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| Image courtesy of Izak de Vries |
Last week I attended Lapa Uitgewers’
Skryfindaba, held in a gorgeous thatched lapa in the Pretoria botanical
gardens.
Thanks to the heavy traffic from Johannesburg, and me getting lost in
the botanical gardens (at least I got a scenic tour of the gardens!) I missed
most of the first talk of the day, a presentation by three of Lapa’s editors
giving an overview of South African fiction over the last fourteen years.
What I did hear of this talk was very
interesting, though, and I also discovered something I really should have known
(since it’s on their website!): that Lapa stands for Lees Afrikaans, Praat Afrikaans, and that the publishing house is
owned by the ATKV (Afrikaans Taal en Kultuur Vereniging). Which explains why
they only publish Afrikaans books! Their editors aren’t just passionate about
books – as all editors are – but they are also devoted to growing readers, not
just as markets to sell to, but in order to promote language and reading. How
awesome is that?
The next speaker, editor Joanita Fourie,
gave practical writing tips and advice for improving writing, including
everything from creating believable characters to grammar to showing vs telling.
I was amazed at how much she managed to pack into just half an hour!
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| Image courtesy of Didi Potgieter |
After a short tea break, it was the turn of
Izak de Vries, Lapa’s marketing guru. For me, this was the most fascinating
talk of the day, and I wish I could have recorded it (or at least that I’d
taken better notes!). Izak shared data and statistics on South African book sales, and revealed some interesting facts,
including how the market share is split between internationally published and
locally published books. Izak also looked at new forms of media, at the new
digital world we live in, at South African publishing trends, and how
publishing house budgets are shrinking. According to Izak, readers are getting
younger, and the “Afrikaans market is younger than everyone thinks”.
It was also interesting to note that while
everything appears to be ‘doom and gloom’ in the South African book market,
Lapa has managed to actually grow its profits!
Izak ended his talk emphasizing that
authors need to be actively involved in marketing themselves, especially
digitally, and that writers can no longer sit back and leave this up to
publishers – which dove-tailed perfectly into my talk.
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| Romy Sommer, courtesy of Izak de Vries |
My presentation was on Building a Brand,
including using social media. This was a greatly compacted version of a recent
webinar I taught, and I still have no idea how I managed to fit everything into
my 45 minute time slot (I probably ran way over!) They kindly let me speak in
English, since my Afrikaans isn’t quite up to managing marketing and publishing terminology (and I would have taken twice as long if I’d had to mentally translate everything before opening my mouth!). The audience was encouraging and
supportive, and I hope they got good value out of the talk.
We ate a delicious lunch in the pretty,
treed garden, before heading back indoors for crime writer Madelein Rust’s talk
on ‘Tydgees in inhoud van boeke’ – i.e. ensuring that our books reflect the zeitgeist of their times, whether we
write historical, contemporary or futuristic. Her talk included psychology,
literary examples, and ended with a fun exercise that got everyone writing –
and laughing!
The last session of the day was a panel
discussion with Izak, a couple of Lapa’s editors, and author Sophia Kapp. This lively
debate got everyone involved, and I was impressed at how open and
forward-thinking the conversation was, and how the authors weren't afraid to
ask really hard questions. The main topics discussed included diversity in
our books, the erotica market, and how to develop new markets.
A few of my favourite quotes from this
discussion included (please excuse that I’ve translated them into English – any
mistakes are all my own):
- Izak de Vries: You won’t get
new readers in if you don’t write for
new readers.”
- Sophia Kapp: “There is a
concept that a book written by a white writer is written only for a white
audience” – which led to a interesting discussion on cultural appropriation.
- Izak de Vries: “We are all
immigrants in this new digital world.”
- Sophia Kapp: “Don’t get sucked
into thinking the stereotypes in your head are the way everyone is.”
- Cecilia Britz: “Erotica is very
misunderstood. It is often lumped together, but actually covers a very wide
spectrum.”
- Following on from this, Izak
said “There is a very big market for [erotic romance] but it must be done
well.”
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| Didi Potgieter and Romy Sommer |
After the panel discussion, we headed
outdoors for a glass of wine and the opportunity to network with other authors. The writers present reflected a mix of genres but with a heavy emphasis on romance. For me, this was the best part of the day, meeting and getting to know
other writers. As always when I meet with other romance writers, I felt uplifted
and proud to be among them. These are savvy, intelligent professional
women, willing to learn and share, and always friendly and welcoming. Even if I
didn’t love romance novels, I’d probably just write in this genre to be surrounded
by writers like these!
The day ended with an event to celebrate
the career of Lapa’s retiring editorial director Cecilia Britz. First up was a
short talk by Olinka Nell, chief buyer at Exclusive Books, who explained how
the retail chain works and also how their market demographics are changing.
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| Cecilia Britz, courtesy of Izak de Vries |
Lapa editor Charlene Hougaard then
introduced Cecilia Britz. This talk, and the chance I had to chat with Cecilia
afterwards, inspired me more than anything else on this entire day. As I shared
on social media afterwards, when I grow up, I want to be Cecilia. She is a
tour-de-force, a woman whose passion and determination and vocal support of the
romance genre has left a huge imprint on South African publishing. She has
worked hard to overcome the stereotyping of the genre, and I believe it is
thanks to her drive that Lapa is as successful as it is. This is a publishing
house that has embraced Romance, not as its guilty secret, but as a reason for
pride.
I’ll admit that I tend to think of South
African publishers as stuck in the dark ages, but Lapa Uitgewers impressed me
with how forward-thinking they are, how committed they are to books and
storytelling, and best of all, with their willingness to raise eyebrows and
push boundaries. This event, and the people I met, gave me hope for the future
of South African publishing.
