Some of us have a book inside of us, we just never had the time to sit down and write it. I remember many years ago before I wrote my first book; 7 Secrets Why The Rich Own Their Homes with the subtitle “How to buy a home and educate your children, even if you think you can’t afford to”.

I had no idea where to start. But I started any way. Then I went to publishers I knew of, asking them to publish my book. The answer was simple “Who are you? Why would anyone read your book? No one knows you”.

After hearing the same message a few times, I looked for a different route. A good friend, Musa, told me about a young man from Umlazi who was aspiring to be a publisher. He introduced me to Phakamani Mbonambi. It was my first book and Phakamani’s first attempt at publishing. That was a journey, I was still employed back then so it wasn’t easy for me to balance work, raising my daughter and writing. We did it anyway. There were a lot of aha moments along the way. As an example, I thought my editor was going to give me a finished product only to realise when she was done that no, that was not her role. Phakamani did the layout. Then when I thought we were done, the big question was about the cover of the book. My then grade 8 nephew, Rabatho Selepe, came to the rescue LOL!. He told me; “Aunty, red stands out so the book must be red” and as you can see, there are kids on the cover LOL 😊. It was not over, who was going to print the book?! We went through all the hoops and finally, who was going to sell the book? Remember CNA? They said NO, not here. Oh, I printed 3000 copies because I had no idea that South Africans don’t like to read. I was to find out afterwards. I chose 3000 copies to print because that worked out more reasonable per copy. So there I was, with 3000 copies and no idea how I was going to sell all those copies. Thankfully, Exclusives books agreed to put the book on their shelves.

Guess what, all 3000 copies were sold!!! Before they were completely sold out, CNA decided my book was worth putting on their shelves after all.

Writing a book doesn’t have to be so difficult anymore. So if you have been thinking of writing a book and would like guidance on how to go about it we invite you to join us on Saturday, 18 April at 9AM – 10h30. Some of the topics we will cover are;

• Should you self publish or go with a traditional publisher? What are the pros and cons
• How to increase your chances of  selling lots of copies of your book
• How to profit from your book, etc.

We will send you the link to the session on the 17^th of April. If you want to attend, email info@thuthuka-sa.co.za and with the subject “I want to write a book”.

Look out for more info on this during April.

Wishing you a happy Easter. If you are travelling, stay safe. And contact us if you would like to draft a Will before the holiday period.