Nairobi International Book Fair is here

The 2009 Nairobi International Book Fair is finally here.
I may not attend it but the thought of 25 per cent discount on all books ... I may just attend.
It is coming at a time when the economy is really down.
However, for the book industry, the real concerns are on the unavailability of school texts at two levels:
a) Books for form 3s in Maths and Science - the new syllabus are said to be eithr not there or for those that are there, so inadequate in terms of content.
b) There are complains of a poor students to book ratio. While the publishers say the ratio is still dismal, the Ministry fo Education insists the books are enough and that the funds should now be channeled to other non-book school facilities.
Let's see what the book fair brings up...

Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature - Nominees

The nominees for the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature have been announced.
Here they are, courtesy of Jos Ngunjiri's Maisha yetu blog (http://kenyanbooks.wordpress.com):
1. Adult English Category (Ksh150,000)
a) Hawecha (Longhorn) by Rhodia Mann,
b) Blossoms of the Savannah (Longhorn) by H.R. Ole Kulet
c) The Big Chiefs (EAEP) by Meja Mwangi.

2. Adult Kiswahili Category (Ksh150,000)
a) Kala Tufaha (Phoenix) by Babu Omar
b) Vipanya Vya Maabara (JKF) by Mwendah Mbatiah
c) Unaitwa Nani (Vide Muwa) by Kyalo Wamitila.

3. English Youth Category (Ksh75,000)
a) Lake of Smoke (Phoenix) by Julius Kibera
b) Walk with me Angela (KLB) by Stephen Mugambi.

4. Kiswahili Youth Category (Ksh 75,000)
a) Ngoma za Uchawi (KLB) by Atibu Bakari
b) Kisasi Hapana (OUP) by Ken Walibora
c) Sitaki Iwe Siri (Longhorn) by Bitugi Matundura.

5. Children English category
a) A Mule Called Christmas (Phoenix) by Nyambura Mpesha
b) The Prize (OUP) by Elizabeth Kabui
c) On the Run (OUP) by Mwaura Muigania.

The winners will be announced on Saturday, September 26 at Avalon Restaurant along Riverside Drive.

All the best guys

Successful business book

Here:
http://blog.800ceoread.com/2009/09/15/recipe-for-a-successful-business-book/

Recipe For a Successful Business Bookby Todd Sattersten
David Galanis at the Peeble Creek Partners Blog shares the secret to creating a successful business book:
Start with multiple authors – including an academic from a prestigious business school and a seasoned business consultant plus a business journalist from a major newspaper or magazine (someone has to actually write the book).
Using free graduate student talent from the B-school, develop a database of the performance of thousands of companies over the past decade – more if you want to sound really authoritative. Be sure to select a few unique performance metrics to differentiate your results from all the other formulaic books.
Select the top performing companies and “study” them to determine why they are better than the others. Interviews and visits make things sound much more legitimate. Use “strategy”, “execution”, and “management talent” as this makes for good reading and advice. Always avoid “a great market”, “favorable economic factors”, “lousy competitors”, and “luck” to explain success.
Develop a list of between 8 and 12 characteristics (the chapters of the book) and expound on them. It always helps to close each chapter with a summary list or two so readers of your book can copy it and pass it around at management meetings to impress their peers.
Come up with a catchy title; get a few quotes for the back cover; and publish. Then go on a brief book tour to business meetings around the country; trash the prior books; and wait for

Everyone in Nation Media Group's got a Sunny Bindra book

It is perhaps the first firm in the country to do this: The Nation Media Group just bought each of its 1,000-plus employees a copy of Sunny Bindra's 'Crown your Customer'.

Those in the know say NMG is currently promoting customer care as a key feature of its 'New Culture' where "enablers" (Customer care, professionalism, clear career path etc) are promoted while "disablers" (back stabbing, favouritism etc) are being discouraged, or done away with.

To the extent that NMG is promoting customer care, Bindra’s book is seen as a fitting reading material – and what a read it is.

What is of note is that the firm actually bought its employees BOOKS. It didn't take the easier route of buying a few copies and dumping them in the library for those wishing to read to borrow; Or, better still, invite Mr Bindra to conduct a training on customer care.

Not even the 30-plus publishing houses in Kenya have bought a book for each of their employees. (Imagine if each of the editors in the publishing houses bought at least one locally published book a month…)

This is not only a vote of confidence in Bindra's writing and expertise (after all he is a columnist with Sunday Nation) but also a boost to the local publishing industry. It also encourages Muthoni Garland’s StoryMoja initiative.

But buying the books and giving them to the employees is just one step. The next step is to have the employees read the book … then apply the concepts so learnt.

Well done NMG.

Books everywhere but ...

Is it just me or is everyone suddenly into books?
We have Kwani? - flush with cash but mean as hell, never mind that is more of a clique of I-know-you-you-know-me-the-rest-are-idiots-let's-write fellas; Storymoja - still can't figure out how to describe Muthoni Garland's outfit past the word 'awesome' ... and dozens of other book related events like the recent book signing at Nakumatt Junction where about 7 authors featured.
Oh, and just today read of this couple that is offering an e-bookshop - you order your book online and pay via m-pesa then the book is delivered to you.
I'm aware Books First has such a service too. Midiwo's sister's Legacy bookshop at Yaya Centre and Sarit Centre has such a service too, I mean online purchase. Legacy is not your common kind of bookshop though - it mostly caters for NGOs and 'development' minded individuals.
Still on my rant about this outbreak of books, I must salute Nairobi Star - now known simply as The Star - for their pioneering way of marketing books. Every day they would offer a free book to a lucky reader. All the reader had to do was to write to them and say whta section of the paper they liked ... and they would get a book.
The Star also deserves praise for their relentless marketing of Michela Wrong's It's Our Turn to Eat, a book that no bookshop would touch for fear of being sued by our untouchable billionaire-shilling thieves. The book wouldn't stand much scrutiny, really. I mean, it's more of John Githongo and his sneaky ways at a Kikuyucentric State House than anything else.
Every other day a book is being launched or serialised somewhere in Kenya. Every hour, someone is blogging about a book or an editor is assessing a manuscript or some politician is engaging a writer for a biography ...
It's a books galore people. Don't be left behind.

Kuli by Adam Shaffi - Book Review

Poverty, poor pay, hard, unappreciated work. This sums up the lot of porters. And it is the life into which Rashidi is born, raised, grows up, marries into and finally gets imprisoned for.
After the death of his father, Majaliwa, Rashidi has to look for work, any kind, to at least help his mother out.
He starts off with pushing carts under the watch and guidance of Mzee Tindo and crew. With time, he is as good as any. In that time he realizes that while the work is long and arduous, the pay is meager and hardly enough to sustain him. He also notices that Mzee Tindo seems to take advantage of the other workers but they seem oblivious of this.
He decides to take this up and asks for more money. Mzee Tindo is taken aback at Rashidi’s nerve. All the same, he agrees to lead him and one other employee to the boss. Unknown to Rashidi, Tindo had already told the boss about their demands. When they get to the boss, Rashidi is summarily dismissed.
He is back to joblessness but he does not give up and after a long while, he gets another job. This time as a porter at the harbor. He throws himself into the job and though the pay is better, it is not good enough to get him out ofpoverty nor is the work any less – it’s long, arduous and thankless.
Try as he might, Rashidi again finds himself drawn into the labour movement.
Things get so bad –too much work, same pitiful pay and a cruel management. Matters are brought to a head when an employee is killed. Rather than show compassion, the management treats it as a non issue since the employee was just a casual as such Smith Mackenzie Ltd has no obligation to do anything. This irks the employees so much that they strike– three weeks long forcing the management into a meeting. The workers accept to go back to work but nothing changes; if anything, the management becomes more cruel.
Rashidi, Baraka and Faraji decide on a go slow. On the Saturday of the go-slow Rashidi is arrested at work. Things happen pretty fast. After the supervisor of Smith Mackenzie, one George, tries to force the workers to resume work and they refuse, he alerts the police. On their arrival, the head ofpolice picks out Rashidi and starts off roughing him. This does not go down well with Rashidi who hits back and before long it’s a free for all. Rashid is beaten senseless and thrown in.
This results in a blanket ban of all meetings by the colonial administration. Policemen are poured into the streets to enforce a curfew. What started as a go-slow grows into a strike of several weeks. But notto be deterred, the workers reps devise ways of relaying messages to every one and soon a huge meeting is called – never mind that meeting are banned. On the day of the meeting real chaos erupt as the workers take on the police – several are killed among them Baraka and Faraji.

All the while, Rashidi is behind bars. He is later jailed for three years. Charges? Striking a uniformed policeman and starting chaos.
It is in the court that the one-sided nature of the legal system is brought to light. While the prosecution forces the accused to answer questions in acertain way, when the accused is given a chance to ask questions, the magistrate does not even pretend to see that the accused has shredded the prosecution’s case … and goes ahead to give him three years.
Rashidi’s selflessness, naivety and thirst for a better life illuminates an otherwise sad tale. As we walk with Rashid from one stage of his life to another, we are confronted with the harsh life of a porter, made harsher by illiteracy and a colonial administration that not only rules by the fist but also takes the local’s labour for granted – indeed treats it as their right to exploit.

A deluge of books on Obama, African-American, Slavery

After the Obama victory, it seems any bookshop worth its name must have countless books on Obama and the African American.
A good example is Bookpoint Nairobi. I was there three days ago and counted close to 30 titles on Obama, Michelle, the African-American, slavery name it.
I'm on my second book on the same topic. This time it is Booker T. washingtom autobiography, Up from Slavery.
It is quite a read - more engagig and uplifting than the earlier one...