More on reading poverty

Nicky Schmidt, a South African writer, commented on my lament about reading access in poor countries:

I was interested to read your blog "Make READING poverty history!" I'm a South African children's writer (yet to be published) and I can only attest to what you say.

Prices in South Africa put books way beyond the reach of the average child - so reading is just not a priority - a sad indictment of society indeed. The irony is that even books that are published locally are staggeringly expensive - the market is small, the print runs low and the prices therefore ludicrously high - and add to that that local publishers won't even consider publishing books that are not rooted in the South African genre - thereby effectively closing off the world to South African children - unless they can afford imported books... which few can.

For imported books, there is still import duty, landing charges and VAT to be added on to the publishers price. Many of us have regularly challenged goverment on at least making books VAT free but to no avail. We live in a world that is driven entirely by profit and greed (from governments and corporates to everyone else) and that no one stops to consider the end result and the big picture.

Depriving children of the adventure and discovery of reading makes for ultimately, IMHO, a very poor world indeed.

So here are some questions for all you publishers out there: what's going on? Is it the local publishers in poor countries? Do they see no profit in printing cheaper copies of the great stuff that come out in the rest of the world? Or are the publishing companies in the West making it unaffordable? Are there any facilities in place to get books out to places like South Africa and the Philippines where children just cannot afford the joy of reading?

Make READING Poverty History!

Poverty is an insidious beast that rears its ugly head in the most unexpected situations.

While travelling in South Africa, I visited some bookstores, eager to check out South African picture books. I was pleased to see that the book stores were up to date with the latest children’s books from England – from the latest Artemus Fowl to Mini Grey’s Biscuit Bear. I was shocked to find however that in a country where 50 per cent of children live in poverty, the books were two to three pounds (US $ 3 to 4.50) pricier than the equivalent in Britain!

In my native Philippines, the average YA novel retails for about the same amount it would in the West. So a £4.99 children’s paperback in London would sell for the same amount in Manila, where average family earnings are between £2 to £3 a day.

It comes as no surprise that books are not a priority to a typical family in the Philippines. And what a tragedy that is.

As a child growing up in Manila, I trawled my school library for things to read and saved my pocket money to buy books at the local bookstore. Books were not unaffordable then.

It is amusing to me now that publishers resist manuscripts that have strong cultural references for fear that the book won’t sell to markets in other countries. I thrived on the other worlds I discovered in books. To me, the alien cultures of those novels set in England, America and other exotic, faraway places were more fascinating fantasy than Tolkien.

Discovering other worlds through reading enriched my world and gave me the imagination to think that there were better things out there for me. But today, there is a whole world of children out there who may never share that thrill.

What to do? Publishers should re-examine the way they retail books to poor countries. What is it in the publishing chain that pegs book prices in developing countries at the same level or (scandalously) even more in the developed world? The West is pulping remainders while children in poor countries are hungry for something to read.

The dwindling of readers in impoverished countries not only fuels the endless poverty cycle but is bad for a business that is built on the love of reading.

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It was heartening to spot this report on Publishing News that HarperCollins had launched an initiative to provide books for schools in Ghana. They’ve even recruited last year’s children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo to visit the schools.

The aim is to get textbooks and reference books (including dictionaries, children’s picture books and atlases) into schools in deprived and rural areas of Ghana, with three schools given specific support via links with British schools. The publisher will send an emissary to Ghana later this month to set up the infrastructure and establish contacts.

(Thorsons MD) Belinda Budge told PN: “The project in Ghana is very close to our hearts. Although we’re still only in the early planning stages, we’ve been delighted by the enthusiastic response we’ve already had from authors. We’re hoping there will be an opportunity for them, and for some members of HC staff, to visit the schools we’re linking up with. Ghana spends more money paying interest on debt than it does on education, and we hope our literacy project, which will be organised at a local level, will make a difference.”

(HarperCollins CEO) Victoria Barnsley concluded: “Poverty stops 100 million children around the world going to school Education is something we take for granted, but these kids miss out all together. If we are serious about fighting poverty, and enabling people in the poorest nations to help themselves, the education is absolutely key and books have a vital role.”

How to look at your work with commercial eyes

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

These are said to be the five stages of death – which is how a lot of writers feel about commercialising their work. But if you want to get published, you probably ought to fast forward to the last one. Here are tips to help get you going, based on a talk by Kelly Cauldwell, senior editor at Random House UK:

• Jumping on a bandwagon? Give your boy-magician-in-boarding-school plot a twist that keeps you-know-who glued to your manuscript. Kids may still have an appetite for fantasy, but spare a thought for the frazzled Random House reader on his 300th magical adventure of the season.



• Editors have to stand up in a meeting of publishing bigwigs and talk up your book. Kelly says: “Think of how your book will sound when it is presented to somebody else.” It’s useful to think up a catchy answer to the question, “What’s it about?” Here’s what they said about Artemus Fowl: “Die Hard with Fairies.” Beat that.



• Go to the section of the bookshop where your book will most likely be displayed, if published. Which books sit neatly on the shelf in a tidy jumper and which ones have big hair and padded shoulders, bungee jumping into passing shopping bags? Consider your book’s marketing potential and, when you get your next rejection, consider the thought that the editor might have loved it but could not think of a way to sell it.



• Kelly says: “Think of who will buy your book.” Dads? Mums? Kids? Grannies? Librarians? These are your market – so impress them!



• Kelly says: “We are looking for something we can make a splash about but because it is so expensive to produce we rarely sign up individual titles for this age range (six to eight).” Series, anyone?