One small gripe, One giant failure of imagination
Today I would have been at the Kingsmead Book Fair. A friend of mine is on one of the panels and I would have liked to support her. I also wanted to have a look around to see how I can align my book and publishing ideas with the aims of the Fair. Maybe I can aspire to represent myself, or my books some time in the future. Take part in a panel or something.
I’m not at the Kingsmead Book Fair. Because I found a misalignment without even leaving my own home.
Yesterday I went online to book tickets. The basic information said tickets are between R 60.00 and R 115.000. That makes sense. The lower price for children under twelve, something in between for students and pensioners and the top range for a full adult.
The Pricing
But that is not the way the ticket prices work. The R 60.00 is to get you through the gate and onto the property. Having already parked somewhere else and paying parking for that because there are no parking available.
And then what, you are on the property, you can get something to eat, probably at hugely inflated prices. I don’t know, but I have a suspicion. You can go to the loo. Hopefully that is not extra. And you can go to the Exclusive Books display. Something which would be a smattering of same books I can have a look at for free when visiting an Exclusive Books branch.
No, the fair is the talks. And that is the R 115.00. Per person, per session. To listen to somebody talk for an hour.
I can understand the booking seats for a venue. Space are limited. But when I went online yesterday very few of these venues were fully booked. Of all the sessions, 81 by my count (45 adult, 12 teen and 24 children) I think three had no spots available.
That means basic supply and demand is not part of the ticket consideration.
The Cost
With five sessions throughout the day and if I want to make full use of it as an adult It would cost me R 575.00 to attend every session possible. Plus R 60.00 entrance fee. Plus the most likely R 80.00 for a coffee and R 120.00 for a sandwich. A hundred-and-thirty-five Rand and I have not yet bought a single book, or paid for my parking.
Two people and it would cost us R 1670.00.
Yes, I know things cost money. And the money is going for the children. A bursary fund as I understand. But what are the sponsors contributing towards then? And where is the greater access to books and literacy our country so desperately needs?
Well, not here. Not at the Kingsmead Book Fair because the target demographic is very clear in the presentation. It os for the people that have high amounts of disposable income. A very narrow sliver of our society as a whole.
Do I think there is not place for such an event? Of course not. There is a place and a market. They won’t be doing it successfully for so many years. What gets me is that it is one of the few places. With the same demographic and the same approach as the few similar events across South Africa. Take the Franschoek Literary Festival as a comparison.
The Club
It is either this exclusive little club where you can pay a big price to go and gawk at an author for an hour. Or it is the developmental stuff done to get another very specific demographic to read (anything).
Where is the middle ground. The place for people who just like books and reading without it having to be a status symbol. The writers who tell stories because it is fund and entertaining, not because it has a deeper message for the cultural epoch our country finds it in.
That is the place I want to find. And if I cannot find it, then it is the place I want to make. That is one of the motivations behind my figuring out the self-publishing route from the ground up in a South African context. Because events like the Kingsmead Book Fair creates by design a tiny imprint and effect on what people want to and get to read.