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Bankole Olayebi is the head of Bookcraft Ltd, an Ibadan-based publishing company established 30 years ago. Their publications cover a wide range of genres, including historical accounts, public affairs, political analyses, business, fiction, memoirs and poetry. Some of the authors under their stable include Prof Chinua Achebe, Prof Wole Soyinka, Kole Omotosho, Niyi Osundare, Matthew Kukah, Prof Femi Osifisan, among others. In this interview with Damiete Braide at the company’s headquarters in Ibadan, Olayebi reveals the success story behind the publishing firm and how it has advanced writing in Nigeria.
What led to the creation of Bookcraft?
Bookcraft Limited started 30 years ago basically to meet the demands for books for the non-school reader. We discovered that a lot of publishing that was going on then was focused primarily on school books and we knew there was a gap. People wanted to read for leisure and other reasons but just to pass examinations, and that is what we have been trying to do. We have done our little bit to fill the gap, though it has not been very easy. Now people are more familiar with books as items, gifts or presents or that they require as their own personal use. More people are reading; more people are publishing. If you look at the publishing landscape today, you will discover that there are many more independent publishers publishing for the general market or trade publishing –books that are just there to be sold not for schools or examination purposes alone. We have done our little bit, and we are struggling with it, and it is an ongoing process that will never end. Our titles are user friendly, because the layout are well composed. In terms of style, it is something that the reader can take and read anywhere without wearing glasses. Our titles are synonymous with excellence; they are well designed and packaged that, anywhere they are found, people know that it is from our stable, and they are always distinct from other titles.
Do you agree that investing in knowledge economy has helped Nigeria?
The assumption in that question is that there has been an investment in knowledge economy in Nigeria, but I disagree: there has not been enough of an investment; rather, knowledge has been devalued. People are more acquisitive. It is what they own. For example, the cars that they have or drive; the houses that they have built; they money that they have, and not what they have in their head. There is a long way to go to invest in knowledge economy. It is not just about starting universities or opening schools, but there has to be an emphasis on knowledge as a tool of transformation, and there is a long way for us to go in achieving proper investment in the knowledge economy. A lot needs to be done. Of course, it is not going to be all by government, but we do our little bit in producing books.
Other people produce films and music, and these are the intangibles. When you talk of knowledge economy, it is not necessarily the book but what is in the book. There needs to be more infrastructural support for the economy. For instance, in the publishing industry, the challenge that we have is distribution. Individuals, companies or corporate entities have to invest in transporting books from one place to the other in investing as a means of distribution so that books are readily available across the country. This is what is done in developed countries. There are distribution companies who carry the books to the end users. Furthermore, there has to be enough of those outlets, and there is a huge dearth of outlets or bookshops in the country. A big city like Lagos, when you compare it to Johannesburg, not to talk of London or America, we don’t have enough bookshops, and that is where it must start. We publish books, but it has to go to end users through the outlets. Some of the gaps have been filled by the online retailer but the brick and mortar shops, as they say, we need more of that.
How do you handle authors’ royalties? Are they paid as when due?
We try to do our best, and it is a big challenge; but we try to pay our authors as regularly as the income comes in. Part of the problem we have is, when the books go out, it takes a long time to get the returns from the outlets. It is a struggle, but we will like to do it as regularly, as we have agreed with our authors; but when we have to chase up our debts or debtors, it is a big problem. We do our best, but it can be a lot better.
Do you agree that writers in Nigeria write to win awards?
There is a bit too much of that, and there is nothing wrong with it. I discourage people that, if you want to write and after you win the awards, then what next? Sometimes, when they write to win awards and, when they do, you observe that they fizzle out. You would know who is a writer and who is not a writer. If you are writing only to win awards, then you are just like a mercenary; but, if you are passionate about writing, you will see that in the turn out their works. The people who are writing on the Nigerian writing scene are doing their best; unfortunately, the young writers are not based in the country. They do better abroad, because the market and the environment are better over there.
What are the prospects of the publishing industry with the prevailing economic reality in Nigeria?
I would like to believe the prospects are good. People will always love to read and buy books either to read and pass examinations or read for leisure or find out what is happening in the rest of the world. When you read books, you enlarge your horizons, and there are more people who are interested in what is inside books, what they can learn from books and how they can improve their status or knowledge of the world, which they can find in books. The books can be online or physical books that they would love to read.
How does Bookcraft tackle piracy?
We still deal with issue of piracy with some of our books. We try to get the Nigerian Copyright Commission involved with the issue of piracy where we can. It is a very challenging situation. We have not been able to do much as we would like to do. Fortunately, we haven’t been as hard hit like some of the publishers who publish for schools. Our books are not for the school market, though some of our books have being pirated. For instance, the last volume that we did for Professor Wole Soyinka, The Interventions, even a couple of weeks that the book was published, it was already being sold in the streets. So, what can you do? The pirates are much organised. I just hope the government and NCC will do a lot more on the issue of piracy. We would like to do more of e-books, but we have found out that that is the easiest way for pirates to hack into your system and take your books.
How would you compare Nigerian publishers with their foreign counterparts?
With the prevailing circumstances, Nigerian publishers, especially the independent publishers, have done quite well when compared with their foreign counterparts. It is a very harsh environment for publishers in Nigeria. For example, I know a colleague of mine who started her publishing company in London almost at the same time that I started Bookcraft Limited. She is able to produce more books every year than I have been able to do in a long period. This is because she has the support structure where she operates. She has only three staffs: herself, her husband and another person that joins her occasionally. What do they do? Everything is outsourced. They get the manuscript; she sends it to an assessor who works on it and, later, sends it to a printer who delivers the books to the distributor, and the distributor gets it to the end-users. The distributor collects the money, and removes their own share, and credits her account. The woman doesn’t put the books in a warehouse, market or sell, but the distributor does everything for her. So, she is able to concentrate on her main area of publishing while other people take the other aspects of the books. But, in Nigeria, the publisher has to do a lot all by himself, which takes a lot out of your core area of publishing. In the circumstances, Nigerian publishers have done well.
What are the dangers posed to the publishing industry by the gradual shift to e-learning?
There are no dangers, but it complements what the publishing industry is doing. A few years ago, a lot of people thought that the physical book would go out of fashion; that with the advent of e-books, people thought that they would no longer buy books. But it was grossly exaggerated. Even in places where e-book market has shot up, physical books have been on the increase as well. In terms of statistics in London or America, the physical book has grown more in terms of output than e-books. It’s going to complement it, as it is another outlet to disseminate knowledge.
What’s your impression about book fair in the country and in the world, having attended many?
Book fair are inevitable part of the growth of the industry. It is an avenue for publishers to meet, sell rights, acquire rights, and find out what is going on in other parts of the world. It is a fantastic opportunity for a publisher to improve on his/her ability to disseminate knowledge and to be more professionally equipped to deal with the challenges in the industry. I think there should be more book fairs so that people can find out what is more available especially in Nigeria where there are little or no bookshops.
Nigerian book fair can be improved. There are rooms for improvements. In other book fairs in the world, you don’t go there to sell books; rather, you go there to sell rights. You don’t go there to retail your books, but the purpose of the book fair is for people to exchange ideas, network and sell the rights to your books.
For example, a publisher may say, I have five titles coming up in 2020; I want to find publishers in China, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to buy the rights for their markets, and that is what people do when they attend international book fairs; they also discover new trends in the industry. Whereas in Nigerian book fair, people go there to sell books, because there are no bookshops in the country. There is not enough of interactions going on between publishers. It wasn’t like that in the past. I remember when there was Ife Book fair, which no longer exist now, it was a different environment. People used to come from Europe and America in the 1980s to attend Ife Book Fair, but, like everything else, it went down.
Many companies do not last as long yours have lasted. What has kept Bookcraft going despite the challenges in the publishing industry?
I believe it is determination, doggedness and, essentially, a love or passion for the business of individuals who have helped to keep the company on is what has sustained us. There are easier ways to make money than going into publishing, it is a very challenging enterprise, but, if you love it, you keep at it.
How has Bookcraft Limited helped in the promotion of books in the country?
I believe we have done our little bit, and there is still a long way to go. When we started, it was a very bleak environment and, gradually, we started publishing books that people took another look at. People do tell us that Bookcraft titles stands out, and when they look at it from afar, they would say, “That is a Bookcraft title”. This has made us to make us to make conscious efforts to make our books attractive to readers. When the reader is in a bookshop or retail outlet and see our books, they are immediately drawn to our books and are encouraged to buy. We also encourage our authors to do book readings across the country, and in our little way, we have helped encouraged that.
How do you relax and what time do you have for your family, considering your tight schedule?
I relax by reading. I used to play golf and, in the next couple of weeks, I hope to go back to it, because, for a long time, I have not played golf.
