For Bisi Ojediran, big literary break offshore

Bisi Daniels

For Bisi Ojediran, big literary break offshore

The prolific writer Bisi Ojediran (now Bisi Daniels) has built a record in the literary world that is peculiar to him. Years ago, he came up with a mission of 'One-Novel-Per-Year. With several novels - eight in all, a variety of other books and eight plays in his kitty, he has kept that mission alive along with his busy schedule. Surprisingly, Ojediran is hitting the literary market in a big way with four books to be published in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria. In this interview with KABIR ALABI GARBA, he speaks on the literary deliveries, why he has to adopt a pen name, what he intends to do after his departure from Shell Nigeria and other issues of literary concerns. Excerpts:

FOUR books at a time, what are you gunning at?

Yes, four books in a year, but I will rather put it this way: A harvest of book contracts. God has blessed me with three overseas book contracts in a year, and if you imagine how difficult it is to get a publisher overseas, you will understand that this is a big break.

Let me share the piece of advice one of my editors in UK gave me last year. He said, I will read it to you because it will be very useful to other writers: "This is how the mainstream, corporate publishing worked in 2007: the entry level for a new novelist in the UK now (in any area of the market) is 'special', not 'good'. This is partially because sales and marketing directors have so much more power than they did ten years ago. If they don't believe they will be able to sell a first novel into W H Smiths and the rest of the bookselling trade in numbers, they'll block the editor from acquiring it in many companies. A senior editor told me a few weeks ago that even if he loved an author's writing, he wouldn't make an offer until the book that was submitted to him was 100 per cent right for the market - he has just acquired an author whose previous four novels he (and everyone else in London) had turned down despite liking them a great deal. Most editors see thirty books every week, and only take on one or two debut novels over an entire year. That's how special a new writer has to be.

"Once the editor does think they have something that special, they take it to the editorial meeting. Before that meeting, every other editor in the company has to read the book, and they will make their comments, positive and negative, at the meeting. If the book gets over that hurdle - and many don't - it will then be taken to the full publishing meeting. Before that meeting, the sales director, marketing director, publicity director, managing director and other senior, non-editorial staff members have to read it, and agree that it is both wonderfully written and intensely commercial. At this point, the sales director will say 'Who will buy this?', and the editor has to supply the names of two or three recently successful writers (and not long-term bestsellers) in the same area that the sales director can mention to the head office buyers at W H Smiths, Waterstones and the other book chains, should the author be taken on - these comparisons are very important. Who do you feel your work can be compared with? Again, many new books fall at this hurdle.

"However, if this is all agreed, the sales director and editor will agree on expected sales figures for the first print-run, and a costing will be produced. From that, the editor will come up with a sum that the book is worth to the publisher and, once he or she has the agreement of their managing director, they will make an offer. Easy! Fewer than 10 per cent of the books that enter this process at the editorial meeting actually have offers made. And they themselves are far less than 1 per cent of the books that are originally submitted by authors and agents".

And what is the fourth book?

The fourth book from me this year is a novel on Lagos I am publishing in Nigeria. So those are the four.

Can we have some more details about these books?

Well, with the situation in the industry as explained by my editor, a writer is likely to write faster than he gets published. The False Truth is really my 2007 project, but the assessment took about a year, and I got the acceptance letter about two months ago. It came about the same time I got the acceptance letter for The Girl From Nigeria. Both will be published in Europe. God Sent Me Back, an inspirational book, will be published in the US. The fourth, Conspiracy Of Lagos my 2008 offering will be published in two months from now here in Nigeria. As I said earlier, I had been writing faster than the rate I have been publishing, so at any point in time, I had one or two manuscripts to send around to publishers. However with this development, I have to play the catch up.

When are they going to hit the market?

Conspiracy of Lagos should be out by August. It is currently been proofread in the UK. I have been told that the three will be published in the fourth quarter. They have all been listed on the websites of the publishers. I will show you after the interview.

What does this mean to you and your career?

It feels good to be on the world stage in this way. My first attempt was not successful because the UK publisher who had just started the business, experienced some setbacks. We had to cancel the contract.

You said shortly before the interview that you are now going to use a pen name.

Yes. The Bisi is still there, but I am using Daniels, which is my father's first name.

So you are now Bisi Daniels?

Yes, sir. I also intend to make Bisi Daniels and my continuing character Peter Abel notable brands. The world stage is big. I have researched the use of pen names. People use them for many reasons. Mine is to use a name that my publishers advised would be reader-friendly in the overseas market. Let me tell you some of the surprises I discovered in my research. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, and George Eliot was in fact a woman - Mary Ann Evans. You know the behavioural traits of creative writers. They like to be as free as air. I have tried to tone some things down because of my recent environment.

Like what?

If you saw me as journalist, you never saw me in a suit. And lately, I found it difficult to wear a tie. I have over 50, but there are there, some still brand new. You never know.

What has been the impact of your last novel published in the UK?

That is the one I just spoke about. We had to cancel the contract. I updated it and re-offered it as The Girl From Nigeria. I thank God that it was accepted by a bigger UK publisher almost immediately. It is a very good story and it is not surprising that a film producer in Nigeria is interested in it.

Really? Can we have some more details about this?

No, sir. I can't say more at this point. He came at a time I had already signed the contract, so I am trying to connect him with the publisher. It is for them to sell the rights, not me.

Publishing market in Nigeria and UK, what are the similarities, challenges, prospects...?

I will say in both cases, it is tough for both the publishers and the writers. In Nigeria, there are not many publishers because of the business climate and the reading culture. Most of the few publishers prefer to publish educational books for which markets are assured. Although there is a larger number of publishers in the UK, there are very many writers competing for them. So, in both Nigeria and the UK, the supply and demand curves look similar - more manuscripts than publishers.

At the beginning of your literary endeavour, you came up with a promise of 'One Novel Per Year', which you kept faithfully until 2006 when the Product of Africa was released. But your readers waited patiently in 2007 for another rich and refreshing literary delivery, which didn't come anyway, expect a compilation on Men of God. What happened?_

Ah, Oga. Once I was very young. Now I am getting old. Work schedule has become tighter, and there is a family to bond with. It is not enough to take care of kids, you have to play with them, watch cartoons together, etc. Having explained that much, I want to disagree with you that Nigeria's Men of God is a mere compilation. Talk to your religious correspondents to know how difficult it is to get some of these pastors for interviews. And of course, you know that even the best interview does not flow smoothly. Some areas have to be rewritten or re-presented. In addition to the inspirational book, I wrote The False Truth. It is going to be published this year, but the writing was completed in 2007.

Is that the novel they say is about Third Term?

I don't know about Third Term o. It is about good governance in Africa. You would agree with me that the one reason Africa is poor lies in the quality of leadership. The novel was indeed set in East Africa, and in this case the President did not really want tenure elongation; an international cabal wanted him to stay on. As a journalist I think another thing that will interest you is the investigative journalist who became the Chief Press Secretary of the President. You know leaders like journalists to give them publicity, but in reality I am not sure they like nosy, professional journalists who never stop asking questions when things are not done rightly. My character (Peter Abel) was so hounded by the protagonists of tenure elongation that he had to fake his own death and escape to the US, where he eventually saved the President from being poisoned. In the novel I also try to answer the popular question, 'What is wrong with the black man?' That is the novel I dedicated to Dr. Mo Ibrahim. In 2006, Dr. Ibrahim, who sold Celtel, his pan-African mobile phone company to MTC of Kuwait for $3.4bn, launched the world's biggest prize to reward good governance by departing African statesmen, with a host of world leaders backing his landmark initiative. I did the dedication with his consent, and I can't wait to send him autographed copies of the novel.

And what is this Conspiracy of Lagos?

You will love it. You know in Lagos, they don't say "Welcome." They tell new arrivals, "This is Lagos." Life in Lagos is tough, but most of its residents don't want to leave town. Have you noticed how fast Lagos is expanding? But really, life here is so tough that the new comer has to be very careful they don't end in a hole. You know Lagos is also a city of opportunities. I picture the entrance to Lagos as one big gate at intersection of two roads: One to hell, which is the hole I talk about and one to a land of bliss. I don't want to use Heaven because it means far more than enjoying life. You could say the novel captures the good, the bad, and the funny of Lagos.

You use actors and actresses on the cover of your novels published in Nigeria to attract readership. Who is on the cover of this?

Yes, you know our reading culture. Some people have to be helped to read. So the cover attracts them, they go ahead to read the blurb or the first page, and then, "oh, I must read this interesting story." Desmond Elliot is on the cover of this one. You know the guy looks calm - just like my character. I decided to rest Peter Abel this time. I am taking him, Peter Abel, to Nollywood in his next outing.

Looks like you can't stop writing.

No. I feel like my blood is freezing when I don't have a book project on hand. Then also, all manner of stupid temptations crop up. You know the devil is a master of mind games. But more importantly, God's gift must be used to the fullest. That is what I am trying to do.

Writing for you is out of passion and a hobby. Can book authorship sustain man?

Sustenance is a relative term. But generally, returns on books are low in Nigeria because of the poor reading culture. Authors of some school textbooks, yes. Some novels and children books, may be. But the more books one has in the market the better. Little drops of water from my many books here and there are encouraging.

So it pays to have a more steady source of income?

Yes, at least for beginners. It even helps in the sense that one does not have to rush one's project to the market hoping for quick returns. I however must sound a word of caution here. Some bosses don't react kindly to such creative endeavours. I know an author who was given a reward by his company for doing them proud over one book he published; I know a young man who was advised by his immediate boss to 'slow down on this book thing,' because other bosses were complaining. And I know an author who was victimized for his books. When he presented a request for sponsorship from ANA, he was later accused of using the resources of the company to pay ANA to ghost write for him. Strangely some other top people in company believed this. I know Wale Okediran will be shocked to hear this. One has to be careful in the work environment, but it is important to ensure that one's God-given gift is not killed. I know some gifted media men like your own Martins Oloja, and Stanley Egbochukwu, who is trying to revive Daily Times, would feel uncomfortable elsewhere, no matter how well they are paid.

When is your next project?

Luckily, I had some more time to finish my 2008 project. And with four books going out, I think I should have some rest by reading and reading and reading.

It is said that 'you are leaving Shell!' True?

Yes, I am out of Shell.

Reminiscences on your years at Shell? Are we expecting a Peter Abel in the oil industry? You have worked in two oil companies now.

Interestingly, I am even coming under pressure from some people in the industry to write, but no. I try not to mention oil in my books - 8 novels now. They say 'never say never,' but for now, I am not sure I will. There is something Mr. Femi Kusa, the former editor of The Guardian taught me. He said, 'never write with the aim of bringing someone or an organisation down.' People already know so much about the oil industry, they know it is the cash cow of the economy, so obviously what they are telling me to write about are the grey areas. But all units of the economy - individuals, firms and governments - have their weaknesses.

After Shell, what next? Where are you basically heading? To the newsroom, as you predicted some years back? Or classroom, your 'natural calling'?

I have been getting offers, but I have not made a decision yet. The newsroom still attracts me. I made a lot of innovations, which are now widely used, and I have a lot more. For now, I need to rest my head before it catches fire.


From The Guardian

Link:
Desmond Eliott Prize 2008