By DERICK MATSENGARWODZI /African Arguments/ – As a young teenage bookworm, Lizzie Muchenje would buy novels from bookshops, borrow from libraries and exchange literature with her friends. But in 2018, her reading life changed. A friend added her to a WhatsApp group on which readers and writers share online books in English and Shona. Some require a nominal fee to access but many are free, meaning Muchenje could suddenly access an almost unlimited array of new literature for a dollar’s worth of data.
“Since that day, I am addicted to novels,” says the now 16-year-old. She spends her leisure time in Zimbabwe reading stories on her mobile phone, with new chapters or series shared almost daily.
Muchenje is far from the only satisfied customer. Across countries in Southern Africa, a trend has emerged of readers turning to books by local authors that are uploaded directly to Facebook pages, Whatsapp groups or shared online as pdfs. The genres span everything from fantasy to crime and self-help. They are often in local languages and some even use emoji to depict action. Many readers find them not only more affordable and accessible, but more relatable.
“Online books are free and entertaining, and are based on true stories affecting us,” says Theresa Mwando, another keen reader. “The names and places are real, and one feels attached to the setting. It feels real and interesting to read a thriller by a local author in vernacular, rather than a book written by the thriller author John Grisham who is far away from me.”
The lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic have only accelerated this trend. “I am an avid reader but with many libraries closed and expensive printed books, online books are serving me well,” says Muchenje.
A novel trend
This new phenomenon began in earnest around five years as more writers in the region – particularly in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe – began trying to circumvent the traditional publishing industry.
For some, such as South African novelist Sanele Shongwe, it started as an experiment. “I started writing on Facebook, using a pen name afraid that people would label me a failure who write stories on Facebook, but the support I got gave me the courage to reveal myself,” he says.
He is now proud to put his name to his works and this January started a new Facebook group called Ka-Shongwe Stories. On the page, which already has 1,500 readers, he publishes novels in Zulu for free, one page at a time. “My readers appreciate and like my writing a lot, and send positive comments,” he says.
Morgan Tatenda set up his page Dr TM Stories five years ago as a way to reach his audience more quickly and directly. It now has nearly 50,000 followers, who keenly await updates of his detective and love stories. “I write novels in Shona but normally I mix Shona and English because I am trying to attract today’s generation,” he says. “Nowadays, our generation mix vernacular and English in their conversations. That’s what this generation wants.”
Tatenda has now published over 27 books online. He provides a few chapters for free and invites readers to pay a fee to read the rest. He says he sells about 500 pdfs of his books each month.
Pride Mawedzere, 24, writes at Suwani Stories, which has nearly 25,000 fans. Like Tatenda, he publishes sections of his writing for free after which readers can buy the complete pdfs for a fee. The Zimbabwean author says he turned to direct online publishing to ensure he received maximum profits and ownership of his work.
“I use my smartphone to type and I take a month to finish a book,” he says. “After writing, I give it to a proofreader, then to my editor. It is then designed for typesetting and registered.” He explains that he pays these individuals a flat fee, but after that, any income is his.
“There are a lot of disadvantages with publishers,” he says. “For instance, the publisher will get the copyrights for your work unlike with self-publishing where you get 100% of the profits.”
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