By Tetsoma Esisi, Esq.

The Book Business: A Critical Insight into the Nigerian Book Publishing Industry  could only have been written by someone with vast experience and knowledge. The author, Dr. Ode Okore, was educated at Columbia University, New York. He has worked as a book editor on both sides of the Atlantic divide – the United   States of America and Nigeria – and has used his broad experience, knowledge and intellect to give a lucid and scintillating diagnosis of the book publishing industry in Nigeria. Dr. Okore is bold and full of self-confidence, even authoritative, in the way he has taken on issues concerning the Nigeria book industry as well as the universities especially in the crucial areas of how they produce and consume intellectual products, books.

The central message of this book, however, is to be found in three key chapters: Chapter 1 (The Editor: His Qualifications and Training). Chapter 2 (The Editor as star) and chapter 10 (The Publishing Giants: How they retard the growth of the Publishing Industry). In all these chapters, Dr. Okore hits hard at the lack-lustre manner in which the industry is being run, mainly by people whom he describes as round pegs in square holes and square pegs in round holes. Here too, Dr. Okore comes out not only as a good writer and critic but also as a remarkable teacher as he clearly exposes to us all that the editor does before and during manuscript preparation.

He is emphatic that the editor has two main responsibilities: the first is to make a book accessible to the reading public and the second is to present the author in a credible and positive light. This is indeed an important lesson to all editors, writers and publishers. Writers and less experienced editors will certainly be fascinated by all this and this is one of the major attractions of this engrossing and hard-hitting book.

Another important lesson we learn is that an editor does not sit in his office just waiting for manuscripts to fall on his laps; he must source for them, and here he must use his intellect, his ingenuity and resourcefulness to attract good sellable manuscripts to his publishing house. This, in fact, according to Dr. Okore, is what makes the editor a star in the book publishing business. And here Dr. Okore gives numerous imaginative possibilities that a good writer, under the guidance of a competent and intelligent editor, can turn or transform into good exciting books. Here too, we are learning the clear differentiation between educational books and what the author calls trade books.

Though trade books or commercial publishing is unpredictable in the amount of revenue it generates in a competitive market place, it nevertheless creates a more exciting atmosphere for the industry as a whole. Dr. Okore makes a vigorous distinction between a book editor and a newspaper editor and says that because the book editor must first and foremost be a thinker who must live in the world of his authors, which is the world of intellect, or the world of books, he must start with a solid background in the Social Sciences.

Therefore, Mass Communication is not the right training for the book editor. He believes that the problem of the Nigerian book publishing industry has to do with the fact that many wrong persons are recruited into the industry’s editorial personnel. No doubt, this will rile many old-time editors within the industry but it is a thesis that will be hard to brush aside.

Dr. Okore decries the lopsided prevalence of educational books over and above general trade books, almost (90%:10%) and believes that unless there is a concerted effort to reverse this imbalance, the stultifying trend in the Nigeria book publishing industry will continue. And in these battles the publishing giants such as Heinemann. Macmillan and University Press, must be in the fore front.

Dr. Okore takes another serious swipe at the universities. He thinks the universities have also failed in the important areas of developing creative artistes such as writers and intelligent film artistes. One mark of this failure, according to him, is the absence of creative writing departments and film schools at the higher institutions.

Finally, even though this is a most serious and highly intellectual book, it is full of humorous narratives. And one of the most humorous narratives occurs in Chapter Four. Two Unforgettable Experiences with Two African Authors. In fact, one can say the two authors depict both the good and the ugly situations an editor could face in his relationship with authors. Every author or aspiring writer should read chapter 4.

The case of collegial jealousy among university dons as depicted by the author’s experiences at the Delta State University, Abraka, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and University of Nigeria, Nsukka

often stifles intellectual productivity in Nigerian universities. The Somolu Syndrome, as aptly described by the author has cloaked the handout plague in Nigerian universities with a false respectability and the author proffers a bold and interesting solution. A common thread that seems to run through these chapters is that many Nigerian academics do not want their works to be assessed by their peers or academic superiors or their works to go through the hard-nosed editing of a knowledgeable and competent editor. It is hoped that with the new knowledge we now have about what an editor does, this obnoxious attitude will change.

Let me say this before I am done. As a lawyer, I feel a bit uncomfortable that the author lumps up all with political scientists as those most noted for bad writing. Many lawyers may beg to differ even though that will not reduce the importance of good writing in our profession. I think, all lawyers will agree with Lord Denning, when he says that “to succeed in the profession of the Law,

you must seek to cultivate command of language. Words are the lawyer’s tools of trade… the reason why words are so important is because words are the vehicle of thought… obscurity in thought inexorably leads to obscurity in language.

The book with  humorous narratives combined with intellectual content can be classified as educational for the professional in the book business. It shouldnot only be a recommended reading for academia but also as a general read for lovers of books. There is no way you go through this book without laughing (especially in chapters 4 and  9 ). Chapter 8: The universities and the arts: the theater, the cinema and creative writing, is excellent and certainly the most cerebral in the whole book. It should be a must-read for the aspiring writer as well as the film artiste. It proffers in a very intellectual manner, a unique and fascinating way forward for Nollywood if it must be seriously reckoned with in the world of the cinema. What most of us never thought of was that Nollywood can also be a source of book production.

My only reservation about this book has to do with the author’s strong criticism of the book launch culture in Nigeria which in my opinion, is an overstatement of the case. The value of hard work in creative writing cannot be overemphasized. Conversely, the book launch, though grossly abused, can also be used as a tool to encourage up and coming authors in the book business whowould no doubt be discouraged by poor sales in a country that has poor reading culture.

Overall, Dr. Okore has given us a most exciting and indeed a remarkable book as he engages us in intellectual discussions on how books are written and produced and how to move the industry forward. This book is a must-read not only for key actors in the book publishing business and the universities but also for all who are interested in reading for pleasure and knowledge.

Ode Okore. “The book business – Producers and consumers: a critical

insight into the Nigerian book publishing industry.”

The Light House Publishing Company:  Maryland, Lagos