Writing quality textbooks pays good money

Head teachers buy books at Moran publishers during the 40th annual Kenya Secondary Schools heads Association at Wild Waters Centre in Mombasa in 2015. PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD

NAIROBI: I know someone who approached a manager in a publishing firm when he was in a fix hoping to get help and getting help he did. Apart from that the person changed his life. This man was introduced to writing curriculum books and he never looked back. If you ask me, I don’t think this gentleman would have achieved what he has if he had concentrated on his day job that was sinking him in debt. Today, he is a happy man able to meet most of his financial obligations. Just to be clear though, this is did not happen in a day. However, on a light note, when he received his first royalty cheque, about Sh120,000, he cried. Today if he receives say, Sh1 million, he pulls a face and asks, “Only this?”

The Ministry of Education will soon require curriculum material and I thought I should just point out that there is an immense opportunity here for anyone who is a teacher and would like to venture into writing fiction and non-fiction. What are the requirements? Well, I wouldn’t call them requirements but qualities that will enable you make it, if you are a teacher who is a talented writer. The first quality is that you must be good at what you do, teach, or desire to engage in. Ask yourself what will separate you from the rest. You must develop your writing technique in such a way that you standout. That way, publishers will seek you.

One way of standing out is by ensuring quality. As it were, change of curriculum brings with it a lot of work that editors have to deal with. Therefore, you will be Godsend if you can deliver quality to their tables any time you appear. Remember, editors at this level are judged by how many titles they are able to squeeze through the stringent sieve of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

Timing in publishing is everything. This is why anyone who desires to write curriculum material should be ready to meet deadlines. Usually, these are agreed upon – in advance – with the editor. Delivering the highest quality after the deadline will be useless, as the Ministry of Education will not allow you to submit the work hence all will be null-and-void. In fact, it would be better for a writer to deliver work that needs sprucing up a few weeks to the deadline – this can be corrected and submitted for evaluation. While writing, you, must keep your editor informed – don’t spin surprises. It is always better to warn the editor of possible delays so that he or she can find ways of addressing the situation than delay and hope to explain the cause. The cardinal rule during this time is to say the truth always and pick your phone when the editor calls.

Consistency is a major factor when writing curriculum material. If you have set a standard for your writing, you must keep it up. Still, the book you write today should be better than the one you write tomorrow. Build on your abilities by learning from your experiences. Research, look at what other writers are doing and suggest ways of improving your books to your editor. Remember, the editor is a midwife; hence, he or she does not make the baby – this is up to you.

NO REASON TO FAIL

While writing, you must remember that officers from the Ministry of Education, who will want to ascertain that you have followed the syllabus, will evaluate your book. They will also want to ensure your presentation of content is user-friendly. If you fail to reach the threshold, your work will be trashed. This is something that scares many authors. In fact, many are afraid of writing because they think they will fail. My question to fearful writers usually is what if your work is approved? And whoever died because he or she tried! Again, why should you fail when you have been told exactly what you are supposed to do? Failure therefore will only occur when something goes terribly wrong otherwise, you should have your work approved by KICD.

The good thing with curriculum change is that it gives all publishers and writers the same starting point. Each one has an equal chance of making it. However, those who make it are those who will show that they want it most. To such writers there is no limit as to what they can achieve; what they require is a chance. I hope you are one of them and that you are eagerly awaiting the curriculum change.

If you have been writing fiction, ask your writer whether your work meets the KICD threshold so that it can be presented for evaluation. You never know, it could be the next school set book that will make you laugh all the way to the bank!