Majaga finally publishes book after struggle

Tumelo Maunge

Young author Tyler Majaga has finally published his sophomore book Blue Skies in the South: Premise after previously struggling to raise funds for its publication.
The book came out this past Saturday following three months of fund raising.
“I really struggled in convincing people to part with their P50s in buying the vouchers for a book. I advertised, had newspaper interviews, and basically did all I could but still, all too much disappointment. Blue Skies In the South: Premise release was postponed three times because of this. However, eventually after a long time, the money was raised,” said Majaga.
Majaga was able to sell 80 preorder vouchers in person, 70 of them having been sold through WebTickets.
“I printed some vouchers myself and went to colleagues, lectures, family friends, strangers alike and just told them about the project. The support was heightened by this. This led me to believe Batswana are Thomases, they need to see you, the seller, for them to buy. The strategy worked wonderfully and even now, more people are coming forward and pledging their support,” he said.
Describing his book, Majaga said it was the first of an envisaged trilogy. It focuses on three characters, Thuso, Michelle and Tanaya who are youngsters in Gaborone, having to deal with different socioeconomic. Thuso is a struggling photographer, Michelle an upcoming model and Tanaya is a former ‘call-girl’ to politicians and businessmen across the city trying to look for true love.
Only 200 copies of Blue Skies in the South: Premise were released, with 500 copies of the book expected to be released every two months next year.
“I want to have sold at least 5000 copies locally and 30,000 internationally by next year this time. That’s the minimum target I have set for myself. That is obviously going to require a lot of planning, money and strategizing. My manager and I are working on a series of promotional campaigns to that regard. I want to export it to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia. All this has to be done through embassies of the respective countries, which is also a plan in motion”.
Apart from distributing hard copies of the book, Majaga is working on converting Blue Skies In the South: Premise into an E- book that will be available online. The 22 year old is currently studying for a BA in Motion Picture Medium at AFDA.