By the end of our presentation

A quick recap:

Publishing is explained in simply terms as the production and dissemination of literature, music,
among other information.

It is also the process or activity of making information available to the general public.

In some cases authors may be their own publishers – meaning the originators and developers, and
also provide media to deliver it and display the content for the same.

The word publisher can be refered to the individual who leads the publishing company or imprint or
to a person who owns a magazine.

Traditionally, it refers to the distribution of printed works such as books, [the book trade] and
newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the internet the scope of publishing
has expanded to include electronic resources such as electronic versions of books and periodicals as
well as micro – publishing, websites, blogs, video game publishers and the like. Thus the scope of
publishing has expanded to include electronic plate forms. It has also served as distribution and
marketing mechanism.

Types of publishers

1. Trade book publishers

2. Academic publishers
3. Professional publishers
4. Self-publishers

Publishing includes the following stages of development

1. acquisition,
2. copy editing,
3. production,
4. printing [and its electronic equivalent]
5. and marketing and distribution.

Publishing is also important as a legal concept

1. As the process of giving formal notice to the world of a significant intention, for e.g. To
marry or enter bankruptcy.
2. As the essential precondition of being able to claim defamation that is, the alleged libel must
have been published and
3. For copyright purposes where there is a difference in the protection of published and
unpublished works.
Categories of book publishers

There are two categories of book publishers, they include the following:

1. Non – paid publishers: the term non – paid publisher refers to those publishing houses that
do not charge authors at all to publish their books.
2. Paid publishers: the authors has to meet with the total expense to get the book published
and the author has the full right to set up marketing policies. This is also known as vanity
publishing.
 The five things authors need to answer when proposing a book [what questions should be asked
by the publisher]

1. Who needs the book and why. Tell or ask about the primary audience and if you are writing
the book to be accessible for two readers and beyond that audience, please tell us who the
secondary readers are and why they will be interested. [book audience]
2. Show us its unique contribution, what is it going to add to the existing literature on [the
particular topic the book will be treating] this topic. What are the best books available and
how is this book going to complement or compete with them. [ thus the books unique
contributions]
3. Research or the data you are presenting, tell us how you come you came by this and what
stands you are taking with respect to that material. We want to hear about your argument
and the evidence that gave rise to it. [its argument and evidence]
4. The fourth thing we want to hear is about your qualification for e.g. It could be that
everybody in this room or lecture hall is qualified to write a book, but if you been immersed
in this topic for about 10 years and you’ve done field works in about 4 countries, then you’ve
compiled the largest database of extend research on the topic, we want to know that. [your
qualification]
5. Tell us why for e.g. University press is the ideal publisher or at least a good fit from your
perspective. [project fit for our program]

The way forward

1. Adapting strategies to best suit the new conditions and challenges, however the great
glimmer of hope that’s what has been emphasized by Jason Einstein whereby a machine
called the expresso book machine is been provided at vantage point or at libraries where
you type in the title of the book you want to buy, the message is instantly transmitted to a
digital database where the text comes back and is printed attached to a paper back cover all
within four minutes for a cost under 10$ which prize varies according to the publisher, so
what this is doing is eliminating crucial stages in the production, consumption mechanism,
therefore there is no warehousing, there is no transportation cost and best of all there are
no returns, because returns kill publishers. The famous words of Alfred kinof was gone
today, here tomorrow about his books, returns are just killing publishers and this is one way
to eliminate that problem .
2. We have to promote and sell our products on different plate forms, Ghanaian publishers in
collaboration with the authors have to digitize their books, create apps, animation in terms
of story books rigging characters, and also some form of motion graphics to advertise and
market their books, this will make it organic. Also together with advertising agents or
companies they can advertise and sell their books via advertising websites and blogs.

Before I end let us look at this point, lets analyse it juxtapose it look through the lenses and have
foresight into the future of publishing and see how best we could meet this challenges because if I
don’t end the end will be my end.

3. Lack of governmental policies to support the publishing industry

Writers are not supported because of weak institutional policies. Besides our writers
associations are not proactive; sometimes they are led by selfish self – seeking leaders. We
have the Ghana Associations of Writers [PAWA], among others which are based in Accra.
What some of the leaders of such associations do is to use their offices to further their nests,
attending endless conferences abroad, but implementing very little on the ground by way of
promoting writing and publishing that’s why all civilisation is ahead of us in terms of
publishing. Mostly they are interested in per diem and they jump at the least opportunity to
travel overseas.

The attitude of our leaders is a canca we have to fight together as citizens of this great
nation. Our leader have this attitude of greediness, selfish interest, nepotism and
favouritism has become the norm of the day, thus whom you know therefore we have
allowed ourselves to be corrupted in our own morals and ways. We are into the business of
canonizing our lazy writers and publishers and demonising the hard working publishers. For
the holy Allah said in the holy Quran and I quote “I will never change the condition of the
people unless they change themselves” therefore we have to change our ways, behaviour as
leaders we need to fight for the group interest first, actually this is not an occasion for
lamentation which will then bitter away, we need to re – energise ourselves. As prof.
Lumumba said, he said we need something we called “chorfasasiummorum” a total change
of heart, a DNA transplant, a total change of behaviour, a change of ways of doing our things
so that our dominant instinct becomes the instinct to do that which is good and right,
because if it is not done then we are done.

Ladies and gentlemen thank you and may Allah bless you all for your time.