Digital Can't Replace Hard Copy - Authors

Enole Ditsheko
Correspondent | Monday August 9, 2010 00:00

Readers of books love to hold hard copies in their hands and feel them, but digital books can also open a window of opportunity for those who cannot afford high prices associated with books in the stores.

Debating the issue at an open forum at the just ended Cape Town book fair, Arthur Attwell said a project by the Shuttleworth Foundation showed that teenagers were very hungry for literature and they will read digital texts.

Tens of thousands of South African teenagers read stories on their cellular phones, largely through social networking sites like Facebook. Phones are readily available and fairly cheap, plus they last some years.

Pan Macmillan Publishers' representative, Terry Morris, who deals with hard copies, did not seem anxious that the digital age is taking away business from the traditional publishers.

'It might be wise to make some content freely available. It might drive people to read traditional books,' she said.

A member of the audience challenged publishers to start looking in the direction of feeding content on digital technology especially cellular phones as the country boasts 100 percent network coverage.

'Catch the vision of getting an even greater market here than the book market,' he advised. E-book is a relatively new format in southern Africa and will need a bit of nurturing for some years before it can dent the traditional book publishing industry.

Celebrated author, Wole Soyinka, believes that technology should not be seen as an enemy of the book form as it can be used for enhancement.

'Don't be scared by the Twitter, Facebook and other multimedia technology. They must complement the written word. The place of books in Africa is still important. I was given an I-pod and I carried it on three flights and that was it.

Even the smell of the pages is unique. I would say to book lovers; defend your turf. I would hate to see books replaced by technology,' Soyinka emphasised as the audience applauded.

Responding to the comment from the audience regarding the route of self-publishing that is gradually gaining momentum elsewhere, both Soyinka and his publisher, Nana Ayebia-Clarke, took a swipe at the development saying it compromises everything about the book.

'Not because I would love to make money out of writers, but my honest truth is that if you are really a good writer, then prove it. Pass your work to another person to edit you and tell you if it meets the mark for publishing or not.

'When you have a book in your hand, it must have gone through several stages including proofreading, designing, gut-galleys, printing and so on. Self-published books are lacking in all these areas. It results in poor quality. We work together as a team to fill the gaps that the writer might have been too close to the book to see. Only people who think they can write, who in most cases are not good writers, rush to publish themselves,' Ayebia said, unfazed by the possible backlash.

'For this memoir, I went through three editors. Each one of them must have asked to be taken out of the project because I believed my story had to end with the age of innocence.

'But no, the editors read and insisted it had to go farther than that. Each person in the book publishing has a role and we guide each other. To those writers who want to be respected for their work, my advice is, learn to collaborate with editors and publishers. They are good people,' added Soyinka.