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Walter Mswazie in Masvingo

The advent of technological advancement has been a welcome development but it is weighing heavily on local writers who depend on the sale of hard copies. 

In an interview at the end of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) held at the Civic Centre in Masvingo recently, Zimbabwe Non-Fiction Authors Association secretary, Professor Barbara Panganai said traditional writers were facing a huge challenge of marketing their works following a shift in promotional strategies.

She said even though the world now prefers to read the books online using platforms such as e-books, she believes that the hard copy is still necessary.

“Writers are now challenged to change the way they package their works. Nowadays, what works is putting writings online, which we call e-book. However, most of the traditional writers have not yet been accustomed to this new way of marketing their works,” said Prof Panganai.

Prof Panganai, who is a renowned writer said while the online version of publications was in sync with the global trends, most African authors were lagging behind as they still hope to have people buying hard copies of their books.

“It’s never easy to write a book, have it edited and published. We do this through our sweat, hoping to get good returns, but with e-book, we tend to lose a lot. A number of African authors, especially here in Zimbabwe are still behind as they aren’t using e-book yet,” she said.

Another writer, Dr Samuel Makore said while the industry welcomes online platforms such as e-book, the traditional hard copy was still applicable and would not be forced into extinction.

“We still need the hard copy book even if you can get it online. We’d rather utilise both as a country than shunning the hard copy for good. It’s hard to read an online publication given the ongoing power cuts and costs of internet services,” Dr Makore said.

“It’s against this background that the hard copy will remain in the market. The advent of online books will not stop us from producing hard copies.”

Supporting the hard copy, he said it is not easy to have one’s book advertised online as the costs are beyond one’s reach.

“It’s expensive to sell your book through online markets like Amazon. You pay through your nose to have your work marketed there,” he said. – @walterbmswazie2