If I’d known that I was going to be a published writer by May 2009, I would’ve started early to grow my hair into an afro. Or to lock it into dreads. That way, whenever I walk in, people would turn and know immediately that an African writer has arrived. But everything happened so quickly that I hardly had time to plan.
I decided to write my novel in December 2006, started clicking away in January 2007, finished in February 2007, found a literary agent in April 2007, got a book deal with Hyperion, New York, in July 2007, and everything else just took off from there.
It’s been a strange and interesting journey so far with so much learnt along the way. For those wishing to undertake the same journey someday, I’ll save you the tribulations of firsthand experience by sharing ten tips with you.
1.NEPA (public electricity supply) is not your friend.
Therefore, it’s your responsibility to go out and make some friends. I had a smile and a mouthful of small talk for every cybercafé manager in my area. With time, they stopped bothering whether I was buying a ticket or not, and simply let me plug my laptop into one of their generator-powered sockets and write. And rather than murmur and grumble when I arrived at the Murtala Mohammed Airport at 10.30am to catch a 12pm flight which eventually departed at 6pm, I just reclined on a cosy iron bench and whipped out my laptop. The planes might not have been flying according to schedule but the airport had constant electricity!
2. All those exotic writing habits?
Myths. Who says you can write only when the air is so still that you can hear the fluttering of butterfly wings? Who says inspiration can only flow when the sparrows are chirping in C minor? I gave up waiting for all those perfect conditions I’d been reading about in writers’ interviews to materialise, after it dawned on me that, being in Nigeria, I would probably have to wait till all my blond strands turned grey.
You can write even when El-Rufai’s demolitions are going on next door or when the drivers stuck in the bumper-to-bumper traffic by your window are honking to pass the time. We survived classrooms that had no floor tiles and no windows, we survived lecture theatres where we sat crammed like slaves for sale, so what’s a little noise and commotion when we’re in the process of crafting the next Much Ado About Nothing?
3. Printing and publishing — believe it or not, there’s a big difference. When your manuscript is finished and you take it to your cousin’s friend’s elder brother who owns a printing press, to churn out 1, 000 copies, you’ve just printed your book. You might make a million or three from the traditional rulers and former governors who attend your book launch, but your masterpiece is not likely to cross the shores of Abakiliki. Beyond printing a manuscript, you see, publishers should enter into partnership with you to profit from the sales of the finished product. You’re the one with all the talent, so their part is to take charge of publicity and distribution. That way you don’t have to go around with your car boot stuffed with copies of your book, begging family and friends to buy.
4. You can catch the world’s attention from right where you are.
I haven’t been out of Nigeria since 2005. I’ve never set foot in the U.S. of A. Yet my book is gracing the shelves of Waterstones and Barnes and Noble and Borders, and garnering cheers from The Independent and The Washington Post.
The first step is to get a literary agent, who will package you and present you to the world — including the world of Nigeria. Over the past two years, my agent, Daniel Lazar, and I have worked closely together, exchanged about 50 emails per week, yet, we’ve never met! I found him in cyberspace.
A good place to start looking is Google, but beware! No reputable agents will ever ask for money up front. Instead, they should enter into an agreement with you that entitles them to about 15 per cent of every dime you earn. In other words, your agent doesn’t get paid if you don’t. Cool, huh?
5. Rejection is not the end of the world.
Believe it or not, there are some agents and editors out there who might think your beloved manuscript is crap! No need to stop all the clocks and draw all the curtains and sit in a heap of ashes and cry. Just push out your chest and move on to the next agent or editor. Even John Grisham and J. K. Rowling and Stephen King dealt with uncountable rejections. You might need to go back to the keyboard and do some rewriting before returning for another onslaught, though. If you’ve really got something, there’s bound to be someone out there who’ll eventually spot the angel in the stone.
6. Your manuscript doesn’t have to be perfect.
That’s another reason why you need an agent, and a publisher who’ll assign you an eagle-eyed editor. They’ll help you beat whatever you’ve written into shape — they’ll show you which characters need developing, what aspects of the plot need tweaking, how to make your story more marketable. I cringe when I think back to the state of my manuscript in July 2007. Amazing that Hyperion actually paid money for it! But what they had seen was potential — potential that they could turn into treasure.
7. Yes, you’re the next Wole Soyinka, but...
Nigerians already know everything, of course, but sometimes, your agents and your editors might know what they’re talking about, too. You might need to slaughter some of your favourite paragraphs at their suggestions. They will ask that you write and rewrite. Remember that you’re all in partnership, so the success of your book is as important to you as it is to them.
8. Some things really don’t matter.
Your agents and editors might be completely ignorant about where Nigeria is on the map, but what has that got to do with the price of fish? My agent had definitely heard about 419, but until he came in contact with me, he didn’t know that we spoke English in Nigeria and assumed that my characters were speaking a Nigerian language which I was translating.
He didn’t know the time difference between Nigeria and the U.S.. He’d never heard of any other Nigerian writer apart from Chinua Achebe and Chris Abani (whose books he hadn’t read). Nevertheless, he’s a terrific agent! Amongst the top of the lot in New York! Your agent and editor might turn out to be similarly uneducated about Nigeria.
No need to throw a tantrum and shove copies of Things Fall Apart down their throats. Let’s face it: Not everyone in the world cares about what’s going on in Africa (my agent still hasn’t read the Arrow of God I sent to him). And you that know everything about America, how much do you know about Taraba and Jigawa States?
9. It won’t cost you a dime.
From the beginning to the end of the publishing process, no one should ask you for money. Someone should be paying you an advance for the rights to your book, instead. And apart from the sticky fingers of Uncle Sam and the 15 per cent your agent grabs even before you’ve had a chance to remove your tithe, the dough is all yours to convert from hard currency to Naira! Hopefully, your publishers will recoup their advance from the sales of your book so that you’ll eventually start getting royalties as well.
Your agent will ensure that all your royalties get paid as and when due. That’s another reason why he deserves his 15 per cent. He handles all negotiations with your publishers and makes sure that you get treated right all around. Sit back and allow him to handle the business side of things while you concentrate on doing your creative best for the eagerly awaiting world.
10. The Q&As will never end.
Nigerians too dey ask questions, shaa. The whole process of signing a contract to your book hitting the stands can take anything from 18 to 24 months. During that period, your parents and aunts and toasters are going to keep asking what’s happening. “Why haven’t we seen your books in the shops yet?” “When are you starting your book tour?” Some might even start wondering at your stupidity, why you didn’t just take the manuscript to your uncle in Onitsha who owns a printing press. Be patient and explain. After all, many of us also didn’t know better until we came aboard.
Now that you know exactly what to expect, my beautiful people of the beloved land of Nigeria, go ye into all the world and write and don’t forget to start on that afro!
Nwaubani’s debut novel, I Do Not Come to You by Chance, is published in the USA and the UK in May, and will be published in Nigeria by Cassava Republic later this year.
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