WEALTH OF IDEAS

It's clear (at least to me)by now that I am very excited about the selection of Uwem Akpan's Say You're One of them to the Oprah Book Club . I had already bought the book three weeks earlier, which meant that I paid a higher price than the $8.00 or so it is going for now since its on a 30 percent discount in many bookstores. Yes, very many bookstores, nearly ALL bookstores, and retail and grocery stores. I have already seen many copies in places like Borders, Barnes and Noble, now it's everywhere: Target, Costco, Rite AID, and of course, all the online outlets. It's everywhere, because Oprah recommended it, but most importantly because Akpan wrote it the way he did, which led to an agent liking it enough to sell it to Little, Brown and Company where it fell in the hands of caring editors and publicity personnel... For them, as it is for Akpan, for African literature, and for the short story genre, it's a huge success. For that reason (the causal process here d...

"Now, let's hope that literary agents and editors will begin to consider our manuscripts seriously," writes Chielo Zona Eze , author of The Trial of Robert Mugabe , in his comment about the new Oprah Book Club selection, Say You Are One of them by Nigerian author and Jesuit ordained priest Uwem Akpan. Eze makes a great point here, since publishing is driven by these kinds of market forces, and it goes without saying that Oprah is a big force in the publishing industry. I am happy that Akpan's stories (set in Africa) will gain greater exposure now...; and yes, quite a few important people in the American book world will notice more such works as this one. The book was published by Little, Brown & Company, a company that knows how to market its books. I bought my copy of Akpan's book three weeks ago at Barnes and Noble where it was on a special display with other African books. I am currently reading another of Little, Brown's latest African publications, ...

Adichie's The Thing Around Your Neck. I probably just found my best Barnes and Noble, the one in the Birdcage shopping center in Sacramento. Not only was I able to find the African literature titles I have been looking for, but they were merchandised face-out, to show that they are hot items. Even when I couldn't find one of the titles, a bookseller walked me to the shelf, and there, face-out, was Adoabi T. Nwaubani's novel, I Do Not Come to You by Chance . Then what the bookseller said after that was just wonderful: "African fiction is the new hot product in the market, even the music department is seeing many new African titles, especially from Southern Africa." I stood there smiling. I am happy that finally I can walk into a bookstore and find some of the latest African titles on the shelves. Ten years ago that was not the situation. I even worked for a bookstore myself as an inventory manager, and I remember how dismal my efforts to acquire African titles wer...