I have a feeling that my writing journey is a thrilling and intriguing one as you will find out. My writing journey goes back to 1999 when I was in my senior four here in Uganda. Initially even when I was in school, reading was not my thing. Often I could even sit for exams without revising. But even when I was a poor reader, I usually admired literature students for the beautiful and well designed books that they often carried along with them. I saw these literature books as better complements to my literature colleagues so I admired being associated to them. So even when I was a poor reader, I admired and loved to be a reader, my heart yearned to became a reader like my friends, my mind was extremely rigid and hesitant. So by the year 2000 I started to camouflage as a good reader that had read several books. I did this by embarking on holding and moving with novels every often pretending to reading them yet I wasn’t reading them but only had decided to make them my companion as a sheer gesture to brag as a reader.
I was very much aware that reading is the only avenue for one to stay relevant and upbeat in this era but I think I was only and indirectly trying to nurture my reading and writing culture. So every time I could meet someone holding and or reading a book, I could pretend to have read many books in life and could admire reading the one that my friend was reading. So I asked several questions like; Can I have a look at your book please? What is it all about? How interesting is it? What inspired you to pick out this book from the shelves? What other books have you read? Have you read the river between? Please give it a try you will not be the same again, Please also try reading the island without trees, It’s such an intriguing book.
By asking all the above questions, I was only pretending to have read the books, yet all I knew were the titles of the books, but couldn’t even read a paragraph. This culture continued even far after I completed my university.
Later after university in 2008 I started cohabiting with a lady called Apodo. I had also started an agro- processing business, so the culture of holding books without breading them dwindled. The business Initially went on well for about three years before I messed it up when I got a bank loan and failed to pay, and got auctioned by the bank. I was broke with a family but without livelihood. I then opted to look for a job to sustain my family. It was at this point that i thought of writing a book about marriage. Although i was not legally married at this point but was cohabiting, i felt that I could write a manual that could help marriages in society stand the test of time. 101 ways to keep a loving marriage was born.
I then bumped into an adage that, ‘no one writes a book unless they intend to solve a given a problem’, and so before I started drafting 101 ways to keep a loving marriage, I thought I could first write a book on the difficulties that marriages face in society, and also offer a solution on ways to keep a loving marriage. The fact that I was cohabiting and not married, I focused on the challenges that hinder the success of marriages in society and the case study was my failed relationships with girlfriends in the past, as well as failed relationships of my influential friends. So I felt I could begin with a book about the marriage challenges, then later advance to the solutions. I started drafting a book titled 101 bondages of marriage success and almost concurrently compiled an other one titled 101 ways to keep a loving marriage. By 2014, I managed to publish both books at the same time. The two books go hand in hand, as i recommend that my readers begin with the bondages and pick up the 101 ways to keep a loving marriage.
Just to let know that I later go married to my wife Apodo in 2015 right after publishing my books.
My publishing journey was a bit difficult but not surprising because publishing is business just like any other.
After I completed my two books, I approached several publishing houses in Kampala to have them publish my books but to my disappointment their terms and conditions were so mean and selfish. I felt that the terms were only geared towards exploiting me as an author while aiding them to rake in abnormal profits from my very own sweat. It was disappointing to learn that the author’s share could only be 10 percent meanwhile they took 90 percent of the book sales. I got so disappointed that I decided to register my own publishing company called Alpecco Africa Publishers and kept on using this for publishing and marketing my books. To date the market of my books has only remained narrow thus limited to only Kampala.
Everything however changed thanks to Christian Literature communications who seem to be totally different from the all the publishing houses that we have around East Africa. But also thanks to Jackie Ingasian who managed to clearly demystify the process of publishing at CLC. I also don’t wish to forget my Ugandan colleague and Author Richard, for who introduced to me to CLC and Jackie Ingasian. The two made me believe that CLC is the only break through to the international market for book sales.
Although i am yet to visit CLC offices in Nairobi, I believe that it is a far better place to belong.
You may find me on any of the following platforms
WhatsApp +256 782 819799.
Facebook. Simon Eyaku.
Twitter @eyakumcsimon
