It’s still the Marketing, Stupid!
It’s the Marketing, Stupid!
Or at least that’s what I have been thinking for the last few days as I slapped my forehead in between bouts of pondering what the literary industry in South Africa is doing wrong. Y’see, this weekend I was a discussant at the Words on Water Festival : Conversation Between South Africa and India. Among the speakers was the feisty and intelligent Indian popular women’s fiction brand known as Shobhaa De. Shobhaa and I had a discussion at length on just how she managed to penetrate the Indian readers market to a point where her vast readers await her next book like JK Rowlings fans await a Harry Potter. And I learnt something that I should have known a long time ago. Our marketing for literature sucks. That’s not to say that we are not doing it. We are doing it. But we are marketing literature in the same manner that First World literary marketers do for First World writers which already have a captive audience. There is a need to note our market and penetrate it differently in South Africa.
Let me begin with the stats.
- 25 writers (the number is higher) to have emerged in this nation within the last 5 years.
- Triple that amount of books published.
- 1 author that has sold more than a 100 000 copies (you guessed him, John van der Ruit) and the rest celebrate when they hit 5 000 as that is considered bestselling status.
Add the fact that there are no bookshops selling fiction in Johannesburg South and many other places in South Africa and the question must be asked, ‘why even write or publish?’
The most criticism that’s levelled on writers is that after the submission of the manuscript, we sit back and relax and wait for the book to sell itself. I beg to differ on that with regards to South African writers (and you can call me a fictional writer if you like). South African writers are some of the most hard-working marketers that I know. I have never yet known anyone who has turned down a chance for a radio or television interview. I am yet to come across a writer in this country who is approached by a magazine to write an article and they do not do it. This should be enough to put them in the psyche of the mainstream right? Right?
Nope.
Truth is, reading and writers are just not popular culture and much as writers have done the television and radio spots and appeared on newspaper and magazine book pages (in the former generally on inserts which unfortunately I have heard many people don’t read and in the latter on some close to back pages), no-one is going to know who writers are, and the average person who buys their magazine at CNA (couldn’t resist) will not know that South African literature exist. The only way that South African writers manage to sneak in to the News and Opinion section of a newspaper is when we crack a mention by fellow writer Fred Khumalo on his Sunday Times page, and that’s the height of writers making news. Imraan Coovadia writes a brilliant book and you will have to search the book pages to see its mention. Khanyi Mbau slips on a banana and you can be certain that it will make page 3 of the Sunday weeklies broadsheet…and the rest of us are still not quite sure what it is exactly she has achieved.
But enough about Khanyi. Let me be the first admit that perhaps she is better at marketing than all us literary characters put together…for how else can you explain? That said, those who have some ideas that SA literature does exist like a certain friend of mine, are of the bent that reading fiction dumbs them down, ‘I only read political biographies’ (and this without even having read my work, never mind other stuff available locally. ouch).
So how do we do this? How do we let the average person know that our work is out there, and when it is, that there is something for everyone even my friend who claims he doesn’t read fiction/South African commentary because somehow Chomsky and Pilger are the last word on that?
Over the last couple of days I have been toying with a few ideas – some ambitious, some expensive but I really believe, quite doable but largely with the intention of putting writers and their work in the psyche of the people.
Enough writers know editors of magazines so surely this is an angle where we can use our influence? I am thinking Laurian Clemence and Makholwa on the cover of mass-marketed magazines like You and Drum. Or perhaps Kevin Bloom and Siphiwo Mahala on the cover of GQ with a tag ‘Men of Letters.’ We could have some light-hearted features in Glamour, Elle, True Love, destiny et al by guys like Tom Eaton and Niq Mhlongo telling us why they find women who read sexy or it could be a male magazine with Bridget MacNulty and Futhi Ntshingila on how charmed they are by men who have read their work.
I see the red flag going up. Some writer is about to highlight that it is not about us but our work. I do not dispute that for a second. And I know many of us are an introverted lot. But could a little publicity be dangerous for the sake of worthwhile book sales?
But let’s not just leave it at the print and broadcast media. Writers, as any other artists in the country, have a full ministry dedicated to them. That’s right. The Department of Arts and Culture. Maybe it is time DAC did as much for writers as it does sponsoring jazz festivals. Nothing expensive, something along the lines of those many government posters that people see in clinics, libraries, social welfare offices and Home Affairs departments that people read while waiting for the slow pace of bureaucracy to move.
In the case of the DAC posters, they would be encouraging people to READ SA. Perhaps DAC could be kind enough to even sponsor a public service announcement on television featuring the big man. I am here envisioning Msholozi in a slot telling one of his 40 people at the call centre to ‘take a message’ as he is still pondering at the similarities between Trinity’s father in Fiona Synckers’ Trinity Rising and his Minister of Housing, Tokyo Sexwale. After all, if the government keeps talking about the need for greater literacy, should they not put their money where their mouths are?
And then there are organisations like Goethe Institute, British Council, and ALLIANCE Francaise which have always promoted the arts in South Africa but which probably need some concrete request of just how best they can help us.
Finally of course, there is the corporate world. Nedbank already sponsors a Read-a-thon but I am sure they could be convinced to do more because I believe the initiative is not reaching enough schools– or failing that, their competition. A Read-a-Thon that’s advertised on television just before Rhythm City or Ben10 will reach more children and more schools than any newspaper adverts. Add to it the brilliant Gcina Mhlope telling a story of why the children should enter and I guarantee you a definite increase in entries.Other corporate sponsors could try to beat that by sponsoring a minute advert on television with a role model on a plane (yes, I know how expensive it is but do you know how much banks make in bank charges per year?), ‘hi, my name is Bryan Habana. When I am on an 18-hour flight to Australia, I keep myself entertained by reading SA writers. Do you?’ Or one on the BRT, ‘my name is Julius Malema, when I am tense on my way to a rally, I relax by reading SA…’ (no, that wasn’t a joke. Jules has pull y’all).
And then of course tagline – brought to you by Nedbank (or MTN, or Group Five, or Alex Forbes), greatest supporter of South African Writers. Although if that’s gonna be the tagline, perhaps the sponsor should be SABMiller, for all the inspiration it has given South African writers over the last five years.
How better to market SA literature so that books can be considered as much the art of this nation as our movies, music, and Isidingo. Your thoughts?
I think South African writers can also go to the potential market and promote themselves to it. I’m still trying to launch a fiction-writing career, but I’m already working on building a community which would potentially buy my work. I contribute to a number of sites, do the social networking thing and have a growing “fan” base to which i would be able to market my work to.( e.g. women who read; mothers who buy books for their children), young people who think i have something to say to them. I also know a number of bloggers who have undertaken to review my work and publicise it to their following.
it is hard, time-consuming work to do this kind of marketing, but it can also be effective, because if people like the book, they can easily order it online there and then.
Viva Zuki, viva! Brilliant stuff. I hope someone out there is listening…
I have two words for you- Lebogang Mashile. How many poetry books has she sold? And yet she is nearly a household name. John Van de Ruit was hardly a household name- even now most people just call him Spud.
Put writers in mags, on TV, on the side of buses, billboards, on plastic cups- I don’t believe that will translate into books bought. Sorry I don’t buy it. Celebrities who write books about their lives get their books bought. Authors who write books and then become famous as authors become famous.
Books need buzz. Books. Not. Writers.
You know I so feel what you’re saying, which is why my publisher Paper Bag Publishing are marketing my book in a different way. I have always said to people, Khanyi Mbau knows how to market herself, not because she has done anything amazing, but because she makes people believe that if they are watching her, she has done something amazing. Khanyi has no qualms about opening her life to exposing who she is and what she does. There are no apologies on her part for who she is.
I feel reading and writing have a very stuffy image…thinking a gentlemen’s club with sweet shiny leather armchairs, a neat whisky, and a cigar and that unfortunately doesn’t translate to the general South African public. Reading needs to be made sexy and the image of gentlemen’s club has to change to what South Africans are into…music, fun, culture, mobile phones, family, tabloids. But like you said, people think by using these avenues, we dumb down reading, which isn’t true…you’re making it hot, and people will buy what’s hot.
South Africa, like the rest of the globe is very consumer based…people love spending, they love buying but you got to tell them what to buy and you have to explain why they must buy it. Yes let’s get Bryan Habana involved, but also get Khanyi Mbau there too and Arthur Mofokate.
Sadly, Julius’s library burned down last year. It was a tragedy that both books were lost before he had even started colouring them in…
Tom Rymour
Fantastic post, Zukiswa! Really thoughtful and constructive. I enjoyed it.
Hi Zukiswa
very very cool comment.
have you pitched to Nedbank? am so tempted to, and refer to your blog as the reference as that is such a brilliant idea sister.
i am planning a monthly books wine and dark chocolate event in 2010 in CT and would love to collaborate with you. are you in jozi or cape town, i am in cape town, hope we can hook up.
suzy bell
Thanks Laurie but you have chosen two rather bad examples. Lebo Mashile (who was published by the same publisher as me for our first books), published the only poetry collection in the history of this country to go into reprint (no mean feat in SA where people can attend poetry sessions without buying collections). John van der Ruit was unknown among ‘writers’ but he was already very popular in the theatre world. I can attest to the fact that although I am very far from reaching the 100k mark, since I started interacting and writing for theatre people, my books have also increased in sales (because I am now dealing with actors, fellow writers I did not know because they wrote for stage and a host of other people. These guys have amazingly created a buzz for me among their friends and friends’ friends). Of course with John, the marketing by Penguin was also excellent. I remember first encountering Spud in CNA as I was looking for something light and South African to read (the only SA fiction I encountered in said shop). After enjoying the read, I proceeded to buy it for all the John Miltons in my life. Perhaps we can get a buzz for the art without the artist. But my reasosn for having a writer-induced campaign is to highlight that writers are NORMAL people not nerds. That said, it appears you choose to discount other solutions I came up with…such as starting a campaign where we encourage people to read through public adverts making reading ‘cool’ as opposed to ‘nerdy’. As long as we make books elitist, we shall never be able to leave off our art – and the first way to destroy the elitism is to get people thinking of the cool factor of books.
ouch, Tom. ha ha ha.
Hi
I am a pure corporate type so here is some perspective from part of the market you are trying to attract.
The last 2 fiction books that I read were Spud in 2007 and Harry Potter circa 2000/1 (whenever it came out). Why?
Harry Potter because JK Rowling was this new buzz sensation all over mainstream news who had gotten kids reading again and it was supposedly the best fiction ever. I found Harry Potter boring and a pedestrian book (give me Winnie the Pooh from my youth anyday over that stuff) and am amazed at its cult following.
The power of marketing: someone wanted to make a star out of JK Rowling and succeeded. (You see it happen in the music business all the time: I think Michael Jackson’s 1993 Dangerous was a far better album than 1984 Thriller but during the Thriller days the marketing worked for him and by Dangerous with his legal case the marketing worked against him.)
Spud was a gift from a school friend who thought I would identify with the boarding school antics as I attended boarding school. I did and loved it. I thought it was brilliant and because of identifying with Johan’s style of writing and sense of humour I will certainly buy more of his work – whether in the Spud series or not.
More perspective from a layman:
I enjoyed the hype around Da Vinci Code and The Secret but opted not to read either and watched the film version instead. I then watched Angels and Demons and enjoyed the movie. I see Dan Brown’s got a new book out, The Lost Symbol. I will definitely not buy it or read it (the size of his books intimidates someone like me who has little time per week for escapism/entertainment) but I definitely will watch the film when it comes out. And that’s an important point now that I come to think about it, you are competing with me for my mindspace that also goes into soccer/rugby/cricket sport viewing escapism time so you really need to get the messaging out there in a very strong way
Someone else just gave me Niq’s book Dog Eat Dog and I am loving it. I am loving Niq’s style and empathising with Dingz character he has created. But I would never have even known that Niq exists were it not for the direct intervention where someone said “here read this”. Am not done with Dog Eat Dog yet but you can bet your bottom dollar that just like with Johan, I will be on the look-out for Niq’s books going forward.
As a kid when I used to read religiously because daddy paid the bills (and now I don’t read because I have no time as I have to work so that I can pay them) I had 6 distinct phases that I can recall:
Enid Blyton, Carolyn Keene, Franklin Dixon, Shakespeare, John Grisham and Chinua Achebe. With each of them the important thing was it started with a great book: The 1st Famous Five, the 1st Nancy Drew, the 1st Hardy Boys, Romeo and Juliet, The Firm and Things Fall Apart. By the time that I got to a crap book they had written – think Shakespeare’s Corialanus (simply awful) – the brand equity of the author had stuck so I forgave them and moved on to the next book by the same author (and simply loved Julius Caesar).
In later years I discovered that Carolyn Keene and Franklin Dixon were actually pseudonyms for a series of ghost writers that Edward Stratemeyer of the Stratemeyer Syndicate (a book packaging firm) had created to push the brands forward and drive sales. A very smart marketing/branding and business decision.
My point is the following: marketing of the author’s brand is the strongest way to get the kind of audience that thinks like me (no idea how large a part of the market my kind of thinking is though). I think Damaria and Zuki are hitting home runs in their respective styles of approach – Zuki’s ‘above the line’ and Damaria’s ‘below the line’ and I think both need to be aggressively pursued and as we corporate folk do then we watch the numbers to understand what sells better.
And because someone has directly engaged me in this discussion and in this issue of such importance, from a business point of view (because my writing is simply shocking) I am willing to lend whatever assistance is needed
why not go into marketing? more books will be sold, I am sure…
Great stuff! Thanks for voicing the frustrations of so many South African writers (and let us know when the big mags want us for front covers!)
Please send me the email address of READ South Africa
As a South African children’s author published in the USA and (sadly) virtually unknown here, I have found that the biggest problem is getting the media interested in actually promoting local writers. Maybe they don’t think we are worth it? Maybe Katie Price’s autobiography/ies (I thought one usually only wrote a single book) has more pull, as will Khanye Mbau’s when she realises she is missing out on a very lucrative publicity tool… Read the review sections of any publication or newspaper and local writers don’t feature all that much. One actually gets the impression there aren’t many around. Perhaps I am bitter? Very possibly. I sent a request regarding reviewing my middle-grade children’s adventure novel to every child-related publication in South Africa and the response was “Uh, (yawn), OK send a copy and we’ll review it.” Ha ha! Some people didn’t even collect their books and they were returned to me. Do people know that authors don’t get their own books for free? On the other hand, when I approached USA book review sites, travel sites for kids, you-name-it publications for kids the response was, “Great stuff! Send a book, we’ll review it and do you mind if we donate it to the local public library?” Yes, coming from Durban I managed to twist a few arms and got mentions on the strength that an ex-Durbanite was actually literate enough not only to write a book, but also to get to the stage of being nominated for the USA 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and just recently for the USA National Best Books Awards (Children’s/Juvenile fiction). It might not be the Booker Prize, but it’s worth something. My local Caxton newspaper have been kind enough to highlight the book, and I think that’s because news is important to them. Some people in the media do not even bother to reply, even to say No. What’s a writer to do? When people ask why I wanted to publish the book in the USA (by the way, the story has two young South African heroes – local heroes, international adventure) I said because I felt I stood a better chance of being noticed in a country with a population that is vastly bigger than ours. Writers in SA don’t get the help they need to promote their books. I approached a local library and asked if I donated a book, could I do a book reading? They loved the book, but went immediately into a serious huddle at the back, discussing the pros and cons of something so unprecedented – an author actually reading a book to the kids! It was viewed with such suspicion I dropped the matter. So, when the media actively seek out and publicise South African writers, I think we’ll have a better chance. By the way, if anyone loves an amazing mystery story set in Egypt, take a look at the website and live the adventure! If you’ve read my comment this far, I bet you’re dying to know the name of the book. The Secret of the Sacred Scarab. PS: it helps if you’re aged 10-14 or else still remember what that felt like…