ANA Meets on: What alternatives to Bookshops; Profiting from writing in Nigeria

Please Note: Kindly make efforts to do an informed observation of the bookshops in your neighborhood and your local government, or the ones in your workplace, and come to the meeting with your observations: their names and adresses, emails and phones.      Dear writer,     Sequel to our most inspiring meeting on the last second Saturday of this month where we heartily discussed What ANA Should Be Seen Doing For Writers, is this follow-up issue on the need for writers to take the bull by the horns in taking their craft and economic worries beyond the typical application of the strategy of do nothing; of practiced helplessness. We want you to come and be part of this open house discussion on taking our craft of writing beyond the partial fulfillment of the mere psychological satisfaction of being published, or of being a prize winner that does not transform our lives from what it used to be. We'd like to know your views on  this, and what you propose should be the  strategic new direction that will afford writers a better deal in this era  when other members of the art family are profiting from their art including the late starters, Stand-Up -Comedians. What viable alternative do we have to the present state of things in the marketing channels of distributing, selling, retrieving sales, or getting royalties as the case may be. What alternatives to the dying tradition of bookshops? What creative alternatives can we adopt to interest Nigerians in liking, buying and reading our books in the way Nigerian movie and music have substantially snatched the eyes and ears of Nigerians from foreign films and music respectively. Can we come together to snatch the minds of Nigerians from foreign invasion through books with our alternative options? We can, so we should come on the last Saturday January 31 with our thinking caps of irresistible alternatives.           First Segment:                    - Readings and Responses in works in progress                      - Sharing Literary Experiences                                             - Book Presentations of new works              Second Segment: Discussion                                            Theme:Profiting from Writing Beyond the Partial                                 Fulfillment of Publishing This is going to be an open house discussion by members and people of creative and transformative ideas.                         Venue: National Arts Theatre, Aina Onobolu Complex Wing,                                  Iganmu, Costain, Lagos                         Time : 2.30pm -6pm                         Date : Last Saturday of January 31, 2008                              All serious writers who respect their calling for writing are expected. Forward this invitation to other serious writers of ideas. Come also with your dues for the new year   Yours sincerely, Chike Ofili: Chairman.