Why should you consider this?

Globally, in a more commercialised environment for Higher Education, levels of student satisfaction and success are at the forefront of university strategy; offering excellent and appealing learning tools is a goal towards which every university works.

In this challenging sector, accessing the technology that can transform education is key – engaging a generation of digital-native students, helping them achieve their learning outcomes and success more effectively and more enjoyably too.

VitalSource was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1994. Now part of the Ingram Content Group, it has evolved from an e–textbook platform into an end-to-end content management system and technology partner to institutions and publishers.

MD John Donovan explains his company’s approach. “The marketisation of education” means students now have much higher expectations, he says. “Universities are looking to ways they can drive their recruitment and improve the student experience, and they’re saying that one of the ways they can do this is they can embed an e-textbook programme within the course so that students have access to materials on the first day of class.”

VitalSource places equal importance on three stakeholder groups within HE: universities and institutions, publishers, and students. “Our aim is twofold: to have the best, most interactive, high quality content on our platform – and to facilitate that process for our publisher partners – and to make the student learning experience the best it can be when they use that content and save them time and money along the way.”

VitalSource have been active in South Africa for the last 5 years. Their first customer in South Africa signed in 2012 and their growing footprint in the region has seen them invest in a Business Development representative based in Cape Town since 2017. Customers include a range of institutions in South Africa including the University of Pretoria, University of Cape Town, UNISA and Milpark Education. In 2017, over 126,000 users viewed over 7 million pages in Bookshelf, the company’s reading software.

VitalSource works with over 1,400 publishers from around the world and in South Africa with local and international content from multinational publishers such as Pearson, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Cengage and with local publishers including but not limited to Via Afrika, Juta, Van Schaik Publishers and WITS University Press.

Jeni Evans, Head of Business Development for the UK & South Africa says, “We’ve seen a sharp increase in usage in South Africa, one of the factors that has led to our investment in having a local presence in the region. Also investing in the region are publishers who have historically led the charge in driving change from print to digital based learning. This has been in response to student demand for flexible, technologically driven content and institutions facing delays in obtaining print textbooks from overseas. VitalSource offers institutions the ability to integrate their e-Textbooks into their VLE system for free so that they are available on the first day of class. In addition, the availability of native applications for Android, iOS, Kindle, Mac, Windows and Chromebook means that students have flexible options to access their digital books, online and offline to suit their study and learning preferences.”

The student protests in South Africa “have often led to universities coming directly to VitalSource – as we don’t rely on bookstores to supply digital copies. The increased focus on fees and student expectations of their higher education experience have prompted many institutions to consider including content provision within the course. Our local presence means that we are more agile and able to reach and consult with faculty and students on campus.” says Evans.

Students access content through VitalSource Bookshelf®. With Bookshelf, students can download the whole e-textbook to their device and study without internet access. The reader automatically syncs the last page read, bookmarks, notes and highlights across up to four devices, and has a Read Aloud facility which means students can listen to e-textbooks on the go if they so choose. The powerful search tool helps learners navigate a title or their entire library to quickly find a concept and a new feature, Assigned Readings, allows lecturers to customise content for students, with start and end points, to help them complete assignments in a focused view to eliminate distractions.

Despite the changing HE environment in which VitalSource operates, Donovan says “what we are talking about ultimately is the acquisition of skills for the 21st century and the world of work: that’s the vision for higher education. At VitalSource we feel we’ve got a real part to play in that vision.  Through using our highly interactive content and our platform, whether it’s a single course solution or across an entire institution we provide access to data which university lecturers and staff wouldn’t otherwise have access to around the course experience.  It means that the university can help those students who are at risk of falling behind – our engagement dashboards provide invaluable data on how students interact with their assigned course materials, providing faculty with the opportunity to measure learning outcomes by correlating this data with pass and retention rates on their course and more broadly across their institution.

https://www.get.vitalsource.com/

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.

A new take on everything

Jacana Media’s life as a trade publisher began some 16 years ago in 2002. The brainchild of Maggie Davey who was joined by Bridget Impey, the publishing house has been making strong moves with regards to increasing diverse representation in the structure of the business, their list, their employees and even their funding models.

The Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF), started in 2011, is a not-for-profit organisation which seeks to promote and foster writing excellence from Africa by securing funding for key projects. The JLF works towards publishing literature that might not otherwise see publication for purely commercial reasons, thus allowing Jacana to produce literature which supports the concept of bibliodiversity.

At the end of 2012, Jacana created a platform for maverick publisher Melinda Ferguson to grow a new and exciting list of titles: MF Books Joburg. In 2015 Thabiso Mahlape launched her new book imprint BlackBird Books, in a similar fashion. BlackBird provides a platform and a publishing home to both the new voices and the existing generation of black writers.

Jacana’s latest initiative is Storied, which is also geared towards diversity and inclusivity, however, unlike imprints MF Books and BlackBird books, Storied is a separate publishing entity operating in partnership with Jacana Media.

The entity, capitalising on Jacana’s commercial experience in the South African publishing sector, hopes to reinvent the local creative writing and fiction sector through targeted financial investment and innovation. It will use Jacana’s extensive publishing experience and operational footprint to nurture South African voices and help them tell their stories.

“The 2017 Nielsen BookScan figures show that South Africa’s publishing landscape significantly favours non-fiction publishing, which presents an opportunity for Storied to capitalise on this gap. Storied has a first-to-market advantage because it will engage with the entire value chain in its publishing decisions and invest in the creative talent and voices that meet a long-ignored market segment and readership,” says campaign project manager Leabiloe Molapo.

Jacana Media recognises that non-fiction sales have outpaced fiction sales to the extent that publishers are increasingly making the commercial decision to publish increasingly more non-fiction. This is of significant concern to our society, given the vital role fiction plays in aiding meaningful social dialogue.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Storied is their funding model which is as innovative as it is young. Storied seeks to raise R3 million using Uprise Africa’s equity crowdfunding platform. An amount that will be directed towards growing the ecosystem that fiction needs to survive as well as the editorial, production and printing of its titles. Storied already has the advantage of having Jacana’s existing infrastructure, and formidable editorial, publishing and marketing teams at its disposal. The minimum investment is ZAR 1 200, and the campaign, which is running for 90 days has garnered some interest from investors.

“We are equity crowdfunding from investors. A Storied share costs R300. The minimum investment amount is R1 200 which buys you shares in the publishing company, Storied. We do caution investors that the returns that Storied promises are based on industry performance over the past five years. Our caveat is that: Storied is a social equity investment, with incredible potential social returns. Your Storied shares will be supporting writers and editors and building fiction publishing in South Africa.

There will be returns once the company begins to turn a profit – projected to be in 2021. Storied investors will see their returns in the books that Storied will publish; in the donations to libraries; and in the growth in the local fiction market.”

Visit www.uprise.africa and invest in Storied. Invest in African fiction.
Campaign page on Uprise.Africa: https://www.uprise.africa/view_pitch/storied
Campaign microsite: www.storied.co.za
https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-09-00-the-fight-against-the-extinction-of-fiction

The Franschhoek Literary Festival’s programme is up and it looks fabulous.

One hundred and ninety-seven writers, chairs, and subject matter specialists; one hundred and thirty-plus events, put together by a tiny staff contingent, a seemingly tireless group of dedicated volunteers and great sponsors.

There is a good mix of literature, politics and current affairs, special interest, poetry, creativity, light reading, humour and controversy in the programme. Lots of new voices and a couple of the regualrs to keep you entertained.

See the programme here: https://www.flf.co.za/programme/1/

And get your tickets here: www.webtickets.co.za.

South Africa’s Deputy President, His Excellency, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, lauded the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) for their efforts in developing a reading nation through their considered positioning of the South African Book Fair this year.

“We are hoping that out of this Book Fair we will be able to improve the reading culture in our country,” he said whilst attending the Fair in Johannesburg in September.

“If we want to develop our children to be active participants in economic growth – we must encourage children as young as 6 years old to read,” he added, emphasizing the importance of reading as both a lifestyle and family exercise.

It was a coup d’etat for the SABDC that the Deputy President attended the Fair and took the time to walk through the entire exhibition at Museum Africa, stopping to chat to both new and established publishing houses, booksellers, writers and practitioners.

“The industry has been undervalued for too long. It has a critical role to play in the development and economic transformation of South Africa. Government and industry alike share in this lack of perception of value. In making ourselves visible and engaging with all South Africans, we are able to change the narrative of our industry and how it relates to government and South Africa,” says Elitha van der Sandt, CEO of the SABDC.

The 2017 Fair was opened by the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Hon. Ms. Makhotso Sotyu and guest of honour Prof. Zakes Mda, who set the tone for a revolutionary sentiment to resonate throughout the duration of the event. Both were unequivocal in their support for the development of African publishing, particularly in relation to the importance of writing in indigenous languages.

Representing industry bodies such as the Publishing and Bookselling Associations of South Africa, it is the Council’s mandate to increase access to books, both in terms of creating a reading culture, and in effect contributing to a more diverse and representative industry. It furthermore aims to ensure that the book sector is a national priority.

“The Council’s point of departure in the envisioning of SABF 2017 was the belief that the book industry remains rather sharply disconnected from a large part of the South African population. Concurrent with that belief was its finding, reached through its research, that South Africans, including government, were unfortunately not very embracing of the industry. It is fair to say that perceptions of the book industry in South Africa are neutral at best and downright negative at times,” says van der Sandt,.

“For the new model of the SABF to be successful and to thrive in years to come, changing these perceptions has been treated as paramount by the SABDC. The Fair’s implementation, therefore, was based on this revised vision; and the choice of every element including location, venues, themes, creative design and marketing, authors, speakers and programmes linked back to it.”

The creative elements of the Fair were very strong. The goal was to create a modern aesthetic that went well beyond gimmick and elevated African design as both an art form and a conduit for expression. The designs were vibrant and bold. Each participating author had their portrait illustrated in bright colours. They were quite simply, beautiful and served a unifying purpose for the participants.

The SABF’s literary programme was filled with new and vibrant voices from the continent. Of the 116 Authors that took part in 72 literary sessions, 70% were black. The audience was 80% black. The dialogues were insightful, philosophical and based squarely in the African narrative.

The diverse audience had access to 76 exhibitors at the Fair including new and established publishing houses, a research lane with the university presses present, new and established booksellers.

“The exhibition is the only opportunity industry has to present itself to the country, and the chief event for people to get to know and learn about books and the industry that produces them. This is key to the book industry’s positive engagement and interaction with the country at large. The 2017 exhibition was critical in giving the Deputy President and other visiting politicians a sense of the industry,” says van der Sandt.

As the organisers work hard towards increasing the engagement with government and new audiences, the SABDC encourages the industry to use the opportunities in terms of showcasing what they are doing and how they are moving to diversity in terms of representation and product.

The fair is a unique opportunity to share industry challenges with government, where open debate can take place around lack of movement on a book policy, why indigenous language publishing is an unfunded mandate, and how the book serves our society and country.

“We need to discuss what transformation in the book sector actually means, what government requires from the industry, what the public deem appropriate and what industry is offering? These are difficult conversations, but the SABF is the place to discuss our collective action for a book industry that meets the needs of a diverse South Africa. says van der Sandt.
A key thread in the implementation of the SABF, is increasing opportunity and access to mainstream industry for SMMEs and entrepreneurs. The SABDC, in association with the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) and the Fibre Processing & Manufacturing Seta (FP&M Seta), introduced an Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) through very welcome exhibitor subsidies. The FP& M Seta is the main funder of the SABF.
“The FP&M SETA is proud to be involved with the South African Book Fair and in the facilitation of the Enterprise Development Programme. We are committed to uplifting SMMEs in the publishing sector in order to grow small businesses and ensure the sustainability of their businesses for the future. This programme will open up a host of opportunities for job creation, expose small, local businesses to international opportunities and represent South African publishing on a global scale.” Says the CEO of the FP&M Seta, Felleng Yende, about the Seta’s involvement in the Fair.
Sixty-five SMME`s and entrepreneurs were given an opportunity to exhibit and participate at the SABF. Included were publishers, new writers, illustrators, booksellers and an experienced cadre of indigenous language editors. These exhibitors were drawn from all provinces.
The numbers are always important and the SABDC reports that an estimated 3 000 visitors attended the Fair. Although this was a smaller number than the SABDC would have liked, the successful reaching to and incorporation into the Fair of a more representative and new audience offset the limited number of visitors. The audience engaging with SABF 2017 was predominantly black and also younger than has been the norm.

The repositioned Fair aims to connect with South African’s from every demographic and will continue to engage with the industry bodies and businesses in the lead up to the 2018 Fair which will take place again in Newtown from 7-9 September.

In 2016 the SABDC set out to revisit the concept and relevance of a national book fair in South Africa. It acknowledged more traditional views of what such a fair should be, while at the same time starting on a new journey  that of responding to mounting calls for a more reflective and representative showcase of South African (and African) literature and culture. As part of this journey, the SABDC also committed to creating greater access to the event for all South Africans; and dedicated itself to engaging audiences who ordinarily do not form part of mainstream book-industry events.

This trajectory will continue in 2018.

“We believe that the Fair was extremely successful in charting a new course for the South African book industry. It was successful in laying the strategic foundation for an inclusive, mainstream event that in all respects mirrors South Africa and Africa. The SABDC will build on this strategic foundation moving forward, through continuous engagement with mainstream industry and with the rest of the country, in order to craft a national book fair that everyone is proud of. We envision the industry, government and people from all walks of life embracing the concept and reality of a book-producing sector that embodies and brings diverse voices to all citizens through the medium of the book,” concludes Nikki Crowster, Chairperson of the SABF Steering Committee, SABDC Member and the President Elect for Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA).