NEW PUBLICATIONS

Compiled by Rachel Wiggans

Samdef Roster of Media and Business Experts 1999, Methaetsile Leepile (ed.) ISBN 99929340X, 241pp 1998, Southern Africa Media Development Fund, Private Bag B02, Gaborone, Botswana. Tel +267 580951, fax +267 561199, e-mail: Samdegls@info.bw web: http://www.misanet.org

This directory lists over 170 experts operating in southern Africa, in fields including business management, journalism, newspaper management, editing, desk-top publishing, graphic design and printing.

African Publishing Review, ISSN 10297618 1998 APNET, Harare. Annual subscription inside Africa $30/?0 (airmail $35/?5), outside Africa $50/?5 (airmail $60/?0) from APNET, PO Box 3773, Harare, Zimbabwe. Tel +263 4 706196/7, fax +263 4 705106, e-mail: apnet@harare.iafrica.com

Vol. 7 No. 3 focuses on training for African publishers with articles on the history of training, the work of the African Publishing Institute, existing training facilities in Africa and training workshops available.

Vol. 7 No. 4 includes articles on the book trade in Africa and promoting buying and selling. Vol. 7 No. 5 includes an article on textbook policies in Tanzania, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

APNET Consultants Register 1998-1999, ISSN: 10297618 94pp 1998, APNET, Harare, $20 pb. Available from APNET, PO Box 3773, Harare, Zimbabwe. Tel +263 4 706196/7, fax +263 4 705106, e-mail: apnet@harare.iafrica.com

The African Publishers Network Consultants Register will prove invaluable to those wanting to identify publishing expertise on the continent. The Register provides contact and professional details for 66 African publishing consultants, listed by country, and indexed by name and by specialisation. The 30 specialisations include bookselling, children's books, copyright, design, distribution, electronic publishing, finance, editing, librarianship, management, marketing, printing, production, publishing training, scholarly publishing, translation and writing.

The African Publishers Networking Directory 1999/2000, ISBN 0952126931 80pp forthcoming March 1999, African Books Collective Ltd. Limited quantities available free to the African book communities. Others and outside Africa $30/£18. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., details p.19.

The expanded third edition of this useful directory lists over 420 major publishers in Africa, alphabetically by country and by publisher. Included for each are: full names and addresses; telephone, fax, e-mail and Website details; year founded; ISBN prefix; contact name; chief executive; rights contact; number of titles in print; average number of new titles published annually; overseas distributors; representatives/local agents; languages of publication; nature of publisher's list and publisher's area of specialisation. 45 African book trade organisations are also listed with contact details, principal objectives, publications, meetings held and training offered. The directory includes contact details for 20 African book trade journals, published in Africa and elsewhere.

An Introduction to Publishing Management, Ian Montagnes, ISBN 1901830063 124pp 1998, Association for the Development of Education in Africa (Perspectives on African Book Development 5), London, $21.50/£11.95 pb. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU, England. Fax +44 1865 793298, e-mail: abc@dial.pipex.com, on-line ordering: http://www.africanbookscollective.com

With the liberalisation of textbook publishing policies in much of Africa, and the increasing integration of the private sector in the supply of textbooks to government-financed schools, great possibilities are opening for the development of indigenous publishing industries.

This introduction to publishing management is by a highly respected publishing practitioner and theorist. He sets out the basics of efficient, economical and prudent management of time and money in publishing, with a view to equipping African publishers with techniques that will contribute to success, whether they are tendering for contracts or competing in a completely open market. While much of the emphasis is on textbooks, the principles apply to all types of publishing, and to most countries of the world. The premise is that managers need not be skilled in every area of publishing, but do need to know enough about each area to ask the right questions about strategies, costs and cost recovery. Also available in French.

African Publishing Review, ISSN 10297618, 1998, APNET, Harare. Annual subscription inside Africa $30/£20 (airmail $35/£25) outside Africa $50/£35 (airmail $60/£40) from APNET, PO Box 3773, Harare, Zimbabwe. Tel +263 4 706196/7, fax +263 4 705106, e-mail: apnet@harare.iafrica.com

Vol. 7 No 2 includes articles on producing science books in Africa, popularising science, reading amongst young people, north-south publishing partnerships, The KAWI (Science for Africa) project.

African Books in Print/Livres Africains Disponibles, Hans Zell (editor), Cécile Lomer (associate editor), ISBN 1873836961 c.1,900pp 2 volume set, forthcoming March 1999, Bowker-Saur, East Grinstead, c.£350. Bowker-Saur, Maypole House, Maypole Road, East Grinstead, RH19 1HU, England. Tel +44 1342 330100, fax +44 1342 330193, e-mail: custserv@bowker-saur.com

New fifth edition with full bibliographic and acquisitions data on almost 30,000 titles published in 43 African countries, by more than 1,100 publishers and research institutions with publishing programmes. Also included are publications from professional associations, learned societies, NGOs, university departments and many more. Includes titles in English, French and some 120 African languages.

Zimbabwe Books in Print, 3rd edition, ISBN 1779180004 195pp 1998 Zimbabwe Book Publishers' Association, Harare, $33.00/ £18.50. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU, England. Fax +44 1865 793298, e-mail: abc@dial.pipex.com, on-line ordering: http://www.africanbookscollective.com

This third edition lists books in print in Zimbabwe at the end of 1997. The Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association previously produced Books in Print to the end of 1994, and a separate directory of Zimbabwe publishers. This new edition combines an updated directory of publishers. The books in print are arranged by author and title listings, and a subject index. The subject index is divided into three sections: primary textbooks, secondary textbooks and general books. Full bibliographic information is given: author, title, date of publication, number of edition, series, price, publishers names, and ISBN.

Books and Children. Proceedings of the ZIBF Indaba 1998, ISBN 079741925X 260pp 1998, Zimbabwe International Book Fair Trust, Harare, $16.00/£8.95 pb, available from ZIBF Head Office, PO Box CY 1179, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe. Fax +263 4 702129, e-mail: zibf@samara.co.zw. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU, England. Fax +44 1865 793298, e-mail: abc@dial.pipex.com, on-line ordering: http://www.africanbookscollective.com

The annual Zimbabwe International Book Fair is the crossroads for all parts of the African book communities. The Indaba preceding the book fair has become the meeting place for interested parties from Africa, Europe, the US and the rest of the developing world. The 1998 theme of the fair and Indaba was `Books and Children'.

These 56 papers, report-backs and discussions are all presentations or events at the 1998 Fair. The over-riding message is that there is a reading culture in Africa, but a shortage of books available for children in Africa. The papers are grouped in five parts: those from the plenary sessions; policy; children's literature; scholarship and research; and access and technology.

A Handbook for Writing Skills, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, ISBN 9964302010 145pp 1998, Ghana Universities Press, Accra, $13.75/ £7.50. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU, England. Fax +44 1865 793298, e-mail: abc@dial.pipex.com, on-line ordering: http://www.africanbookscollective.com

The author is a senior lecturer in English at the University of Cape Coast. She has taught in the communicative skills programme since its inception in 1989, and was a tutor at the writing workshop at York University, Toronto. Currently researching literature by women from Ghana, she here sets out in detail what writers need to know about writing skills. She draws upon her personal experience, and provides detailed guidance. The book is a step-by-step handbook covering reading, note-making and note-taking, basic sentence patterns, subject-verb agreements, ambiguities, the academic essay, paragraphing, composing the introduction and conclusion, punctuation, documentation, footnotes and bibliography.

A Bibliography of Publishing and the Book Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa - 1997, Hans M. Zell (editor), ISBN 190183008X 82pp 1998, Association for the Development of Education in Africa (Perspectives on African Book Development 6), London, $30.00/£16.75 pb. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., details p. 19.

This second annual supplement to Publishing and Book Development in sub-Saharan Africa: An Annotated Bibliography, published in 1996, covers for the most part listings for 1997, selectively recording, annotating and classifying new literature on the book chain in sub-Saharan Africa.

The 251 entries cover new serials, books, reference sources, reports, papers in edited collections, periodical articles, book sector studies and similar documents, and a select number of unpublished papers and documents. The 1997 annual bibliography now also includes a number of Internet documents. The material is generally arranged by topic, but is indexed both by subject, and by country/region, and author.

Educational publishing in global perspective - capacity building and trends, Shobhana Sosale (editor), ISBN 0821342541 229pp 1998, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA. Tel +1 202 477 1234, fax +1 202 477 6391, e-mail: books@worldbank.org.

These papers from a seminar on `Understanding the educational book industry' organised by the World Bank in September 1997, focus on: policies for the provision of educational materials; finance and book trade issues; procurement, protection and copyright; the role of publishing partnerships; and the publishing industry in the twenty-first century. They centre predominantly on publishing in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Contributors include representatives from publishing houses, publishers' associations, bilateral and multilateral donors and lenders, and funding foundations, and the papers reflect the strong criticisms made at the seminar of the World Bank's textbook procurement procedures as inherently deterring the emergence of local private publishing capacities and the smooth distribution of books. Since the seminar was the first of its kind within the context of Bank lending for education, the page on `lessons of experience for World Bank support for textbook components' is especially welcome; it is helpful to know the knowledge and ideas that potentially shape policy.

Creative Writing - A Handbook, Norma Kitson, ISBN 0949229482 134pp 1997, Baobab Books, Harare $13.75/£7.50 pb. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd., details below.

Written in a simple and straightforward style, this practical handbook contains hints and information on the writer's diary, writer's block, conflict and tension, discipline, flashbacks, plots and themes, character and dialogue, description and imagery, poetry, the novel, and short story writing. Exercises and examples accompanying each chapter are drawn from workshop participants and published writers, introducing the reader to a wide range of different styles and works of literature. The author, a founder member of Zimbabwe Women Writers, is herself a noted writer. [end] [BPN, no 29, 2001, p 20.]

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