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Author Archive
RB 2 Gets 5 Stars for Supporting Books and Reading!
Aug. 17 | I was driving to Mmadinare recently, luckily in a car with a radio, and all of the private radio stations were off the air. AVID READER: Tebogo Sebego I like GabzFM in the morning as I’m an oldie and a fan of the oldies music they play, but...
WHO’S TELLING THE STORY?
Aug. 8 | When starting a short story or a novel, one of the first decisions you must make is how the story is going to be told, this is the point of view. You have a few different choices each with their advantages and disadvantages. First person This...
PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE WRITTERS
Aug. 3 | I try my best to let other writers in Botswana know about opportunities available to them. My hope is that eventually we will have a pool of professional creative writers in the country. Recently, though, I was disheartened by comments from an...
PUBLISHING AT THE AMAZON- THE JOURNEY SO FAR
Jul. 27 | As you know from previous columns, I’ve published three books in my Kate Gomolemo Mysteries series at Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) at Amazon. This is free to do except for whatever costs you might incur for editing your manuscript and hiring a book...
SETTING MINIMUM PAY FOR FREELANCE WRITERS
Jul. 20 | When I started writing I freelanced a lot. I wrote for many of the publications in Botswana. When I look back now, I wonder how I ever managed on the pay I was receiving. It was crazy. You’d spend an entire day at an event, or interview people, travelling...
Copyright and the Internet – Part 2
Jul. 13 | In last week’s column, I wrote about one of my columns being posted on a website without my permission and what copyright means in the new world of the internet. I’ll admit, I take a hard-line view on this issue, so I thought I’d give other people...
COPYRIGHT AND THE INTERNET- PART 1
Jul. 6 | For some reason, sensible, moral people who understand the concept of copyright seem to lose it when it comes to the internet. There’s the assumption that everything on the internet is free for the taking. It’s not. If you like a photo, an article,...
MY SHORT STORY DAY WORKSHOP AT PARWE JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
Jun. 29 | The 20th of June was Short Story Day Africa. LEARNERS: Parwe JSS students As part of the celebrations the organisers are holding two writing competitions, one for under 12’s and one for 12-18 year olds. I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with...
DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH AND CULTURE WRITTERS
Jun. 22 | It is often heard in writers’ circles that the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) does nothing for writers, so I set off to find out if that is true. To be as transparent as one should be regarding such matters- I sent them a questionnaire on the...
TJ DEMA OFF ON TOUR OF UK
Jun. 15 | Poet TJ Dema is one of the writers in this country that I truly respect. ACHIEVER: TJ Dema She works hard at her craft and is doing her best to make sure she is a success. She doesn’t rest on her laurels waiting for someone to pick her up and carry...
A TRIP, AN ELECTION AND A CELEBRATION
Jun. 8 | The last weekend in May found me in Maun for all things poet-y. Once again huge congrats need to go out to the members of Poetavango for putting on the second instalment of The Maun International Poetry Festival. Friday night was school time with Barolong...
MY KDP ADVENTURE
Jun. 4 | As I promised in a past column, I would let you know how I fare with the new self publishing arm of Amazon- Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It is a free service where you can publish your own ebooks. I have a series of four detective/thriller novellas...
POETAVANGO FESTIVAL ON FOR THIS WEEKEND
May. 25 | Finally the Poetavango International Poetry Festival is on! Everything starts today (Friday) which is set aside for workshops for the participants. Workshops include one on “Money Literacy and Entrepreneurship” presented by Barclay’s Bank. Acclaimed...
ITS ALL WRITE-18 May, 2012
May. 18 | I’ve been blogging since 1st July 2008 at my blog Thoughts from Botswana. I started it early in my writing career. I knew as a writer I needed an online presence and I initially hired someone to make a website for me, but I soon found that problematic....
THIS YEAR’S CAINE LIST
May. 11 | On 1 May, the vice president of the Caine Prize, Booker prize winner, Ben Okri, announced this year’s shortlist. They are: Ben Okri 1. Rotimi Babatunde (Nigeria) For the story ‘Bombay’s Republic’ from ‘Mirabilia Review’...
HOW FREE BOOK HARM US
May. 4 | I was watching BTV the other night and there was a story on the news about the United States ambassador handing over free health books to some library in Botswana and it got me thinking. It’s common for NGOs to be set up all over the world to collect...
OPPORTUNITY FOR WRITERS
Apr. 27 | A Workshop The Farafina Trust in Nigeria will be holding a creative writing workshop in Lagos from the 14th to the 24th of August. The workshop is run by award winning author Chimamanda Adichie author of Half of a Yellow Sun. Other teachers include Caine...
FINDING AN AGENT
Apr. 20 | If you want to get your book published in UK or the United States with a traditional publisher, in almost all cases, you need to have a literary agent. Finding and securing a good agent is a daunting task. First what does an agent do? An agent is your...
USING CELLPHONES TO PROMOTE READING
Apr. 13 | We all know the problem in Botswana. People don’t read books. They don’t buy books and they don’t seem to read them anymore either. It’s a problem that is repeated all the time but I’ve often wondered first, if it is true, and second, why is...
