Speaking with South African based writer; Sinmisola Ogunyinka, she talks about about her books and the efforts and challenges she faced trying to sell them in Nigeria.
BLOG HOST: Let’s know you.
SO: My name is Sinmisola
Ogunyinka. I started self publishing in 2003. I have written 35 books, 17 of
which have been self-published in paperback and hardback, others in eBook and
kindle. I write Christian fiction so the genre itself is not popular amongst
Nigerian readers. I’m fine with that. The genre will grow.
BLOG HOST: What
other genre do you write?
SO: I write a little of inspirational non-fiction
but most of my books are Christian Romance and contemporary women’s fiction.
BLOG HOST: What was the name of your first book, what
year was it published?
SO: Sister Minister, 2003.
BLOG HOST: Tell your story, including the bookshops that turned you down and their
reasons.
SO: I
started self publishing in 2003. I don’t remember all the bookshops that turned
me down because almost all the ones I went to did. But I do remember the very
painful ones and the big names. Sister
Minister was
the one Edysil Book shop refused to even take a complimentary copy. Edysil
Bookshop in Palm Groove told me they don’t sell Nigerian authors. Some of the
bookshops took my books and never returned my money. Ipfy Konnections; Ikeja,
Booksellers; Ibadan and Debonairs, Yaba. Also, Laterna Books asked me to submit
a book for review about ten years ago and told me they’d get back after three
months and never did. I went back several times but they kept posting me for
another year or so. At least tell me you don’t want my book.
BLOG HOST: What year was this?
SO: This was between
2003 and 2005/2006. These bookshops contributed to discouraging me in the early
days of my writing. I can’t forget them, especially because they are big shops
and names in bookselling. There have been many others who cheated or turned me
down. So many. Nowadays I sell my paperback
on Jumia and Konga. At least they send me reports and remit. Then of course, I
sell on Amazon’s kindle, Okadabooks, Smashwords, iBooks etc. I’m everywhere
online.
BLOG HOST: Are you at least making a
profit, selling your books online?
SO: Sales are slow but I don’t get turned off for
being a writer. At least I get to sell my books one by one, after trying the
bookshops that failed me.
BLOG HOST: Some writers wait ages before they get
published.
SO: I don’t even mind the wait but at least let
me know what I’m waiting for. And please pay me for my work... that’s just so
unfair! It’s not easy to write. You spend two years working on a book; someone
picks it up and finishes reading it in a day! It’s no small task. What I do is
pick up everything the traditional publishers do for my book and do it myself.
My daughter did a colouring book for preschool kids. I sold about 500 copies
myself, school to school. It was well packaged, editing was spot on, everything
was done well. No excuses. The schools bought them.
BLOG HOST: That’s really good. How old is she?
SO:
She was 7 at the time. She’s 16 now. She now writes historicals and some
contemporary fiction but we haven’t published any yet. My fault there. Too busy
working for money (Laughs)
BLOG HOST: Tell me a bit more about
yourself. Do you have a day job?
SO: My husband is a
church planter and I chose writing as a career to enable me work and move with
him when he had to. So I am a writer. I got trained by Jerry B. Jenkins through
his Christian Writers’ Guild between 2010 and 2014. I got a B.Sc. in Economics
from O.A.U (Obafemi Awolowo University) Ife, and I’ve worked on and off in
accounting, office administration, real estate and human resources. Currently,
I write full time. I work day and night writing (laughs)
I
do editing for people, I ghost-write as well. I write movie scripts and this
year I decided to start self-publishing services. I have ghost written three
books so far. Edited tons of books for people. I teach writing too. I am
currently working on several projects;
1.
Pitching
two of my works to international traditional publishers.
2.
Converting
my book- THE DAYS AFTER THAT NIGHT- into a screenplay.
3.
Writing
with a writer/producer from Zimbabwe.
My plate is quite full at the moment. I write best
at night, where everywhere is quiet. During the day, I do Facebook and Twitter
and Whatsapp (Laughs)
BLOG HOST: What are the
titles of some of your works?
SO: I have 4 series; Issues of Life Series- 5
books. Wisdom Series- 6 books. True Dream Series (Classic romance novellas for
women) - 14 books. Revelation series- 1 book. Then I have contemporary women’s
feature novellas:
-
The Days After That
Night(2014)
-
Frail Flesh ( 2012)
-
Pepper (2009)
-
Scent of Water (2007)
-
To Where The Wind
Blew
(2004)
-
TISHA (2015)
You
can get them really cheap and in naira at okadabooks.com
BLOG HOST: When did you move to South Africa? Do
bookshops sell some of your works there?
SO: I came to SA in 2014. I haven’t tried any of
their bookshops here. I’m paranoid really.
BLOG HOST: What
made writing your calling?
SO: I knew from the
age of 10 I could write. I have a host of baby stories I wrote through
secondary school. But marriage and family made me turn writing from a hobby to
a career.
BLOG HOST: Finally, what’s your favourite book?
SO: I read a lot of
romance and have come across many great ones. I don’t have a favourite book. I
just love well written books. That said, I enjoyed the works of Francine
Rivers, Frank Peretti, Sandra Brown and Linda Howard.
Sinmisola Ogunyinka’s latest book ÌKA is
available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Her previous works are available for
sale at okadabooks.com, Smashwords and iBooks.
