kakanfo Conference Hall, Kakanfo Inn, Ibadan.

When I got to the venue, people had already filled the place. Books of
the publishing house were on display.
One of those things that baffled me, was the fact that most writers and
stakeholders in the book industry present were between the ages of 45-65. It
was all on their faces, and words.
They were not down-at-heel.
The Compere introduced the Guests on the high table, while we were given
a warm welcome. Then the Chairman of the Forum for 2011, Professor Akachi
Ezeigbo,would speak.
She would speak on the importance of books to Nigerians. She would recall
her childhood experience with the packaged words. During her days, there
were fewer books around her. Notwithstanding, she would  still read her way
to the position of a Professor.
Professor Niyi Osundare, a distinguished poet and Lecturer would
speak. The keynote speaker! He would  introduce the audience to a juicy
section of his poetic world.
A theater scholar and celebrated stage Director from the prestigious
University of Ibadan, Nigeria, would breath life into Niyi Osundare’s The
Book And The Sword.
Then the unique voices and gesticulations of Nike and Ope, both Theater
Artistes, would become Dr. Tunde’s actor’s tools.
The performance of the poem, would be the first stage of the speech titled,
‘Homage To The Book.’
One of the sessions, The Book And  I delves into the poet’s private
life.His romance with books of John Milton, Maria ma Ba, and even a book which he clearly referred to -Lara.
Lara would be a book that ruminates on Lara as major character and her emancipation by books.
I would be able to keep a few quotable sentences of Professor Niyi Osundare;
- The Book has its mind
- The Book understands our timid genuflections in the temple of ignorance.
- The Book would be a tool for the Abolitionist movement.
-Books enlarged my world
-Writing gives indescribable relief
- Books resonates with the music of human spirit.
- He who kills the book, kills reason and God – John Milton
- The Book is he catalyst of human civilization

Niyi Osundare’s father would say;
The Book is:

- One who fights in silence
- One who glides on white surface
- I may not know the book, but it knows me

Other quotable quotes;
- Some literates could be afraid of the power of the book.
- Tyranny prides itself in the atmosphere of ignorance.
Professor Chukwuemeka Ike would say;

- Public readings should be promoted by University Press Plc
- Parents contribute to the murder of books, in one way or the other.

Some Audience would comment;
- 2A, 2D, 2H Exercise books should be re-introduced by University Press Plc to our Primary schools.
- Authors should encourage the upcoming writers by organizing Book signings, workshops,e.t.c

The Lunch;
It was nice and well organized. Kudos to University Press Plc for the refreshment. I would be expecting more by next year.

Generally grading the event, I would give them a strong B.

Culled from folarinolaniyi.wordpress.com

Publishing Tips

Mike Buchanan Self-publishing Guru – Top Tips Mike Buchanan is a self-publisher selling books through his imprint LPS publishing. He’s been published and he’s self-published, and much prefers the latter. In 2010, at the age of 52, he took early retirement to focus full-time on writing and self-publishing. He’s self-published six non-fiction titles since 2008 including The Joy of Self-Publishing. ‘You want to be a writer?’ my father said. ‘My dear boy, have some consideration for your poor wife. You’ll be sitting around the house all day, wearing a dressing-gown, brewing tea, and stumped for words.’ John Mortimer 1923-2009 English novelist, barrister and dramatist: Clinging to the Wreckage (1982) If you’re interested in having your books published but you’ve been unable to interest a literary agent or publisher in your work, you’re in good company. The overwhelming majority of previously unpublished writers struggle to interest literary agents or commercial publishers in their work, and the challenge is becoming more difficult with each passing year. The tried and tested solution to this problem? Embrace self-publishing until such time as the literary world recognises your genius. The list of writers who launched their careers by self-publishing is a long one: it includes Percy Bysshe Shelley, Walt Whitman, Virginia Woolf, John Galsworthy, Rudyard Kipling, Beatrix Potter, Lord Byron, Mark Twain, DH Lawrence, James Joyce, Robbie Burns… and many bestselling writers in the modern era including Stephen King and Bill Bryson. By self-publishing you’ll be following a noble tradition; and the good news it that it’s never been more feasible to self-publish and distribute your books to buyers worldwide at minimal cost. As you’re a visitor to Omojojolo website I can assume you’re serious about your writing; as a reader of this article I assume you have a potential interest in having your books self-published with high production standards, comparable with books published by leading commercial publishers. There is no need, in 2011, for a self-published book to appear self-published. In this article I pass on my top ten tips for self-publishing. If you follow them you’ll be well on your way to producing a book of which you can be proud on all counts: one that makes a profit if sales are reasonable, or only a minimal loss if sales are below expectations.
	1. Consider your options seriously: DIY self-publishing or a vanity publisher? It’s perfectly feasible to self-publish without using a vanity publisher – ‘DIY self-publishing’ – and my own self-published books have been produced this way. It’s harder work and more time-consuming than using a vanity publisher, but by way of compensation you might find you enjoy the freedom and creative control the approach gives you, as well as the lower costs. And the lower your costs, the sooner you’ll make a profit on your books. For some years commercial publishers have been using freelance service providers for copy-editing, proofreading, cover design etc. and with good reason. The competitive markets for these services have delivered high quality and innovation at competitive prices, as we would expect. So why not adopt this approach yourself? The biggest single investment you can make in your book may be to have it professionally copy-edited and proofread: expect to pay in the range of £10.00 – £15.00 per 1,000 words. Not cheap, but it could give a real ‘polish’ to your work.
	2. Explore a range of book format and specification options It’s worth researching the cost implications of different book format and specification options. For example, the cost premium for a hardback rather than a paperback edition will probably be less than you would expect, and the premium may well be recoverable in a higher selling price. Some books would benefit from a plate section. This should cost around 7p per plate (usually a colour photograph) and you may need to have a specified number of plate pages. They’re printed on a ‘coated’ paper of a different specification to the text portion of the book. A number of highly reputable printers including MPG Biddles (mpgbiddles.co.uk) and CPI Antony Rowe (uk.cpibooks.com/selfpublishing) produce short runs of books with colour plate sections, printed digitally. Ensure you’re happy with the plate print quality by ordering a proof copy before production. A review of recent books from leading publishers should give you tips on layout, ordering of sections etc. Why not develop your word processing skills to the level of achieving a similar result? The time spent could be well invested. Most books on self-publishing will tell you that your books will have to be professionally typeset, which can be expensive; but the truth is that with care you can do it yourself in Microsoft Word.
	3. Invest time and money in a cover design with impact It may be a cliché but books are judged by their covers – at least partly, and by important people: the potential buyers who decide to buy (or not buy) your books. I can identify most self-published books from the other side of a room by their dull covers alone, and you probably could too. The judicious use of a professional book cover designer and an image – maybe a photograph – from a company such as Bigstock (bigstockphoto.com) will cost you less than you’d expect. I’ve seldom paid more than £100.00 for my book cover designs.
	4. Make proficient use of the services of Nielsen Book Self-publishers in the UK and Ireland will use the services of Nielsen Book (nielsenbook.co.uk) to have details of their books distributed electronically to online and ‘bricks and mortar’ booksellers worldwide. The best way to understand the many different services of the company – some of which are supplied free of charge, some charged for – is through attending one of their free publisher seminars, usually held in June at their head office in Woking, Surrey. They’re a very friendly crowd, and they even throw in a nice buffet lunch. What more could you ask for? If you subscribe to Nielsen’s Publisher Enhanced Service (about £14.00 p.a. per title) you’ll be able to have a lot of information (e.g. a long description of the book’s contents, the Table of Contents, your recent nomination for the Man Booker prize) supplied direct to Amazon and other retailers, which saves time and should enhance sales. The ISBN Agency – part of Nielsen Book – will sell you the ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) your books require, and they’re provided in sets of ten numbers. Each title and each edition (e.g. hardback, paperback, ebook) will require a different ISBN.
	5. Launch in a small way, upscale only if and when sales justify it: print-on-demand, offset litho… We’re halfway through the ten tips, so it’s time for a reality check. It’s almost unknown for self-publishers to sell their titles – and especially their initial titles – in the quantities they’re hoping for. All too often self-publishers order a substantial stock of books so as to achieve a low unit price which will give them a reasonable margin in bookstores. But what if the books don’t sell well? By all means, as an author, be an optimist. But I implore you, as a publisher, be a pessimist. Specification permitting – for example, there’s no plate section in your book – you should launch titles through print-on-demand (‘POD’). Books are printed (as few as a single copy at a time) as and when ordered, so no money (or space) need be taken up by books awaiting sale. They’re despatched direct to the buyer so you’re not even bothered with order fulfilment. POD is available from Lightning Source Inc in paperback, hardback, and other formats. The cost of processing the cover and content files for POD will be in the order of £50.00 – £60.00. Beyond minimising risk, the POD model has two further major advantages for the self-publisher. It makes titles available to buyers in all major markets (including the US & Canada, UK & Ireland, continental Europe), so your £50.00 – £60.00 investment is buying worldwide distribution. Value for money, or what? And the self-publisher can at low cost supply new pdf files to amend the cover or content as required. For me, POD has only two downsides. It’s not viable for books with plate sections, and the paper used (at least that used by Lightning Source) is a little thinner than that used by major British book printers, so the resulting books are a little thinner too. On the other hand the paper stock is smoother, and some readers prefer the ‘feel’ of this paper. A final point on POD. Some people will tell you that POD books are shown as being as being ‘not in stock’ on Amazon and elsewhere, the inference being that your sales will suffer as a result. Vanity publishers have been known to make this claim. But it’s simply untrue. My last two books The Joy of Self-Publishing and David and Goliatha: David Cameron – heir to Harman? have only been made available through POD. They are invariably shown on Amazon websites (most notably their British and American websites) as being in stock. If and when orders become sufficiently high to merit a production run of 300+ copies, you can start to have your book produced by offset lithography (‘offset litho’) rather than the digital process used for POD. Offset litho reduces copy costs to a level where you can start to sell your books through ‘bricks and mortar’ bookstores such as Waterstone’s and make some profit by doing so.
	6. Embrace the future: sell your book in an ebook format too Ebooks deliver appealing margins because there is no cost to self-publishers for manufacturing or delivering content to the buyer. At the time of writing Lightning Source are processing files at no cost to the self-publisher files and making ebooks – in an Adobe readable format – available through ebook sellers. The self-publisher wishing to also make a title available on Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPad etc. will need to spend money to have the book’s files formatted for such devices.
	7. Price your books so as to make a reasonable margin This might seem hard to believe, but it’s not uncommon for self-publishers to set selling prices so low as to deliver little if any margin for all their hard work. Especially with non-fiction, make your book distinctive, and ensure it delivers a lot of value to the buyer: that way, it won’t need to compete so hard price-wise against other titles on the subject in question. Be careful not to throw margin away needlessly. Unless your books are produced by POD, orders placed through online retailers (e.g. Amazon) and ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers (e.g. Waterstone’s) will almost always be processed by one of two wholesaler/distributors in the UK: Gardner’s or Bertram’s. These companies are accustomed to demanding discounts of up to 60% from retail price from publishers, but this is for copies stored by, and sold by, bookstores. If you’re a self-publisher and supply books directly to these companies in response to customer orders, allow them a discount of 20%.
	8. Use a number of Amazon selling schemes It’s worth taking time to understand the various Amazon selling schemes, and see which might suit you. I currently use a number including the ‘Fulfilment by Amazon’ scheme, and I also sell my books as an Amazon reseller (‘lpsbooks2’). I advertise a number of my titles as ‘Collectible’ at the regular price, and make it clear the copies are both new and signed.
	9. Reflections on marketing If you expect to be self-publishing over an extended period it might be worthwhile establishing a website to promote your work and process orders. Some writers simply use their names in their website URLs: so John Spencer will use johnspencer.co.uk. A website presence can offer benefits which buyers might appreciate, such as the facility to request a written dedication in their book. PayPal include this facility in their ‘order processing options’, and their commissions are modest. They also allow for differential pricing to allow for different postage costs to different markets. Settle on a book title that will show up when online buyers use a ‘keyword search’. This is particularly relevant for non-fiction titles. Potential buyers will often use keywords when seeking books on a particular subject. Consider what the most obvious keyword(s) might be in the case of people searching for books like yours, and include the keyword(s) in the main title. Have related subjects in a subtitle, maybe a lengthy one. The subtitle need not appear on the book itself. Make an effort to stimulate ‘word of mouth’. I’ve found the best way to do this is through favourable reviews on Amazon. Ask buyers to post a review if they like the book – and, tongue-in-cheek, not to post a review if they don’t like it. You might give copies of your book away to family, friends and acquaintances in the hope of reviews. But be careful. I once saw a five-star review on Amazon which started with the immortal line, ‘Mummy’s latest book is her best yet – and Daddy thinks so too!!!’ If you write non-fiction, consider sending complimentary copies of your book to recognised authorities on the book’s subject matter. You may be pleasantly surprised by their willingness to offer a testimonial if they like the book. Exploit these testimonials as much as you can – maybe put them on the book’s cover, in the book description shown on Amazon, and use them in promotional materials. I confess to not being keen to spend time and energy promoting my books, other than through the medium of writing, and I’ve come across other self-publishers who feel the same way. Put simply, I much prefer spending my time writing than marketing. But if you’re one of those souls who is prepared to spend time on this activity – and your book sales will almost certainly benefit if you do – then I strongly recommend Alison Baverstock’s books on the subject.
	10. Still unsure whether you should self-publish? Then the doctor will see you now… Dr Vernon Coleman is a highly successful self-publisher who has written over 100 books, some of them bestsellers. Sales of his titles in the UK alone exceed two million copies. I haven’t checked my sales data recently but I think that’s more than my own books have managed. His books have been translated into 25 languages and sell in over 50 countries. For inspiration visit vernoncoleman.com. Culled From Writers’ Workshop.

 

THink out Of The Box

Since the inception of our publishing arm at Emotion Press, several writers have submitted manuscripts.
I have been given the opportunity to evaluate some of them.
In this session, I would like to ruminate on one of the major problem literally fighting most writers.Just like Nolly wood where scripting cliches are the order of the day, most writers want to write as Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie and Wole Soyinka.
Thinking out of the box is quite essential as a 21st century writer.
Most stories you would be carving has been written before. The difference you would make will be your ability to write your own story your own way.
Chimamanda Adichie and Chinua Achebe don’t think the same way because they do not come from the same background nor had the same experiences; you and I don’t think the same way. We are two original and creatively blessed entities.
I am challenging you today to think out of the box. As you put pen on pen, think out of the box. Avoid cliches. Be like yourself. Be original.Create new things.

Emotion Press wants to publish a quarterly literary magazine, you are invited to submit your entries. Visit Omojojolobooks.wordpress.com/omojojolomagazine. You may have a unique story for publication? We want to publish you – omojojolobooks.wordpress.com/submitmanuscript.
Catch you.