Publication ...... Yipee!
Yesss! Somebody has finally accepted my work for publication and I'm thrilled to pieces. Permit me to share this exhilarating news. The Kalahari Review of Botswana has accepted "Shadows In The Darkness", the first story in my collection "Shadows, Darkness and Light" for publication in their online Journal sometime in February 2016. Some may wonder why all the excitement. Well, firstly, if you look at all the award winning writers from Africa you will realize most have journals and literary magazines, whether print or electronic, as part of their esteemed publication portfolio. And indeed most of the award winning short stories were published in this manner. So journals are a critical avenue for Africa to tell her story to the world in her own way and Kalahari Review does a good job of it. Secondly, I have had my own fair (and unfair) share of rejections from international literary agents. I even tried one of the crowdfunding websites but was rejected because I live in Zimbabwe. Apparently one of the ways they garner support for an author's project is through public appearances. So after lots of no, no, and no somebody finally said yes. So why shouldn't I be celebrating? Being a writer based in Africa writing about Africa for the international readership is not easy. If you can picture how hard it is for a writer in UK or USA to find an agent or a publisher, and you multiply that by infinity - then you may understand how we fare from this side of the globe. But I have not given up. Yesterday on another bookvetting platform, which I will share about in a different post, somebody said my book was the first they read this year and they knew it would be the best. I spent the whole day floating on cloud nine. So the first story in the collection of twelve will be published in February on a date yet to be announced and I will the happiest person alive.
