The South African Booksellers Association and Publishers’ Association of South Africa Annual General Conference 2018

 

South Africa’s flagship book industry event is set to happen on 28 and 29 August at Wanderers Club in Illovo north of Johannesburg.  Booksellers and publishers of South Africa gather at co-joined Annual General Meetings (AGM) to discuss topical issues in various sectors of the book industry.

 

“The two day conference is a gathering of key players in the business of bookselling. It is a time for all of us to celebrate our successes, share our concerns and collaborate in finding solutions.” explains Guru Redhi, President of the SA Booksellers Association (SABA), which organises the AGM with the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA).

 

“The relationship between SABA and PASA is complementary within the book value chain as the publishers create and distribute, while the booksellers retail the books; one cannot exist without the other” says Redhi.

 

The premise behind the two AGMS happening at the same time and in the same place is to create an enabling environment where discussions can promptly happen with the relevant parties to bring about a swift plan of action.

 

“The AGMS are co-located to encourage PASA and SABA members to strengthen their business relationships in the book value chain,” says Mpuka Radinku Executive Director of PASA.

 

A much-anticipated part of the conference programme is the Sefika Awards & Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Award on the evening of 28 August. The event acknowledges and celebrates booksellers and the role they play in promoting literacy and a culture of reading by producing and selling quality books in South Africa.

 

The following categories form part of the bookseller’s awards:

• Academic bookseller of the year
• Education bookseller of the year
• Library supplier of the year
• Trade bookseller of the year (chain stores)
• Trade bookseller of the year (independent)

 

Publisher’s awards that will be elected are:

• Academic publisher of the year
• Education publisher of the year (large)
• Education publisher of the year (small)
• Trade publisher of the year

 

Winners are selected through a voting process which enables Publishers to select the best among Booksellers and in turn Booksellers choose the winners among Publishers.

 

The evening culminates with the most coveted accolade, the Nielsen Booksellers Choice Award. The award is bestowed upon a local author for a South African published book that booksellers most enjoyed selling or that sold so well that it made a difference to the bottom line of booksellers across the country.

 

Last year’s winner was Born a Crime and other stories by Trevor Noah, published by Pan Macmillan in South Africa.  The book is a memoir of Trevor’s path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show in New York which all began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison.

 

The short-listed books for 2018 are 90 Rules For Entrepreneurs, published by Tracey McDonald Publishers, which is based on Marnus Broodryk’s business experiences with insights from his friends and fellow entrepreneurs.

 

Two Jonathan Ball Publisher titles also made it into this year’s shortlist, Redi Tlhabi’s Khwezi – the story of four courageous women who interrupted Jacob Zuma’s victory address at South Africa’s heated municipal elections, and Thandeka Gqubule’s No Longer Whispering To Power – the story of the South African people’s attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector.

 

Steve Biko’s I Write What l Like has also made it into the final five. The title features the writing of this famous activist and Black Consciousness leader before his untimely death in detention at the age of 30. Biko was instrumental in uniting Black Africans in the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa.

 

Lastly, President’s Keepers by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw rounds off the shortlist. This bestselling book, published by Tafelberg Publishers, exposes a secret at the heart of Jacob Zuma’s compromised government.

 

The short list was created through a nomination process by SABA booksellers and the winner is selected through votes from booksellers for a specific author/title.

 

The Sefika Awards & Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Award event is per invite only.  Media accreditation requests can be sent to maiyo@nativeworx.co.za.

 

 

Jacana Media is proud to announce that they have been awarded the Bologna Book Fair’s ‘Children’s Publisher of the Year’ prize in the African category.

The prize is for “publishers who have most distinguished themselves for their creative and publishing excellence over the year, showing originality as well as professional and intellectual skills” and Jacana Media congratulates the other shortlisted publishers Boustany’s Publishing House, Sub-Saharian Publishers, Protea Boekhuis and Ruisseaux d’Afrique.

The prize is run by the fair in association with the Italian Publishers’ Association and rewards the best children’s publishers in six areas of the world: Africa, Central and South America, North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

“We are honoured to be recognised with this award,” says Carol Broomhall, publisher at Jacana Media. “We work hard to bring our books to a primarily South African audience and it is heartening when the quality of our publications is recognised internationally and we are thrilled to be so acknowledged.”

The winners in the other regions are:

OneTree House – New Zealand (Oceania)
Éditions D’eux – Canada (North America)
Ediciones Tecolote – Mexico (Central and South America)
Wydawnictwo Dwie Siostry Publishers – Poland (Europe)
Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers – Japan (Asia)

The past few months have been good to general booksellers which lifted annual book sales, largely due to the enormous interest in Zuma’s Keepers which broke all records. With “state capture” a focus of interest for politicians and most thinking South Africans, this book arrived at just the right time for retailers and our only complaint was that we could not get enough! Digital copies were passed from reader to reader, but many people bought their hard copies too as soon as they could get one. Improved sales have continued into the New Year. It shows that we have a large market for books if only we can offer the right material. We commented recently on the sales also of Dudu Busani-Dube’s trilogy which had drawn an unprecedented demand from readers interested in fiction reflecting life in the townships. While sales of these books have slowed, partly due to their unavailability for extended periods, we have seen a number of other titles appearing, and we hope that we will now be able to sell into this new and growing market.
 
School books were supplied in different areas with varying degrees of efficiency. With a large reduction in the amount budgeted in Eastern Cape, and reduction in spending in the Cape, booksellers experienced an overall decline in sales.

In KZN many Section 21 schools placed orders with their booksellers as they had in the past. The Department objected to the prices some were paying and advised them that they would not provide funding. According to the Department over R30 million of orders were affected – only a part of them being those of SABA members. After meeting with members SABA agreed to seek an opinion on the legality of the Department’s position and we were advised that the Department is acting illegally. The department was advised and we asked for an urgent meeting but have been ignored. Although we are not contributing to further legal action, we believe some members and other booksellers may be taking the matter to court and we will be interested in the outcome. Our legal opinion will certainly be of assistance to them.

Meanwhile, although the school term started weeks ago, some schools have not received their books and we believe the department may genuinely be short of funds. The only solution for many parents is to buy the books themselves, and we hope that this will lead to better sales on the bookshops. Booksellers have in the past ordered the books for the schools awaiting the transfer of funds before delivering, and we are grateful to the publishers for taking back orders cancelled due to the Department’s actions.
 
The opening of the academic year in the Universities has been disrupted by staff strikes and by student action arising from confusion caused by the late promise of free education for many more students. Enrolments at UNISA are running well behind the anticipated numbers due to the staff strike. And enrolled students were also unable to download their study material for a time due to pressure on the system while the many late applications were made. During the staff strike enterprising EFF members assisted the students to put in their membership applications for a small fee: They took them around the corner to an internet café.

For students to enrol and receive “free education” their applications must be approved and their funding must be confirmed by NSFAS. NSFAS is understandably under great pressure due to the many late applications, and we wonder whether the applications will be approved quickly so that they can get on with their studies in time. Many modules now are completed in six months, so there is little room for delays. There have been strikes by the students mainly around the administration of free education and senior NSFAS officials visited KZN in February. The Unisa Campus was closed and students were arrested after they had invaded the library damaging books with fire extinguishers and locked lecturers in their offices. The Durban University of Technology was also closed for a period. Disruption in the first weeks of the academic year interrupts the academic routine and some students do not buy their books.

The Cape Town Book Sale drew good crowds and led to good book sales last year. SABA’s sponsorship made the event possible. As we did not recover our costs, we will not be participating this year, but the event may well be taken over by the Cape Town booksellers and we hope it will become a part of the Cape Town calendar.

The strong rand which we are enjoying at present is a sign of better things in South Africa and gives us the opportunity to sell more books at lower prices, expanding our reading population. I do hope that the improved sales figures proves to be the new trend and that all our members will benefit.