Anatomy of the Challenges Facing Zambian Writers and Publishers of Literary Works

Cheela Himutwe K. Chilala

Journal of Southern African Studies, 2014, vol. 40, issue 3, 593-606

Abstract: This article argues that the publication of literary works in Zambia has been held captive by the challenges facing the book industry, in particular the economic crisis. The economic challenges have led to high costs in publishing, and inevitably the cost of purchasing books has also been high. The publishers have depended on government procurement for their book sales – but government is more concerned about purchasing textbooks. Many publishers have depended on the sales of textbooks to generate funds to publish literary works, but the overdependence on government procurement has left publishers financially vulnerable. The diminished publishing opportunities for writers of literary works have driven some writers into self-publishing as an alternative. However, this option has not answered the problem, in part because it is more concerned about quantity rather than quality of publications. The interventions into the book industry by writers' associations, the publishers' and booksellers' associations, the Curriculum Development Centre, writing awards and government policy have provided enough stimulation. A change in government policies, however, could go a long way towards stimulating the growth of the industry and exposing unknown writing talent.

Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03057070.2014.909659 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cjssxx:v:40:y:2014:i:3:p:593-606

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/cjss20

DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2014.909659

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Southern African Studies is currently edited by Ralph Smith

More articles in Journal of Southern African Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().