Storymoja: Publishers with a mission

Over the past two years, Storymoja has become a household name around Nairobi; especially in the literary circles. Most of their events which have focused on local writing and reading have helped the company establish a niche within a society whose reading culture is said to be at peril. Tujuane had the privilege of interviewing the company's managing director, Muthoni Garland about Storymoja, its operations and her role in it.

FOCUS ON STORYMOJA

TUJUANE: Tell us about Storymoja. What is it, when was it founded and by whom?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Storymoja is a private company that was formed in July 2007 by a collective of five writers with the dream of publishing contemporary East African writing of world-class standard that we then aggressively promote. Our children's books are printed under the imprint, Storyhippo.

TUJUANE: What are some of the main areas of focus that Storymoja addresses in our society? How do they seek to do this?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Our mission is to help, growing East Africa's reading culture and improving writing standards as this feeds our business, our personal call as writers, and our patriotic duty.

We go beyond the traditional publishing model in various ways.

We run workshops for writers to develop books to high standards addressing issues of topic or plot selection, craft issues, editing, presentation etc. So far we've run workshops for writing business books, crime writing, writing for children, writing motivational books… Our next workshop – writing for teenagers and young adults – will start late November.

We organise stimulating events to elicit discussions that can then form basis of books, and also create avenues to interact with readers and writers, and popularise books directly to them. The last two events were:

- 'Sexuality Speaking,' a frank talk about sex, moderated by popular columnist Valentine Njoroge
- 'Men Under Attack,' a debate about the changing role of men in our society, moderated by popular columnist, Oyunga Pala.

To popularise reading, we also use multiple delivery platforms including audio books, stage plays based on our books, and we offer plenty of 'free' reading content/stories online.

TUJUANE: What sort of individuals does Storymoja cater to?

MUTHONI GARLAND: (In terms of demographics and geographical groupings)Storymoja caters for the mass market. Our selection of books and events are targeted to men, women and children. Most of our books for children and adults retail Ksh300 and we hope to maintain this price long-term so that price is not a major barrier to purchase.

To attract the key demographic of future readers, we run various competitions targeting children and youth in areas such as storytelling, mchongoano, spelling etc.

TUJUANE: How do you finance the various projects you run under Storymoja?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Storymoja shareholders finance some of the projects. Others are run in partnership with various corporate entities, NGOs and Government bodies such as NCC and Kenya National Libraries.

TUJUANE: What are the various techniques you have used for promoting and creating awareness about Storymoja locally and beyond?

MUTHONI GARLAND: We offer our authors and managers to various media stations for radio, TV and print appearances and that has a positive impact.
Extensive online presence – we use social networks such as Facebook, twitter, blogs and our website.

To create a Storymoja Community, we've compiled an extensive database of those who attend our events and plays, and who write to our blog and website. We keep them updated on happenings at Storymoja and other news of interest.
Our managers attend international book-related festivals in Frankfurt, South Africa, West Africa and the UK to develop contacts for networking and distribution deals.

TUJUANE: What are some of the achievements of Storymoja so far? How do you measure this success?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Our stage shows have proved a hit both locally and internationally and created positive awareness of Storymoja.

Our annual festival in partnership with the Hay Festival – the largest festival in the English-speaking world, has also generated local and international interest in Storymoja.

Another achievement has been the spelling competition dubbed 'Spelling Safari' that we have been airing in collaboration with Citizen TV. Through the competition, we reached more than 100 primary schools in Nairobi. These schools have shown an increased interest in not only our books but in reading in general.

TUJUANE: What are some of the challenges you've encountered as Storymoja and how have you overcome them?

MUTHONI GARLAND: The biggest challenge we have faced in the business is the singular focus on text books by most readers - especially for books intended for adults. This means it is difficult to sell a critical number of such titles to sustain the business.

Another challenge is the relatively poor quality of manuscripts that we receive. We've thus had to spend significant resources on workshops to impart the skills for manuscript development.

TUJUANE: So far a lot of your events have been concentrated within and around Nairobi. Is this right? And if so do you have plans of moving outside this particular geographical area?

MUTHONI GARLAND: It is true that our events have been in Nairobi. This is because this is where we are based and we want to create a successful model here. Once we publish more titles and get proper distribution channels outside Nairobi, we will definitely roll out our events to other areas. Bear in mind Storymoja is only two years old.

TUJUANE: As promoters of the reading culture within Kenya and by extension Africa how involved are you with NGOs or government agencies that focus on this area?

We actively seek collaborations that help drive the gospel of reading and writing. We developed the Spelling Safari in partnership with Citizen TV and Nairobi City Council. We ran 'Land of the Kitchen' Peace workshops in partnership with UN-HABITAT. We've worked with Kwani Trust, The Godowm, NBDCK, and The Theatre Company on various projects.

ABOUT MUTHONI GARLAND

TUJUANE: Tell us about yourself? What's your personal background?

MUTHONI GARLAND: I'm married to Wallace and we have four children.

TUJUANE: What is your educational background?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Went to primary school in Ndundori and Nakuru. Went to secondary school in Maryhill Thika and Kenya Polytechnic. I have a bachelor's degree in business administration – marketing major – from Ohio University.

TUJUANE: As the managing director of Storymoja, what is your role within the organisation?

MUTHONI GARLAND: To draw up our strategic plan and take main responsibility for its implementation. To inspire, drive, challenge, organise and manage our Storymoja Crew. To find and mentor a successor.

TUJUANE: What experience in writing and literature prepared you for the role you now play at Storymoja?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Four key things prepared me for this role:
- I've been an avid and eclectic reader from childhood.
- I admire and enjoy the English language
- My writing is well received – both fiction and non-fiction – by writers I respect. Further, my work has been published in the UK, US, South Africa and Nigeria, as well as Kenya.

Fifteen years working the formal corporate sector prepared me (somewhat) for the business challenges that I now face.

TUJUANE: You have authored a book, called ‘Tracking the Scent of My Mother’, which received a lot of good reviews locally and abroad, and also received a nomination for the Caine Prize in 2006. Tell us about this book.

MUTHONI GARLAND: The plot is quite straightforward. A young girl growing up in rural Kenya is abandoned by her beautiful (and young) mother. She then faces extraordinary obstacles at home including incest. Readers like the fact that, while the girl is a protagonist she refuses to become a 'victim' of the impossible circumstances that life throws at her.

TUJUANE: What other books have you written? Do you have anything in the pipeline soon to come out?

MUTHONI GARLAND: ‘Halfway Between Nairobi and Dundori’ is now in the shops. It is about the strains in a contemporary marriage beset with economic and social difficulties. My stories can also be found in Kwani vol 1, 3, 4 and 5. I have several children's books in the pipeline, one of which – ‘The Matatu from Watamu that Drove into the Sea’ – will also be staged as a play.

TUJUANE: Any last words or advice for our readers?

MUTHONI GARLAND: Read. Read. And read widely, dangerously! Include books written by Africans in your repertoire. If you are a parent, read with your children or buy them audio books and listen to them together. Read some more!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared in Tujuane.com.
* Muthoni Garland is managing director of Storymoja Africa
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.