What you would love to know about writing and publishing a book (in Malawi)

By The End of Your Teens Book Launch | 14092018

We launched the book “By The End of Your Teens” a year ago, on the 14th of September, 2018!

I have been high on adrenaline since, and I still cannot yet fully process that I am an author.

About By The End of your Teens

By The End Of Your Teens book is an account of the knowledge wish I had as a teenager.

It is a psychological self-help handbook; which has a lot of my personal experiences, which are laced with psychology theories.

I started writing this book when I was 20, while discovering there were certain things I wish I had known in my teen years. It is a memoir, that has a lot of lessons.

I wrote By The End of Your Teens with hopes that the book will assist the youth in the Malawi and beyond as they journey through self-discovery.

Storytelling

I will start by clarifying that this is not a masterclass for writing, but felt the need to share these necessary tips, when thinking of putting your story out there.

I consider myself a natural storyteller. I love telling stories, and I enjoy having them told.

I consider storytelling a natural talent, one I would hope I possess, because I have met some rather terrible storytellers – and I sincerely hope that I am not one.

When it comes to storytelling, I have a few questions I ask myself:

What story do I wish to tell?

Why am I telling this story?

When I am clear, and convinced about my story, I go further with a rule of thumb to be sure this story is necessary, and impactful:

Must this (story) be said (read told)?

Must this be said now?

Must this be said by me?

Is there anyone who can say it better?

If your answer to all the above, besides the latter, is yes, then you are quite set to tell your story.

The next thing most would worry about is what the story would be called.

Title

I like to believe that stories choose their own titles. I am only writing one book, which I can say that the title came before the story. Rather, I linked the title to an already existent story.

I, otherwise, let my stories choose their names, as they develop. I find they make sense that way – and By the end of your teens was one of those. I knew what I wanted to write, but the title only came to me months into the writing process.

Writing

Writing is the most hectic process. I remember having near a half year writer’s block while writing this book, and I allowed it. I have learnt overtime to never force the creative process. I find that works for me.

Writing takes time – months, years! By the end of your teens is 70,000 words long, and took me a full 1000 days to write! I wrote 5000 words on someday, 1000 words on some, and none for many months. I wrote only when I had inspiration, and never rushed the process.

Research

There is no writing without research. Perhaps poetry, but even that requires that you must be socially conscious and relevant to the times.

Where writing is concerned, there is very little, you will find, that has not yet been said, and must be filled by you. Writing is in fact learning. As you write, you are answering some questions. If you do your research, you will find most of the answers you are looking for, and fill the gaps where you fail to find the answers. Those gaps are your story.

Segmenting(/Sectioning)

A story without segments would be such a boring run-on.

Segmenting a story really helps me map out my story, and develop it better.

By The End of your Teens has 4 segments namely The Self, The Surrounding, The Dream, and The Discipline. Each of these sections has 5 chapters, creating 20 chapters for the book.

Chapters

A book can have as many chapter as you wish, but you really do not want to overdo it. Take some time to analyse the books you read, and how they are written. My book has 20 chapters, which as explained earlier are split into four sections.

Subheadings

Each chapter has subtopics, and I prefer that these must come with a subheading. The subtopics must have a clear flow of beginning to end as the chapter progresses.

Publishing

Publishing is probably, depending on who you are and where you are from, either the most hectic or easiest process.

If you are an established writer, you will like be able to secure a publisher, who will handle all that is required for you. That is the easy bit.

If you are to self-publish like I did, there is plenty you are going to have to do. This here below, is for you.

Editing

When I was done writing and segmenting my book, I had to find a good editor to go through my work and correct all grammatical errors.

Proof -Reading

I skipped this step (because I did not have the budget for it), and my book clearly shows that it was not proofread. I am currently working on this, and would advise that you hire someone to do this, before your work is published.

Book Design

The design of your book is everything, as nearly every buyer/reader will need a brief overview of your book, before deciding if it is worth a reading. You would wish to invest in looking up some book design suggestions online.

Cover

Cover design is a bit of the fun part. I enjoyed designing my cover with my graphic designer.

I identified one of my good friends, Tawanda, to work on this with me. It was inspired by Barack Obama’s cover for “The Audacity of Hope”, and Bensam Photography shot a beatiful cover picture for it.

I am currently trying to redesign the cover, but that is a story for a different day.

Printing

When it came to printing, I was advised by nearly everyone that I must get my book printed outside of Malawi. I would have done so – but I deeply believe in promoting home-industry, so I went in search for a Malawian printing company. I was introduced to IPPL printing and packaging, who did a rather impressive job on the book.

Marketing

Marketing is key in book publishing, if you intend to make sales, that is.

People either buy your book because your work is exceptionally good, or they know who you are. Depending on your content, and intended audience, you have to decide how they will get to know about the book or its contents.

Book Launch

This was the most fun part in the whole process for me.

It was a night that took months and months of planning on my part. I had one major goal that year, and that was to publish this book. Looking back now that it happened, I start thinking that it was not such a big deal – but to me, it was.

During the launch, the first 25 copies were auctioned for MK1 million.

I remember how busy the week prior to the launch was. I was juggling 602 things, and it nearly made me go insane.

Venue

Initially, I had planned to have the launch and a cafe and bar in town – something my boyfriend vehemantly stood against, as he believed that setting the tone is quite important.

I met with the German Ambassador to Malawi, Jurgen Borsch, who was delighted to host the booklaunch at his home with his lovely wife, Iris.

Sponsorship

A book launch is more than just a celebration. You want to invite more than just your friends. As the famous words go, creatives need to eat too. You want to make sure than you invite influential people who are willing to support your creative work (financially or otherwise).

My book launch was proudly sponsored by the German Embassy, Qoncept Creative, IPPL printing and packaging, Glam and Glory, and FaceForward Spas.

Guests

When it comes to picking guests for your launch, choosing who is to come is key. Your friends are important to have at any celebration of personal achievement.

I invited near 70 people who are close to my heart, and it was such a lovely vibe!

My parents were there, and I feel absolutely blessed to have such an amazing support system.

All my friends showed up and showed out.

The reading

I think I had always known what my reading at the launch would be. As you write, you will probably be able to identify the focal point of your story, and what you wish told the most.

I did a reading about my first time experiencing loss(/death), and it was such a fulfilling experience of me, speaking of the hell I went through, healing the death of a very close friend, my forever shooting star Harriet, when were both 13.

Auction and sales!

Did I mention artists need to eat?

It was not going to be a successful launch, without actually selling some books.

Godfrey did such a brilliant job with getting the guests to participate in the auction.

We managed to sell all the copies of the book that night, the first 25 of which were auctioned at MK1,000,000. The first copies were bought at MK200,000 each.

Margaret Chaika of Faceforward, and Zilanie of Zathu got the next copies at MK100,000 each.

A couple of my friends got copies at MK50,000.

Performances and Entertainment

Qoncept creative provided a sound system that carried us through the evening.

The event was hosted by my lovely bestfriend, Sangie – who did a pretty marvellous job.

We also got a performance from Martse, his congratulatory gift to me on launching my book.

Distribution and Sales

I have since distributed 500 copies of By the end of your Teens.

We have had outlets with the Grey Matter bookshop in Lilongwe and Central Bookshop in Blantyre, all which have now sold one.

I am currently reworking the book, and will only make the book available for purchase again, once I am satisfied with my work. Between you and I, it is going to take a minute.

I still have plans to distribute the book to secondary schools and colleges in the country for free, depending on how much funding I can get. I have so far received near $1,000 in support of this from Malawians in diaspora, and I intend to honor my word.

I hope you will find this helpful as you publish and launch your work of art.

All my love,

Ntha