Dear Editor,
The letters column should be an avenue of information, but like all things human it sometimes expresses depressing opinions and disinformation. On Monday March 2, 2015 Kaieteur News published a letter by Ryhaan Shah with the usual insinuations, and some arrows pointed at Ruel Johnson under the caption ‘Should self-published books and manuscripts still be accepted for the Guyana prize?” This letter was accompanied by another expression in the same vein on Tuesday June 2, in the Stabroek News by Krishna Nand Prasad captioned ‘Writers whose work is self-published should not be recognized.’
These were opinions that I assumed would be blown into the dust against the knowledge base obvious to anyone gifted and whose work had been published on the basis of merit. But not so; that was an arrogant assumption on my part, so now, I have, on behalf of a young friend seeking answers, penned this letter.
The obvious fact is that all books evolve from manuscripts. Books are not coated stock with super designed covers; books are content and substance that hold a reader transfixed from page to page. The greatest books have never entered a competition. In the absence of a local publishing house, most of our books are self published by creative people with little money. Our best literature still remains in manuscript form, thus accepting manuscripts and self-published material suits our circumstances; ours is a democracy not a caste system.
Over two decades ago local short stories with local illustrations executed to accompany the story were published in the Sunday newspapers. These encouraged many to explore their talents and come forward.
Self-publishing constitutes the following: Creative talent; the passion and skill to tell the story in script; forcing your spouse to read it; negotiating for a proofreader who’ll work with you cheap; typing the story or getting it typed. Whether poetry, play, short story or novel, once that is done if you can convince an artist to back it up for a reasonable raise (or get aspects sponsored) with some illustrations, you are on your way. I have self published; Ras Michael, Paloma Mohamed, Stephanie Bowry, President Granger and many others have; some of us have done so under business names, but it amounts to the same hands in your own pocket issue. Famous Murder Stories of Guyana by John Campbell was self published with help from GNCB “without which this publication would not have been possible” (his acknowledgement). A short story of St George’s, Georgetown, Guyana was written and published by Reverend Derek H Goodrich, and I can go on. The recent opportunity in Guyana for a local publishing house was wasted with the mismanagement of the Caribbean Press. Young writers should allow no one to undermine their passion by telling them that ther talent is worthless because they are attempting to self publish it; they should follow the formula and self publish.
I’ll conclude by adding some known international names who have self published in the past: Deepak Chopra, William Blake, Alexandre Dumas, Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe. Currently there is James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy and E L James’s Fifty Shades of Grey, among many others in a rising self-publishing movement, who are all running away from the proven less astute publishing agents who don’t seem to have the feel for the best books.
Yours faithfully,
Barrington Braithwaite
