Q&A: Words on… e-Kitabu – the Rights Café, Nairobi International Book Fair

By Africa in Words on 24 November , 2023 • ( 0 )

AiW note: With thanks to Catalyst Press who have worked with us to bring you this twinned Q&A…

“With increasing global focus on African writing, this new initiative aims to open networks on the continent and to get African writing into more readers’ hands across African countries and globally.”
For Immediate Release – Book Rights Trading In African Content At The Nairobi International Book Fair For The First Time.
eKitabu.com/news, September 25, 2023

In September 2023, eKitabu, a Nairobi-based organisation that develops, adapts, publishes, and distributes African content, sponsored twelve publishing professionals to come to the Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) and attend a new “Rights Café”.

Meeting head-on those challenges already known for books publication across the continent — such as the majority of publishers focusing on educational texts, and/or book prices being determined by traditionally published works; the often heavy costs and burdens of self-publishing, printing, marketing, promotion; the lack of structured marketing and distribution systems, as well as the availability of robust legal frameworks — the Rights Café was established to shed light on the all-important business end of the business of books, with a particular spotlight on rights buying and selling, for writers and publishing professionals alike.

The invited NIBF Ambassadors – African publishing rights professionals from Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda, and their counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, the UK, and USA – came together in this, the first dedicated space for business-to-business rights discussions at the NIBF.

Rights Deals Speed Dating Session at NIBF 2023

Sharing thinking across issues in publishing and translation rights – intellectual property, developing trust with improved contractual agreements and info around sound legal frameworks, as well as expanding local and global networks on these bases — featured activities included panels on trends in African literature, discussions about how to strengthen rights trading for African writers, and innovative “speed-dating” sessions with buyers and sellers.

With the initial Rights Café as a forum, the “journey from being predominantly buyers to sellers of literary rights”, as eKitabu put it, has begun.

While this was the first year for the NIBF to have a dedicated rights fair, the hope is it will now be an annual event, one that will enable a thriving rights industry among publishers and authors, so that African writing will have greater and more secure access to being published both across the continent and around the globe.

The sponsor, eKitabu, and several of the invited NIBF Ambassadors participating in the Rights Café, have responded to a “Words on…” Q&A about their involvement, their experience there, and, with their hopes, what it has set in motion that they can take forward into the future — with and for African writers and publishing.

Today, in collaboration with Catalyst Press, one of the invited Rights Café Ambassadors, we are delighted to be able to share e-Kitabu’s responses. In a twinned post, we will also be sharing those from publishing professionals — including journalists, agents, and booksellers — from across Europe and America, invited by eKitabu to attend and share in the new venture for rights across the continent.

What opens up between the Q&As is a fascinating insight into this area of books production, bringing light to this crucial aspect of the relationships involved in the publication, ownership, and sharing of writers’ work on the business end of international books…

Participants
Sponsor and Rights Café co-organiser Q&A – below:
e-Kitabu, a company that develops, adapts, publishes, and distributes African content (Kenya)

NIBF Rights Café Ambassadors (Europe and US) Q&A:
Bieke Van Aggelen, African Literary Agency (the Netherlands); Stefanie Hirsbrunner, publisher, bookseller, director of the African Book Festival Berlin (Germany); Raphael Thierry, Ægitna Literary Agency (France); Jessica Powers, publisher, Catalyst Press (United States); Olivia Snaije, journalist (France).

eKitabu delivers accessible digital content and innovative programs for inclusive and quality education. We are a Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, and US company headquartered in Nairobi. The educational impact of learning materials is our foundation and on that proven foundation, we innovate, designing with users and partners from the public and private sectors—to increase accessibility and lower cost for inclusive and equitable quality education.

In collaboration with the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA), and the African Publishers Network (APNET), eKitabu sponsored twelve Ambassadors to attend the 24th Nairobi International Book Fair at Sarit Expo Center and created a Rights Café where rights-buying professionals from Africa and beyond met with local publishers to mutually explore book rights deals.

AiW: Thank you, eKitabu, for your time here, as well as for your facilitation of the rights-based activities and events at the Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) this year, and the establishment of the dedicated space of the Rights Café. Perhaps we could open with you telling us a bit more about your involvement from your side — why this, why now?

eKITABU (the organisation that collaborated with other organisations and sponsored the new rights fair at the NIBF): At the Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) this year, we collaborated with the Kenya Publishers Association, the African Publishers Network, and colleagues in Publishers Without Borders to experiment with new ideas focused on opening up business-to-business opportunities in African publishing. We believed it was time for this change, and we learned a lot. For the first time ever at NIBF, eKitabu created a dedicated space, a “Rights Café” where buyers and sellers interested in rights deals from Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda; and the rest of the world: Argentina, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, UK, and USA, came together to make relationships and explore opportunities to license and distribute African content across the continent and the world.

Can you describe your past work with African writing and writers/publishing? What other professional hats do you wear?

Headquartered in Kenya and with offices in Rwanda and Malawi, eKitabu develops, adapts, and distributes digital and print content in a range of languages and accessible formats in Africa, including in languages in which few print books exist, seven sign languages of Africa to date, and braille. In the twelve years since founding eKitabu, we have collaborated with publishers, writers, editors, illustrators, designers, storytellers, booksellers, and artists—musical, visual, and dance artists, including our old friends at ChezaCheza and our new friends at Orature Collective. We also develop EPUBs, and we write software in a global, open source consortium called Readium. Our work has revolved mainly around learning content, both the creation of it and its use and enjoyment. Over time, our relationships with writers and publishers have grown and with them new opportunities to develop original content, bring it to market, and reach African audiences and readers around the world. We want to reach readers with the unique voices, perspectives, and stories that African writers are ready and able to share.

What was the most exciting or inspiring part of attending the NIBF or the work you did there? What do you see will be ongoing benefits of your time there in 2023 and what do you hope for the future of rights and African writing at NIBF?

The relationships we began at NIBF 2023 through the Rights Café initiative, including with the “NIBF Ambassadors,” seeing connections form, lighting up new networks— these were exciting and worth reflecting on, relative to what’s happening now and what can be in the future. We hope good deals get done. We hope writers find their readers here and around the world. We hope for deals on terms that bring returns to authors and their publishers on this journey together.

What opportunities and challenges are there for rights sales and deals both across the continent and outside of the continent?

As the panel discussions on Friday morning at NIBF spotlighted, contracts between authors and publishers need serious work. Relationships and knowledge of who to work with and how to get win-win deals done are, can we say, gappy, but vital for everyone involved. 2023 showed us these things aren’t so hard. The opportunity is to learn from the past and present ways rights deals happen and yet boldly do them anew in a system that works better for everyone.

What are the most ethical and/or heart-lifting changes in practice you’ve seen happening across your industry/industries recently? What would you like to see become more visible going forward (jobs, roles, avenues, practices)?

A longtime observer of African literary scenes recently observed: African identities are the starting point we need. That fulcrum has already made its presence felt everywhere. How African identities, fluid and fixed, interrelate with each other and with others in an ever more connected world is now an open conversation, part of a dialectic that involves everyone. Notable threads that we see in the weave include accessibility for all people, taking cost seriously as intrinsic to quality, and prioritizing locally developed content from historically underrepresented communities.

Finally, how can our blog, books, and online communities best offer support for your work with African writing?

They can best offer support for our work with African writing by amplifying our message and helping to spread awareness of contemporary African literature. We would also appreciate any opportunities to collaborate with you and your community of authors, independent publishers, and literary organizations to further mutual goals.

For info, including videos of panels among other content, about eKitabu and the Rights Cafe at the Nairobi International Book Festival, head to the blog area of their website, where you can also browse around and find out more about the various areas of their work for African content.

And catch our twinned Words On… NIBF Rights Café Q&A, with European and American Ambassadors invited by eKitabu to “Move African Content [with] Rights Trading Perspectives”, at our Homepage or the links below.