Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes before raw manuscripts become actual books on the shelf? What highs and lows go into the making of the final products we love to leaf through, and get lost in, as completed books? In part one of the very first to grace our wall and give us insights on this is none other than Lucy Mwangi, the Publications Manager of Footprints Press. She is also a Writer, an Editor and an Entrepreneur. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got into the publishing industry.
Thank you Truphie once again for the lovely opportunity. I will begin by introducing myself. My name is Lucy Mwangi, I am a Christian, a wife to a lovely man, a mother, a sister and a friend. I’m also a story teller. I love stories in whatever form, whether I’m telling them in writing or verbally; they take me to a different place. I got into the publishing industry in a really interesting way, and I always say that God in His own way guided my life onto this path. I loved reading right from my school days, and naturally, I found myself writing stories about things that I observed around me. I opted for Library and Information Science for my first degree, as I wanted to be around books, so this exposed me to the technical aspects of the literary world. I joined the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) as a Librarian, and later worked as a Communications Officer. It was while at AERC that I interacted with one of my bosses, Susan Githuku, who was the Head of the Joint Facility of Electives, a Master’s Programme for sub-Saharan students, though she later left the organisation. About 15 years later, in 2010, I received a call from her. She extended an invitation to join her as she embarked on establishing Footprints Press Ltd, an independent Kenyan-based publishing house specialising in photographic coffee table books on Africa.
What was it like, getting started on the journey at Footprints Press, and writing about various personalities in your publications?
Our first two editions, The Life Journey Series, were mini-biographies featuring 84 high achieving women (Seeking Destiny), and 75 high achieving men (Scaling Heights) in Kenya, from every sector in society. Putting this edition together was a delightful engagement for me, particularly as guided by our slogan – Writing books for our children’s children. What was clear for us from the get go was that politicians would not be featured in our publications. We endeavoured to write Kenyan books for Kenyans and by Kenyans, as a launch pad for the rest of Africa. Susan is widely travelled, and she would get disappointed on getting back home to find that young people looked up to and got inspired by foreigners, people they could not personally relate to, from other countries. We had, and continue to have numerous role models in the Kenyan society, but they were hardly documented anywhere in a systematic and easy-to-find way. And so began the journey to put together the mini-biographies of various individuals whom the younger generation could identify with in their country, and actually relate to. Footprints Press trained a team of young people on how to administer the questionnaires for the selected individuals. It served as a wonderful opportunity for them to be mentored and glean wisdom from those they interviewed, while carrying out the assignment. We all had so much to learn from each subsequent edition that we went refining on the go, and we look back with gratitude at every lesson that has come with the whole experience.
Allow us to see through your eyes; what was the experience like, and what were the memorable moments as you interacted with all these people, as you wrote about their lives for the publications you have worked on?
Our process basically entailed cold calling and e-mailing everyone on the list to request for an interview after explaining what we were embarking on. We then proceeded to the structured interviews for those that agreed to be part of the project. The cold calling was met with hesitation by a number of the contacts, mostly because of previous bad experiences before we reached out to them. Their stories had been misquoted or misrepresented, so they were cautious, particularly because Footprints Press was a relatively new entity then. Others wanted to be paid to have their stories featured in the books. Some, however, to our delight, trusted us and agreed to come on board. We were careful to capture their details accurately, then submit them to the individuals for confirmation that we had articulated their story well before going to press.
I recall some of my most delightful encounters with a number of them. It was eye-opening to interview Dr. Manu Chandaria, and his wife. Their generosity and warm welcome to their home was jarring. His big heart was revealed as we learnt about his simple lifestyle, and simultaneously, his overwhelming generosity to the less fortunate in society. He is a truly humble man, in spite of his great wealth, and his humility itself was a class in life that impacted me greatly. It was an unforgettable experience, gleaning from his great wisdom and insight on life, a memory that I truly cherish. It is easy to think that the high and mighty in society are all aloof, but encounters with a couple of them really changed my mind about that misconception. I remember Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi was absolutely generous with his time, in spite of the fact that I was a complete stranger when I first called him. It says a lot about you when you can be cordial and kind with your words to a stranger.
Any particular moments that were a downside in your work?
It is really sad that we did not have good printing presses in Kenya which we hoped would meet the high international standards we desired to attain in our publications. We were faced with this daunting reality as we started out in 2010. Things have definitely gotten better over the years, but back then, we simply opted to print in China. It has been an entire school, learning numerous aspects of printing, from the paper quality and type, the quality of images, the size of books, and every other detail that would give the exact quality of the finished product that we desired.
It also took a whooping 10 years to finally complete one of our best-selling books, Going the Distance: The Greatest of Kenya’s Relentless Runners (1958-2018). The publication features 80 of Kenya’s greatest runners over a 60-year period. Fact checking and updating information over the years, sourcing and purchasing images, as well as printing made it our most expensive publication yet.
The introduction of duty in the book industry was a huge blow as it increased the overall cost of production. The type and quality of paper we desired for the fine finish for our books was also not available in Kenya, which made our projects even more expensive. These are some of the numerous challenges and hurdles we faced along the way, but thankfully, they also taught us much, which made us appreciate the process.
Wooow! So much to learn from you Lucy. That has been a really insightful session and I can’t wait to hear more about the glimpses behind the scenes in book production. We’ll pick it up from part two, and thank you once again.
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