Read, write and grow
Wary of Facebook pages for book lovers that become a playground for self-promotion, celebrated South African author Paige Nick started The Good Book Appreciation Society page.
Three years later the page has about 3000 members and is a lively place for readers (many of them writers too), to post honestly about books – by way of reviews, queries, a call for advice and plain and simple sharing. “I’m reading this,” some posts declare, with an image of a stack of books, to which others offer comment or insights – a virtual book club of sorts, with a predominantly African audience.
Paige, author of novels such as A Million Miles from Normal and This Way Up (Penguin SA), a collaborative choose-your-own-adventure erotica series, A Girl Walks into a Bar (Jonathan Ball), and a popular Sunday Times sex columnist, is an avid promoter and supporter of African writers.
Chatting about the page, she says, “It’s a thriving community of hungry book lovers, many of whom are authors, but more are just passionate readers. My aim is to grow our active reading community and shine a light on local authors where possible. We host author interviews every Sunday, have awesome giveaways and great conversations. ” The page is, in her words, her “happy place”.
A voracious reader, Paige isn’t drawn to any one particular genre. Her own books focus on relationships and the culture around sexuality, and for this she leans heavily on the people and complexities in South Africa.
“My novels aren’t necessarily based in South Africa. But I draw on this amazing, lunatic, million-miles-from-normal country and its people for inspiration, because I’m South African. It’s inside me.
And, what makes an excellent novel? “Characters who rent space in my brain; books I don’t even want to put down to do up my buttons,” she says.
For African novels, across genres that deliver just this, Paige recommends “the magnificent” Henrietta Rose-Innes’s short story collection Homing, Ivan Vladislavic’s Loss Library, We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust and Yewande Omotoso’s Bom Boy. Of Bom Boy she says it’s her go-to gift for everything from bar mitzvahs to bon voyages.
When prompted to divulge her writing secrets, she says, “I wish I could tell you that I can only write when facing East, or I write with a pair of knickers on my head. I sit in a quiet room, often in grubby clothes, and bash at a keyboard for hours. How glamorous.”
Paige says the excitement South African writers may feel initially can quickly be dashed. Getting published and signing a book deal locally is very challenging. Books sell poorly on the whole, and making “real, sustainable money” as a writer is exceptionally difficult.
“If you’re not willing to persevere, give up now, and save yourself the paper cuts,” she says. Otherwise, “Write everything, enter everything, read everything, and build up a community of fellow writers and readers.”
Find Paige Nick:
Twitter: @paigen,
Blog: amillionmilesfromnormal.com, latest book: Pens Behaving Badly (Kwela).
Note: To join The Good Book Appreciation Society, a secret book club on Facebook, friend Bea Reader on Facebook, or email [email protected]
Words by Ishay Govender-Ypma
Images – Paige Nick, Yewande Omotoso, Ivan Vladislavic
