BOOK Southern Africa

Alison Westwood and Co Tackle the Otter Hiking Trail

by Amanda on 18 Mar 2010   |   

The Otter Trail is not for sissies. Alison Westwood can certainly attest to that after she and a few friends recently hiked it – one of the most challenging in the country. Follow her day by day account below. For up to date, in-depth information regarding our country’s amazing hiking trails be sure to get a copy of Willie Olivier’s Hiking Trails of South Africa.

I had a strong suspicion we were making a mess of this. Slithering over slimy rocks, I tried to catch up with Jaco Prinsloo as he hauled our packs towards deeper water. Fierce wavelets overturned me like a hapless tortoise. I'd lost a sandal, my bottom was covered in green gunk and my legs were turning blue with cold.

Out in the river mouth, bobbing red bags and flashing white arms crested ridges and disappeared.

I reached Jaco and realised why he was making such slow progress. “Stop! I think the bag's split.” We stumbled back to shore, fell over a few more times for good measure, opened the sack and poured out our backpacks, boots and half the Bloukrans River.

• Read the complete article at IOL Travel

Book details

• Hiking Trails of South Africa by Willie Olivier
  EAN: 9781770078895
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Image courtesy SA Venues

Book Launch: Hello South Africa: Phrasebook 11 Official Languages

by Jani on 17 Mar 2010   |   

Exclusive Books invites you to the launch of Hello South Africa, TONIGHT Wednesday, 17 March 2010, at the Nelson Mandela Square store. The book, like the recently link-loved The Real Soccer Fields of Africa, appears to be positioned to take advantage of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Here’s more:

Johann Gautschi, assisted by his wife, Jenny, commissioned their daughter, Michelle – a Voice and English Pronunciation Coach – together with her husband, Mark MacDonald – a Graphic Designer – to create this uniquely South African product.

It is an essential communication tool and a visually exciting celebration of South Africa’s languages and cultures, created with passion! The product enables its readers to communicate, on a basic level, in all of our official languages. It also serves as a souvenir of South Africa’s rich diversity of languages, cultures and magnificent natural beauty.

The translations, pronunciation guides and pseudo-phonetics have been done by top academics in the African Languages Departments of distinguished South African Universities. The introductions on the history of language in South Africa and its diverse cultures have been written by leaders in the fields of Linguistics and Social Anthropology.

Speaking to someone in his / her mother tongue fosters a mutual respect and lays the foundation for a welcome reception, which makes the experience of being South African or of visiting our beautiful country all the more pleasurable.

Event Details

• Date: Wednesday, 17 March 2010
• Time: 6:00 PM for 6:30 PM
• Venue: Ecxlusive Books Nelson Mandela Square, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton | Map
• RSVP: Exclusive Books Nelson Mandela Square, thesquare@exclusivebooks.co.za, 011 784 5416

Book Details

• Hello South Africa: Phrasebook 11 Official Languages by Michell MacDonald, Mark MacDonald
  EAN: 9781934293065
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Book Launch: African Security Governance: Emerging Issues by Edwin Cawthra

by Tshepo on 16 Mar 2010   |   

Wits University Press and The Graduate School of Public and Development Management at Wits invite you to the launch of African Security Governance: Emerging Issues, edited by Gavin Cawthra.

Cawthra will discuss the results of research carried out over a number of years by the Southern African Defense and Security Management Network (SADSEM) on many new and emerging security issues. The broad discussion will include security governance.

We look forward to seeing you there:

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, 18 March 2010
• Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
• Venue: Executive Dining Room, The Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2 St David’s Place
  Parktown Campus
  Wits University, Johannesburg | Map
• RSVP: julia.wright@wits.ac.za, 011 484 5906

Book Details

• African Security Governance: Emerging Issues by Edwin Cawthra
  EAN: 9781868144839
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Pre-London Book Fair Special Offer on Modjaji Books new titles

by Colleen on 16 Mar 2010   |   

Modjaji Books has several new titles coming out in April and May. If you would like to pre-order any of these titles at a special discount price, here’s your chance. It’s also a way of supporting an indie publisher.

The titles are:

Arja Salafranca’s collection of short stories The Thin Line.
Recommended Retail Price in stores – R145.
Modjaji Pre-Order price including postage where relevant: R125

Meg Vandemerwe’s collection of short stories This Place Called Home
Recommended Retail Price in stores – R145.
Modjaji Pre-Order price including postage where relevant: R125

Jane Katjavivi’s memoir, Undisciplined Heart
Recommended Retail Price in stores – R170
Modjaji Pre-Order price including postage where relevant: R150

Small Publisher’s Catalogue 2010 (Africa)
Recommended Retail Price in stores – R150
Modjaji Pre-Order price including postage where relevant: R100

Phillippa Yaa de Villiers new collection of poems, The Everyday Wife
Recommended Retail Price in stores – R130
Modjaji Pre-Order price including postage where relevant: R110

Modjaji’s Book of Bed Short Stories
Recommended Retail Price in stores – R150
Modjaji Pre-Order price including postage where relevant: R130

Special Offer if you order all 6 of the titles you pay R690 (an extra R50 off, the already reduced price)

Check out all Modjaji Books titles here ….

Go on, you know you want them and you will be supporting independent publishing in a big way!

For more information about any of the titles click on the links above.

All you ever wanted to know about getting published in South Africa, but didn't know who to ask

by Colleen on 10 Mar 2010   |   

OK, so the title is a tiny exaggeration.

Marcia Raymond invited me to give a talk on “getting published” at the Cape Town City Library on Saturday afternoon, February 13th, as part of the monthly Poetry Circle, one of activities of the Friends of the CTC Library. About 60 people were there, full of different questions and expectations. The talk was partly based on the blog I wrote last year about publishing poetry. But from a raised hand exercise it was clear that most of the audience were interested in other publishing issues, and not just poetry.

How can I improve my writing? Make it publishable?
I think writers need honest, clear, helpful feedback as a key step in improving their writing and getting published. But how do you get honest, detailed feedback? Well unless you are extremely lucky you will have to pay for it. Or you can belong to a group of writers who give each other feedback. If you aren’t part of a writers’ group, you can start one. The Centre for the Book has a pamphlet written by Makhosazana Xaba about starting a writers’ group.

Maire Fisher is the person who set up Live Writing , a fabulous service for writers, from which you can source feedback, reader’s reports, mentoring, editing, proofreading, and ghostwriting. Here’s a brief description from the Live Writing website of what’s on offer:

When you send your written work to Live Writing we establish exactly what it is that you need and then ensure as close as possible a match between editor and writer. No matter what sort of writing – a novel, poetry, creative non-fiction, short stories, a children’s book – Live Writing will give you honest, constructive feedback in a comprehensive report. The Live Writing team is highly competent and skilled, with years of writing and editing experience. We number among our ranks published authors, prize-winning poets, playwrights, journalists, copy writers, graduates from creative writing programmes and creative writing tutors.

You could also contact the Professional Editors’ Group for editing services. You need to get your manuscript into as polished a state as possible before submitting it to a publisher. I say this advisedly, having seen many manuscripts that look suspiciously like an early draft, if not a first draft.

How do I find out who the publishers are that might accept my manuscript?
You have to be prepared to do some research. You can either go to a bookstore and browse amongst the books that are similar to your manuscript or you can check out the PASA website and then proceed to the individual publishers’ websites. The useful aspect of this research is that you will find out what each publisher’s specific submission guidelines are. PASA also puts out a PASA Directory with the contact details and brief description of what each member publisher’s focus is. You can also find the Small Publishers’ Catalogue (Africa) 2010 which has contact details of small presses including literary magazines, by contacting Blue Weaver or from a bookstore. The Small Publishers’ Catalogue will be out in early April 2010. Basil Van Rooyen’s book, Get your book published in 30 (relatively) easy steps : a hands-on-guide for South African authors (Penguin, 2005) is a useful if slightly discouraging book for self-publishers and writers. It also focuses much more on non-fiction than on fiction, poetry, memoir, drama, short stories, essays, and so on. (Clue: Non-fiction is a much more lucrative side of publishing than the aforementioned.)

The PASA website also has a lot of useful information about copyright, plagiarism, vacancies in the industry and so on.

What are literary magazines all about?
You need to read at least one or two before submitting poems or short stories. In order to get a collection published you need to have had at least 10 poems and at least 5 or more published. Even then it is very difficult to get either published. Literary magazines need to have subscribers to keep them going. Not just those who submit writing. Here’s the tough question – do you subscribe to any literary magazines? If not, why not? If you think they are too expensive, can you answer these questions. How much is a subscription? Could you share a subscription with friends or other writers? Does your library subscribe to any of them? If not, why not? Which ones are most likely to be suitable to your type of writing?

How do I find out about launches and other bookish events?
Join the loyalty clubs that bookstores have, or join their Facebook pages or groups. They will send you invitations to events.
Check out Book SA and LitNet regularly. Attend readings and book launches when you can. Go to cultural events like Woordfees, Wordfest at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, the Cape Town International Book Fair, the Jozi Book Fair, the Franschoek Literary Festival, the KKNK, the Time of the Writer, Poetry Africa, Badilisha.

Especially for Cape Town writers:
You can go to Off the Wall events in Observatory, at Kalk Bay Books and at Espresso Dot Kom in Kommetjie. To get onto the mailing list you should subscribe to this group, run selflessly by Hugh Hodge.
You must get onto the mailing lists of The Book Lounge, Kalk Bay Books, Wordsworths and Exclusive Books.

What about self-publishing?
If you want to self publish you need to get hold of a copy of A rough guide to small-scale and self-publishing published by the Centre for the Book. I wrote it when I worked at the Centre for the Book when a big part of my job was to give advice to people wanting to self-publish. Even if you don’t want to self-publish, the book offers a useful insight into publishing and how it works.

It isn’t cheap or easy to self-publish, but it can be rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. There are lots of little and big pot-holes to fall into in publishing. Do you homework before you embark on the process. Here are some good contacts: Megadigital is a Cape Town based printer that is worth it’s weight in gold to the small-scale publisher or self-publisher. Mousehand/Readhill is a company that can help you do quality self-publishing for a reasonable price. Some other good companies to know about are New Voices and Publisher.co.za. Aernout Zevenbergen has an excellent blog post where he describes both the joys and pains of self-publishing.

What about e-books and e-publishing – as a writer, what do I need to know?
The short most effective answer is, go to Electric Book Works website, sign up to everything they have going and you will get the answers you are looking for. Follow Electric Book Works EBW and Arthur Attwell (the genius behind EBW) on Twitter and you will learn more than you could ever expect to learn about e-books and e-publishing.

Right, if you have any other questions – there are lots, I will endeavour (as will my fellow bloggers) to answer the questions or at least point you in the right direction.

Book details

• The Small Publishers’ Catalogue 2010 (Africa) by Bontle Senne, edited by Colleen Higgs
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781920397012
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• A Rough Guide to Small-scale and Self-publishing by Colleen Higgs
  EAN: 9780796100580
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Karen Herbert resenseer Goed om te weet: dié feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners

by Carolyn on 01 Mar 2010   |   

Uitspraak: wortel

Soek jy na iets om oor te gesels by gesellighede wat die ander gaste sal beïndruk? Dan is die feitegids Goed om te weet deur Hans Büttner en George Claassen vir jou.

Karen Herbert skryf in ‘n resensie van die boek in Volksblad dat dit kort en kragtige informasie oor ‘n wye verskeidenheid onderwerpe bied.

“As jy dit lees, sal jy nie alles van die onderwerp weet nie, maar jy sal die belangrikste weet en verder kan naslaan.”

In die boek Goed om te Weet gaan die leser op ’n ontdekkingsreis na ’n wêreld van kennis wat saak maak. Wil jy saampraat oor verskeie onderwerpe is dít die boek om te lees.
Dit is ’n boek vol feite, maar hoef nie net vir naslaandoeleindes gebruik te word nie. Dit is ’n feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners. Die boek is ’n interessante en leesbare versameling feite wat jy in die media of in ’n gesprek sal teëkom.

Die boek is goed uiteengesit en die afdelings waarin die kitsfeite uiteengesit word, maak naslaanwerk maklik. Wil jy iets weet oor die Ampie-trilogie (romans deur Jochem van Bruggen) gaan kyk jy net in die inhoudsopgawe by Suid-Afrikaanse literatuur en in die hoofstuk is alles in alfabetiese volgorde. Daar is 13 afdelings met ’n verskeidenheid temas wat insluit die politiek, geskiedenis, geografie, letterkunde, religie, die kunste en wetenskap en tegnologie. Al die inligting is in alfabetiese volgorde.

• Volledige resensie in Volksblad

• Goed om te weet: dié feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners tuisblad

Boekbesonderhede

• Goed om te weet: dié feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners deur George Claassen, Hans Büttner
  EAN: 9780624047759
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

David Pike Reviews Complete Kak! The Comprehensive Whinger's Guide To South Africa And The World

by Jani on 26 Feb 2010   |   

Verdict: kak. Just kidding! It’s a carrot:

The book is alphabetically-structured (‘AA’ to ‘Zuma as a Christian name’), and it is a no-holds-barred, satirical, often hilarious, apparently light-hearted (if bitchy) rant is also, on a deeper level, a serious tirade against phoniness, hypocrisy, pretentiousness, brainlessness, double-standards and corruption.

• Complete review at Times Live

• Complete Kak! The Comprehensive Whinger’s Guide To South Africa And The World homepage

Book Details

• Complete Kak! The Comprehensive Whinger’s Guide To South Africa And The World by Tim Richman, Grant Schreiber
  EAN: 9781920137298
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Scribd.com book preview:

Complete Kak! The Comprehensive Whinger’s Guide to South Africa and the World

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Prof George Claassen praat met Kirby van der Merwe oor Goed om te weet

by Chris on 26 Feb 2010   |   

Professor George Claasen is ‘n man wat nie tyd het vir onkunde en bog stories nie. Nie net is hy besig nie – hy’s ‘n dosent in wetenskapjoernalistiek by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch wn ook die skrywer agter Die Burger se Kwakoskoop rubriek – hy probeer altyd agter die kap van die byl kom tot by die waarheid oor sake. Kirby van der Merwe het so bietjie met hom gaan gesels oor feite, die waarheid, wat Suid-Afrikaners behoort te weet en Goed om te weet: die feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners waarvan hy die mede-samesteller is.

Waaroor gaan Goed om te weet?

Dis ’n feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners – ons is vermetel genoeg om te beweer dié feiteboek wat jy nodig het om inligting oor verskillende onderwerpe vinnig te bekom.

En ons hoop dis noukeurig en korrek, nie soos die internet wat wemel van ongetoetste bewerings en “kennis” wat dikwels doodgewoon verkeerd is nie.

Wat belangrik is, is dat dit ’n sterk Suid-Afrikaanse fokus het.

Die idee van ’n boek wat in kort beskrywings net basiese inligting sou kon oordra, het ontstaan te midde van indringende kommer in ontwikkelde en ontwikkelende samelewings oor die toenemende gebrek aan parate algemene kennis by mense wat oningelig en onkundig deur die lewe gaan.

• Lees die volledige artikel in By

Boekbesonderhede

• Goed om te weet: dié feiteboek vir ingeligte Suid-Afrikaners deur George Claassen, Hans Büttner
  Boektuisblad
  EAN: 9780624047759
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

JP Rossouw's Tasting the Cape: March 2010 Vintage

by Ron on 22 Feb 2010   |   

Happiness is having a wine expert as a client. I am pleased to note that Penguin will be releasing client JP Rossouw’s Tasting the Cape at the beginning of March. This is the definitive guide for wine lovers that now only tells you where to find the best wines, but also the best places to eat and sleep in the  Cape Winelands. It’s written by  one of the country’s premier wine and food reviewers, author of Rossouw’s Restaurants.

Small Publishers' Catalogue (Africa) - cover preview

by Colleen on 17 Feb 2010   |   

March 2010 will see the Small Publishers’ Catalogue available to buy. Here’s a preview of the cover, done by Jesse Breytenbach (crocheted image) and lettering by Hannah Morris. I love the cover and have loved working on this project with the help of Bontle Senne, Natascha Mostert and Fouad Asfour of Khanya College. We decided to put together a catalogue at the Small Publishers’ meeting we had in Jozi last August.

The Catalogue has listings from about 40 African small publishers, there are articles by Gary Cummiskey, Arthur Attwell and Aernout Zevenbergen as well as some useful resources. The Catalogue will be useful to a number of different audiences including Africana librarians, booksellers, writers, book development agencies, the media and readers who are interested in the behind the scenes aspects of the world of books and publishing.

The Catalogue should be in bookstores by the end of March 2010 and copies will be available at this year’s London Book Fair. Publishers who may not be able to get to the LBF will still be on the international publishing map.