Independent publishing is a growing trend in the South African market. For many it is seen as a way to get their books published in a relatively small market, but it holds many challenges. For some publishers though these challenges have been overcome in a quite spectacular manner.

Jacana Media, headed up by Bridget Impey, was voted the South African Small Publisher of the Year in 2009. Impey says, "Jacana is an independent publisher who punches well above their weight." An example of this is evidenced by the fact that the biggest chain of bookstores in South Africa had six Jacana titles on their list of 30 books in their Home Bru promotion (Home Bru is a list that focuses on South African writers and their works).

Part of the challenge for Impey in taking on a manuscript lies in "thinking we'll sell more than 1 500 of a title before we'll take it on, we're pleased when we sell more than 3 000 copies of a title". While these numbers may seem small one has to keep in mind that a "bestseller" for a South African book lies somewhere between 3 000 and 7 000.

The numbers game makes Jacana's "business model a significant challenge," says Impey.

So, what do they do to distinguish their publications, "through the cutting edge nature of work published as well as a very strong element of design." The company will soon be launching "bonsella books" (from the Zulu word ibanselo meaning a gift). "These books will offer the reader an extra section with an author interview, information about the thoughts that went into the cover design, extras that will make the range attractive to book club members," says Impey.

Colleen Higgs of Modjaji Books has also seen her imprints titles taking a significant and respected place in the South African market. Higgs formed the company in 2007 and since then has published 14 books. Higgs says Modjaji is still "a fledgling press, but is growing all the time into a publishing company that is vital and viable." Modjaji was not the first foray into publishing for Higgs; she started out by publishing a collection on writings from the Creative Writing class she taught with Robert Berold at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa.

For Higgs, independents fill a gap in the South African market by publishing good and interesting writers, news authors, and genres that wouldn't otherwise be published, for example, poetry and short fiction. Other independents in the market include Dye Hard Press, Deep South, Snailpress, Botsotso and many others, so many others in fact that Higgs has produced a Small Publishers' Catalogue which contains listings of independents, advice on how to go about getting published, resources for writers, and an acknowledgement that the Catalogue is "too heavy with South African small publishers... we would hope that future editions will include much more information from more countries in Africa".

The Catalogue came out of a meeting of African small publishers organised by Khanya College before the Jozi Book Fair in 2009. "It was fantastic to meet publishers from Kenya and Nigeria especially and to hear about their approaches and marketing strategies in particular," says Higgs.

Higgs says that it is a thriving sector, but that there are many challenges in publishing and that it is "not for the faint-hearted. It's hard to get accepted by the chain stores, and even when they sell your books they take really small numbers". Her advice: "Unless you are a motivated indie, it can be a huge loss of money and time."

Jacana Media has seen its authors winning both international and local awards. Zacharia Rapola's Beginnings of a Dream won the NOMA Award for Best Book in Africa last year, Kopano Matlwa's debut novel; Coconut was the winner of the EU Literary Award for Fiction in 2006. Richard du Nooy's first novel, Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot was awarded the University of Johannesburg's Best First Book Award.

Impey says that Coconut has sold well by South African standards with sales topping 15 000 copies. Rights to the book have been sold in Sweden.

Higgs has also had success in the foreign Market selling the rights to Tracey Farren's Whiplash in Norway.

One of the bonuses of the independent book business is that niche publishing is made easier when small print runs can be put together through new technologies in printing. Higgs has had success with Malika Ndlovu's book Invisible Earthquake which deals with the topic of stillbirth. There was interest shown by UK publishers but in the end it was decided that that the content was too South African. "However," says Higgs, "the book has sold well internationally and in small numbers to women who have been through this experience."

Mousehand is a self-publishing company, run by Simon Nye as a subsidiary of ReadHill Publishing. As a self-publishing company, Mousehand provides individuals with the services they need to publish their work: from production (typesetting, design and artwork) to distribution (making books available to retailers) and, to be offered soon, marketing (making the public aware of your publication).

Nye says that he hasn't noticed long-term trends in increases in self-publishing, but that the company receives a steady supply of clients through the year. In the short term he has noticed a huge increase of people wanting to self-publish, "many being people who want to capitalise on the Fifa World Cup 2010". Nye says that, "In particular, there are more and more successes in self-publishing, where authors or organisations are producing more marketable and good-quality work, and engaging in suitable PR and marketing campaigns. Michael Gastrow's The Road to Absalom got great reviews, radio interviews, and Kalahari's book of the week. How 2 Help's second Cape Town edition is also set to be a best-seller.

For Nye some of the benefits of self-publishing include:

- Fast turn-around time; manuscript to book shop is 6-8 weeks with Mousehand (compared to 6-9 months with a big publisher)
- Freedom of content (their book does not have to conform to a style or 'feeling' of a big publisher)
- Full control of the final product (page design, cover design, what materials to use, colour, etc)

Revenue (self-published authors receive 100% profit, compared to a 10-15% royalty that would be paid out by a big publisher).

There is of course the question of whether or not would-be authors realise the amount of work that goes into the publishing, marketing and selling of a book. Nye says, "To the vast majority, publishing is a mysterious beast that eats authors and spits out books! I spend a good deal of my time educating people about how the industry operates. I cannot stress enough the importance of marketing - marketing tells the public that your book is out there, that it's great, and they must buy it. Marketing is the key to getting your books to appear on bookshelves. Some of our authors, such as Michael Gastrow (The Road to Absalom) and Tertia Albertyn (So Close: Infertile and Addicted to Hope) run very successful marketing and PR campaigns on their own, which requires a great deal of involvement and energy from them. Most authors prefer to use a PR company who will promote their publications

Distribution is an issue for all publishers, but one that can make or break an independent publisher. Mark Hackney of Blue Weaver identified this problem and his company acts as an independent distributor to the market. He represents both local and international publishers.

"Our focus is mostly on small publishers and non-fiction in areas such as art, craft and professional and reference books, but we are moving into local fiction and poetry. People think that once a book is published that is the end of the story, but the sales, marketing and distribution need to be part of the plan from the beginning of the process," says Hackney.

"Big is not always better," says Hackney, who is excited that there will be a large contingent of African publishers and publishers from India and the Arab world at the Cape Town Book Fair this year. We will have a stand at the fair and we are looking forward to the trade day and the chance to extend our business in Africa and internationally."