Books can be published in English and most other languages, and will be distributed to hundreds of ebook retailers and digital libraries worldwide, including to the world’s biggest ebook retailers like Amazon, Google Play, Kobo and Apple.
Earlier this month StreetLib began its 2019 global roll-out in Africa, at the Golden Jubilee of the Cairo International Book Fair, the world’s biggest literary event. Now Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa join StreetLib Egypt as part of a roll-out in 21 countries across 6 continents. And that’s just for January.
In February StreetLib will add at least five more African nations to the list, and by the years’ end will provide services to authors and publishers across the continent.
StreetLib CEO Giacomo D’Angelo said:
There’s a popular misconception that Africans don’t read, yet two of the world’s largest book fairs are in Africa (Egypt and Algeria).
Last year the International Publishers Association held its first Regional Seminar for Africa in Lagos and another will be happening in Nairobi this year. With a valuation of over $1 billion, and home to many globally acclaimed authors, the African book market is finally getting the recognition it so richly deserves.
Explaining the need for the StreetLib author and publisher portals in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, Giacomo D’Angelo explained:
We believe everyone, anywhere on the planet has the right to read books, and we believe every author, anywhere on the planet has the right to be published and reach a global audience.
But, much as we love print (we also offer print on demand options) the production and distribution costs of printed books mean many people around the world — and not least across Africa — are denied access to affordable books.
At literary events across the continent we hear time and again that it is easier for a publisher in Africa to sell its books in the United States than in another African country.
It needn’t be that way. A reader in a remote African village should have the same books available as a reader in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra or Johannesburg. An author in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana or South Africa should have the same opportunity to publish their work as an author in New York or London.
Today, anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection can buy, download and read ebooks on their phones or tablets, no matter how far away their nearest book store is. And authors and publishers, no matter where they are, can upload and sell books to those readers.
The portals are for publishers of all sizes, from individual self-publishers to the biggest publishing houses, facilitating global reach in an international book market worth US$143 billion (NGN 51 trillion) (KES 14.4 trillion) (GHS 715 billion) (ZAR 1.9 trillion).
Giacomo D’Angelo added:
Since its inception in 2006 StreetLib has been at the forefront of the digital reading revolution, enabling authors and publishers around the world to publish and sell books to anyone that has an internet connection.
Today StreetLib distributes a large volume of digital books on behalf of publishers, from individual authors with just one title to big publishers with hundreds or even thousands of titles.
In the US, UK and western Europe digital books — ebooks and audiobooks — provide publishers with new revenue streams alongside their printed book sales. In 2017, according to one report
- the US (online population 312 million) ebook market, was worth US$3.2 billion (NGN 1.1 trillion) (KES 322 billion) (GHS 16 billion) (ZAR 43.5 billion )
- the UK (online population 52 million)ebook market was worth US$405 million (NGN147 billion) (KES 40 billion) (GHS 2 billion) (ZAR 5.5 billion)
- the Canada (online population 33 million) ebook market was worth US$136 million (NGN 49 billion) (KES 13.7 billion) (GHS 680 million) (ZAR 1.85 billion)
- the Australia (online population 21 million) ebook market was worth US$126 million (NGN 45 billion) (KES 12.7 billion) (GHS 630 million) (ZAE 1.7 billion)
How can African countries compete when the continent is only at 35% internet penetration?
In fact that 35% equates to 462 million Africans online — more than Latin America. More than the European Union. And 150 million more than the United States.
Nigeria
In Nigeria alone there are over 98 million people online, making Nigeria the 8th largest country in the world by internet users.
In fact Nigeria has more internet users than any country in Europe except Russia. It has more than double the internet users of Spain, three times as many internet users as Canada and four times as many as Australia. And Nigeria is only at 50% internet penetration.
Your books uploaded to the StreetLib Nigeria portal will be available to buy as ebooks in Nigeria and across Africa via the StreetLib international store, as well as globally.
StreetLib Nigeria offers free formatting tools, if needed, to turn your book or manuscript into a digital file.
Authors and publishers can upload a single book at a time, or use our batch upload option for large quantities of titles.
The StreetLib Nigeria upload portal dashboard is in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Telegu and Tamil.
But the books themselves can be uploaded in any language, including indigenous Nigerian languages like Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, etc, and sold through the StreetLib international store, as well as being distributed to any retailers that supports that language.
Kenya
In Kenya alone there are over 43 million people online. That’s more than Spain. That’s 10 million more than Canada. That’s twice as many as Australia and four times as many as Belgium or Sweden. At 85%, Kenya has the highest internet penetration of any country in Africa.
Your books uploaded to the StreetLib Kenya portal will be available to buy as ebooks in Kenya and across Africa via the StreetLib international store, as well as globally.
StreetLib Kenya offers free formatting tools, if needed, to turn your book or manuscript into a digital file.
Authors and publishers can upload a single book at a time, or use our batch upload option for large quantities of titles.
The StreetLib Kenya upload portal dashboard is in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Telegu and Tamil.
But the books themselves can be uploaded in any language, including indigenous Kenyan languages like Swahili, Kikuyu, Kamba, etc, and sold through the StreetLib International store, as well as being distributed to any retailers that supports that language.
Ghana
In Ghana alone there are over 10 million people online. That ten million people means Ghana is a potential online market that is already larger than Belgium or Sweden, yet is only at 34% internet penetration.
Your books uploaded to the StreetLib Ghana portal will be available to buy as ebooks in Ghana and across Africa via the StreetLib international store, as well as globally.
StreetLib Ghana offers free formatting tools, if needed, to turn your book or manuscript into a digital file.
Authors and publishers can upload a single book at a time, or use our batch upload option for large quantities of titles.
The StreetLib Ghana upload portal dashboard is in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Telegu and Tamil.
But the books themselves can be uploaded in any language, including indigenous Ghanaian languages like Twi, Kasem, Ewe, Gonja, etc, and sold through the StreetLib international store, as well as being distributed to any retailers that supports that language.
South Africa
In South Africa alone there are over 30 million people online. That’s more than Australia or Poland, three times more than Belgium or Sweden, and just behind Canada, yet South Africa is only at 53% internet penetration.
Your books uploaded to the StreetLib South Africa portal will be available to buy as ebooks in South Africa and across Africa via the StreetLib international store, as well as globally.
StreetLib South Africa offers free formatting tools, if needed, to turn your book or manuscript into a digital file.
Authors and publishers can upload a single book at a time, or use our batch upload option for large quantities of titles.
The StreetLib South Africa upload portal dashboard is in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Telegu and Tamil.
But the books themselves can be uploaded in any language, including indigenous South African languages like Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Tsonga, etc, and sold through the StreetLib international store, as well as being distributed to any retailers that supports that language.
StreetLib wants to give Nigerian, Ghanaian, Kenyan and South African authors and publishers the chance to share in the global digital books market, and it won’t cost them anything up front. We just collect 10% from net sales made and pay the author or publisher the rest.
Visit the StreetLib Nigeria author and publisher portal here.
