‘We want to open up space for literary discourse’

You recently organized “Reconstructing Womanhood”, an event that brought together three female writers from northern Nigeria to talk about their works and womanhood in the region. Why did you feel the need to create this space for writers to engage with the public on these issues?
At AMAB, we have it at the foundation of our operational structure to establish a culture of creativity with book selling. We believe that book selling should transcend just buying and selling. There are countless creative endeavors that go with book selling and distribution such as organized readings, literary fiesta, fairs and many others. These activities will not only promote reading culture but will also encourage writers to do more.
In view of this background, Reconstructing Womanhood held at the French Institute Abuja on June 6, was to provide a platform to discuss issues emanating from Fantah by Hadiza Bagudu, Bongel by Maryam Bobi and Fire on the Tip of Ice by Halima Aliyu. These women writers, though emerging, are phenomenal. It will not be enough to just sell or distribute their books; there should be a platform of discourse to problematize the issues raised in those books for the purpose of nation building. Literary art, like any other arts, is a veritable device for social engineering and the Northern region of our dear country needs to know that there are female writers from the region that are passionate about its progress and development.
So we realize that though we might not be directly strategic to solving various problems bedeviling our country, of course we are new at everything we do -bookselling, book distribution and publishing- but we want to inject some dynamism and creative sparks into our business. Whatever space we create for writers will also be of benefit to us, we believe.
Would you say that the event was a success?
Of course! We should realize that that event was the third we have organized in a row. Organized as an entity without sponsors. We had a well-attended reading in January with the author of Sterile Sky, E. E. Sule, in Minna. Then “Poetrologue” in Lapai in March with Saddiq Dzukogi and Servio Gbadamosi. So it was a success because the message was passed and the platform we provided was well utilized.
So clearly, you have been organizing book readings events, mostly in Niger State but this is your first foray outside that state. Is this something you want to continue doing?
By the grace of God, we are not going to stop. We are currently discussing with institutions in some other parts of the country. Another book event of dynamic dimension is in the pipeline.
AMAB Books has caught the fancy of book lovers across the country. How did the concept of it come about?
Before the establishment of AMAB, we realized that very few bookstores in this part of the country have varieties of books considering the ever-changing tastes of Nigerian readers. Though the capital then was meager but we still wanted to ensure books are made available to everyone as at when they need them. And I think we are doing relatively fine. We are going to do better, by God’s grace
What were the challenges you faced setting it up?
The first major challenge was how to get the books to sell. Nigerian readers have varieties of tastes when it comes to books and over 70% of such books are not published or distributed in Nigeria.

So we had to develop a network from the scratch to get books from outside the country, hence the issue of high cost, which is also a challenge. The other major challenge was distribution of our books to our various customers across the country. Then we resorted to partner with NIPOST and that has solved the problem totally. It has also reiterated the belief that our public institutions can work.
There has always been this discussion about how book-selling outlets such as yours contribute to the death of publishing houses by not remitting payment for books sold. How are you approaching this sensitive but important aspect?
When our publishers or book distributors supply us we pay completely or at least over 60% of the goods supplied. When writers call on us to distribute their books, we don’t pay upfront, but we have agreements to remit as at when due. We know how difficult a terrain Nigeria is for self-published writers and probably publishers and we are not ready to make it worse. For instance, we contacted Macmillan recently to resuscitate the Pacesetter Series. And for all the copies of almost thirty titles we have bought from them, we paid before they even supplied.
So how does this partnership with NIPOST really works? Can you explain this and how do you still make profit from this arrangement?
The system of distribution we are currently using is postage powered by the Nigeria Postal Services [NIPOST]. When you order through our various channels, we package and send to you via NIPOST. Some of our customers enjoy door-to-door delivery and some will have to go to the post office for their book package. It’s very cheap, fast and reliable. We have sent books to remote places in Nigeria and they were delivered in just three days. We do not make profit from shipping arrangements, customers pay almost exactly if not less of the shipping cost.
It would seem AMAB Books is keen to branch out into publishing and other areas. Is that really the plan?
Yes. We were licensed early this year and we already have two books in press, a poetry collection and a fantasy fiction. We also have some children writings at their advanced stages of design.