Latest update December 19th, 2024 3:22 AM
Comments on the Guyana Prize for Literature
Dear Editor,
Regarding the KN article of June 11, 2018, “Future of Guyana Prize in Jeopardy?” I would like to offer some comments. My qualification for doing so is, I have dabbled in the publishing business for some time, recently producing Eusi Kwayana’s “A New Look at Jonestown.” It is a 268-page 6”x9” perfect-bound paperback that has the same look, feel, and form as any book from the big guns in the industry.
The first thing I would like to say is that publishing a book is like manufacturing a car. I exaggerate only to emphasize the myriad steps that have to be gone through. And when the product rolls off the press, the job is not done but is only beginning. There is the larger, never-ending, lifelong, ever-expanding process of advertising, marketing, promoting and pushing the book. If you are self-publishing, the next thing you know is that you are not writing and publishing anymore but just operating a business, one that is in the red every step of the way.
Because Guyana has no established book publisher and most aspirants have to self-publish (a very dirty word in the industry today), the prize committee has been accepting raw manuscripts as submissions. In the circumstances, the prize should primarily be to print and publish winning manuscripts and assist with distributing the product. Those entries that are already printed could be given, as in the past, a substantial monetary award. Awardees who submitted manuscripts may also be given a monetary award but of lesser value. The bulk of their award will be the free services the committee provides as detailed below.
There is no better way “to encourage young writers to write” than to act as a conduit for getting their work into print. Among the things the prize committee could do with the winning “typewritten” manuscripts are the following. 1) Recheck the submission for errors and omissions, making the necessary corrections. 2) Select the size of the book from the standard choices available. 3) Design the cover for the book. Things such as color, black and white, and greyscale would be considered here as well as bleed and spine width.
4) Design the interior of the book. Things such as font family and size, inside and outside margins would be considered here.
5) Obtain the ISBN and barcode.
6) Select an appropriate printer.
7) Professionally format the material for printing and binding according to established standards and in consultation with the selected printer.
8) Set the number of copies to be given to the author (to sell, give away, etc.).
9) Determine the total number of copies to be printed.
10) In consultation with the author, set the selling price of the book.
11) Announce in the media the availability of the book for purchase.
12) Distribute the books free to libraries and schools in Guyana.
13) Register the copyright.
14) Host launching and book signing ceremonies in selected areas of the country for the benefit of the winning authors.
Is the manufacturing-a-car analogy making sense now?
Freeing the writer from these mundane responsibilities should be considered a more valuable prize than a dollar award. Plus, it would help him/her get away from the self-publishing stigma that comes from doing it yourself. Would-be writers would now be able to fully concentrate on their main avocation. And, lest we forget, in lieu of the prize money, the committee will pay for all the services above, the writer would not have to worry about that. Maybe such an endeavor could also be the initiation of a book publishing industry in Guyana.
Taking this one step further, the prize committee might also want to create an e-book in the name of and for the benefit of the winner. With hardcopy printing done, the same source material will be readily available to do so.
The last point I want to make is that participation should be limited to local residents. You dilute the matter when you open it up to overseas Guyanese, who are said to outnumber the local population. Plus, overseas Guyanese are already advantaged in that they have more facilities to get published than the local folks have.
P. D. Sharma
Los Angeles, CA
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