Ola Laniyan-Amoako is the owner of Urbantopia Books, a new publishing company based in London, and she’s a lady on a mission. For a long time she has been disturbed about how difficult it is for Blacks and Ethnic Minorities (BEM) in the UK to find books that authentically reflect their life experiences and cultures, and cater to their demands for varied genres.

Her frustration is shared by many of the country’s aspiring Afro-Caribbean, Black British, African and Asian writers who continue to struggle to get their work published, especially by the major trade publishers.

A seminar organized by The Bookseller and The Reading Agency (TRA) in 2007 to explore new partnerships between publishers, libraries and retailers and expand the UK BEM market, concluded that publishers were placing so much emphasis on promoting literary fiction that they risked neglecting Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) readers’ demands for other genres. The Bookseller is a British magazine that covers news on the publishing industry. The Reading Agency is a UK-based independent charity which seeks to inspire people to read more.

Commenting on the seminar findings, Bookseller.com said, “The most popular genre was crime, mystery and thrillers, with 52% of BME panelists choosing titles from this category. There was also room for growth in the saga, romance, health and spirituality areas, which BME panelists were often ordering from America. Literary fiction was cited by only 26% of respondents.” It was also discovered that there’s a demand for children’s books, said the Bookseller.

Faced with these findings, Ola decided enough is enough and took the bold step of launching her own publishing house. Her aim is to produce books that are true to the realities of everyday life for Blacks and Ethnic Minorities, and tell stories they could relate to.

Her first title, Leon – Spit on the Mic kicks off the Lisson Green Chronicles,­ a series for teenagers set on an inner London council estate. Her decision to invest in children’s books is buttressed by research done by TRA and HarperCollins which reportedly revealed a growing demand for children’s books among BME readers. The researchers estimated the value of the UK BME book market at £120m and rising.

The second novel in the Lisson Green Chronicles, Rianna—The Tearful Dancer, is about a young dancer living with an abusive father and is scheduled to be published in October. An adult title, Metamorphosis, is also scheduled for release later this year. It’s about a 20-something woman who discovers her ex-boyfriend has HIV.

Like the characters in her books, Ola grew up on a council estate in Lisson Green and knows first hand what it’s like for kids growing up and having to struggle to identify with the literature available, or with the images and messages beamed constantly at them by the media. She was born in Britain and spent part of her childhood in Nigeria. She has a Masters degree and has worked for many years as a teacher. She is currently in line to become a deputy head teacher at a primary school in Basildon, Essex where she now works.

Notwithstanding the tough economic times, Ola is pressing ahead undaunted, convinced that there is a need for the books she intends to publish. The views of former HarperCollins managing director Amanda Ridout certainly give her hope. Commenting on the TRA/HarperCollins research, Ridout said the findings were a “major cry out to the publishing industry” to address the lack of diversity and representation. “We need to source and encourage new voices,” she added.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ola via email during which she spoke about her goals as a publisher and why she believes she believes she’s doing the right thing in trying to address the needs of Black and Asian readers.

Congratulations on launching Urbantopia Books! No doubt it required a lot of courage to start a publishing venture in a market that is facing tough times and which has been extremely challenging for small indie presses, especially publishers of Black and ethnic titles. What motivated you to do it and did you have difficulties getting it off the ground?

Ola: My motivation has been a sort of spiralling process. It initially began with my love for writing and strong desire to get published, but after researching the market I became motivated by:

-       The thought that there were many other writers like myself who were unable to find publishers that published their style of writing.

-       The fact that I know there is a gap in the market and demand is high.

-       The fact that Black and other ethnic minority teens don’t have many books that resonate their experiences.

The main difficulties I have faced have been direction. I’m new to publishing and I have to research what to do next. There has been no mentor, or model to guide me through to the right path and this was the most frustrating thing.

What prompted you to start off with a series for teenagers?

Ola: There are many picture books with Black and ethnic minority children, there are quite a number of adult novels but the teen novels are practically nonexistent.   I knew people would take notice if it was a teen series because there is nothing else on the market like it. I also wanted to start Urbantopia with a message to parents of teenagers about buying their teenagers books. Many BEM parents stop investing in books when their kids leave primary school. They hand the responsibility to schools and libraries and this is wrong. Parents need to encourage their teens to read by purchasing books for them. Starting Urbantopia with a teen series means I can trumpet this message out straight away.

Have you had any book launches? What has been the public response?

Ola: The first book [Leon – Spit on the Mic] doesn’t launch till March 10^th. No big event has been organised simply because of my timetable. I’m still a full time mother, full time teacher, and soon to become deputy head.  

Any feedback yet from readers?

Ola: I have had one 14 year old read it and he loved it. He was addicted to it and he wrote me a lovely review about it. I’ll attach it to the bottom of this.

From your experience as a teacher, do you think African and Afro-Caribbean children in the UK do enough reading and how difficult is it for them to obtain books that reflect their culture, and that they can relate to?

Ola: I don’t think a lot of African and African-Caribbean children do enough reading at all. I think there is a high proportion of picture books that children can relate to in comparison to teenage books. If you go into a library and look in the teen section, you‘ll find very few books for Black teens that are culturally and socially relevant.  There are many books, as there are television programmes, where there is one token black character, so I don’t believe there are enough books that teenagers can relate to.

How does this affect their performance in school and their relationship with their teachers?

Ola: Reading is fundamental for the development of writing. If children are not interested in what they are being made to read, they won’t learn from it. In turn, their writing won’t improve. Their vocabulary bank will be limited. Being forced to read a book which they find boring can result in the kids resenting their teacher.

Growing up in the UK, did you feel left out in terms of the books that were available to children and teens?

Ola: Very much so. I didn’t read British books by Black British authors about teenagers set on estates like the place where I was growing up.  I read books where all the characters were white and if I ever read books with black characters they were always American.

Why did you choose the name Urbantopia and what is it meant to convey?

Ola: Utopia for Urban readers – Paradise for urban writers, paradise for urban readers, home to urban books.

Would readers from the Caribbean be able to relate to your books?

Ola: Yes, definitely. Teenagers around the world usually go through similar experiences as do adults.

Do you find the Internet helpful in promoting your books and do you plan to go into e-books?

Ola: The Internet is great as it spreads the word quickly. Right now I don’t have any intentions of going down the e-book route.

Are you open to submissions from new writers, and what sort of books are you looking for?

Ola: Yes I am. Particularly teen books from authors of Black and Asian backgrounds.

You also launched rubens-world.com, an interactive kids website which, among other things, allows parents to personalise children’s books, and even insert the photographs and names of their kids. Why do you think it’s necessary to involve parents in this way?

Ola: Parents build the foundations for children. If they make reading seem like a fun thing to do, a really positive thing to do, then this will stay with their children. Schools cannot do all the work; parents must play their part for a child to get the complete package.

It’s been reported that you also plan to launch a talent website where teens can showcase their singing and dancing skills. Can you tell us some more about that?

Ola: http://www.talentville.co.uk is created to motivate teens to read the teen series. The teen series surround different teens striving to achieve in their talent. Talentville is a website that encourages teens to recognise and develop their talents. Competitions will be set up on Talentvile linking to the books so teens will need to read the books to enter some of the big competitions. Viewers to the site will vote for winners.

See http://www.urbantopia.co.uk/teen.html for more details.

14-year old Ibrahim Ayo read Leon – Spit on the Mic and loved it. He wrote the following review.  

Before I read this book, I stared at the title for a long time, in this period of time lots of thoughts went through my head for example; this is just a book about a young teenager hustling at a young age or this book is going to be a waste of my time But as I read the first page it was as if I was trapped in a spell because this book was very addicting and enticing, especially for a teenager like me.

As I read on, it was as if I was watching a film because the story was very descriptive and easy to stick with, so easy, you could picture it in your head, and this is what drew me into the story even more. The story was not just for teenagers as it was a comedy book mixed with poetry in the form of ‘rap’ which could be ideal for anyone.

The storyline of this book was about a young teenager (aged 14) growing up in a poor estate, with most of the flats being on income support, but Leon shines out from the rest because he has an ambition, to be a highly rated ‘mc’. He chases that ambition but during the process, he has to go through hell for example, coping with an over-powering Jamaican mother, patronising sister, dealing with peer pressure and learning how to build up his self esteem.

As Leon struggles to make it through life, he meets the girl of his dreams (Nadine) who he attempts, several times, to impress. He attends ‘mc-ing’ lessons regularly during the week where he meets different personalities, influencing him and reflecting on his behaviour. Finally he fulfils his dreams, as he performs on stage for the first time, impressing the crowd.

To conclude, I would just like to say this book is excellent, the perfect teenage book!

Are you an Afro-Caribbean amateur baker who is passionate about the food in your culture?  Do you fancy putting your skills to the test?

BBC2 would like amateur bakers who can reflect the multicultural nature of Britain’s cuisine through their baking to take part in a new series. Whatever your passion – whether it’s fiery gingerbread, patties or spice buns, we want to hear from you.

The series is an exciting new prime time commission called ‘The Great British Bake Off’ and looking for amateur bakers from across the country to take part.  During the series bakers will be given a series of tasks and one will ultimately be crowned the UK’s best amateur baker. 

However long you’ve been baking for, we’d love to hear from you.  If you’re interested in applying to take part in the series and would like to find out more, please email baking@loveproductions.co.uk or call 0207 067 4855.

To apply you must be over 16 on 1^st May 2010.  As an “amateur baker” your main source of income cannot come from commercial baking and / or cooking in a professional environment and you cannot have ever worked full time as a baker. You cannot have any formal NVQ or other professional catering qualifications acquired in the last 10 years.

Anouska Kock, founder of the Caribbean Literary Salon

A new online community designed for fans of West Indian literature aims to leverage Caribbean commonality across the power of the internet to create a networking tool that will strengthen bonds between readers, writers, publishers and book clubs in the Caribbean and its Diaspora. Caribbean Literary Salon which was launched on March 1st 2010 by freelance writer Anouska Kock, connects literary enthusiasts to not only their peers, but also to news feeds and event information.

“The Caribbean Literary Salon’s design is driven by the needs of Caribbean readers like myself,” says Anouska  Kock. “I have noticed a high interest in networking among book lovers from our region, but existing platforms don’t fully address their most important need: information and tools that are specifically geared to connecting, discussing and sharing. The Caribbean Literary Salon hopes to fill that void.”

Built as a Ning Network, The Caribbean Literary Salon offers a tailored networking environment for those interested in Caribbean literature and poetry. It allows members to discuss the West Indian literary field, share stories, news, insights, connect and make fiends. Members of the Caribbean Literary Salon can also upload books, add photos and post videos. Each member gets a personal profile page to share personal information and make friends with other members.

For more information, visit http://www.CaribbeanLiterarySalon.Ning.com

Jason Epstein

The transition within the book publishing industry from physical inventory stored in a warehouse and trucked to retailers to digital files stored in cyberspace and delivered almost anywhere on earth as quickly and cheaply as e-mail is now underway and irreversible. This historic shift will radically transform worldwide book publishing, the cultures it affects and on which it depends. Read more …

There can be no doubt that the changing landscape of publishing is slanting towards giving aspiring writers more hope with each literary throw of the dice.

More opportunities are opening up for them as print and e-book publishers and booksellers jostle for elbow room, or in some cases team up, to secure a foothold in the rapidly-shifting book market.

Jeff Bezos shows the Kindle

One of the clearest signs yet that the market is opening up to allow writers more access is Amazon’s recent decision to allow self-published writers and publishers anywhere in the world to use their Digital Text Platform (DTP) to sell their books via the Kindle.    

The Kindle Digital Text Platform is a self-publishing tool that lets anyone upload and format their books for sale in the Kindle Store.

Amazon has also launched AmazonEncore, a publishing venture through which they use information such as customer reviews on Amazon websites to identify “exceptional, overlooked books and authors that show potential for greater sales.” Amazon then offers to partner with the authors and help them re-introduce their books to readers through marketing support and distribution through multiple channels and formats, including as an AmazonEncore print edition on Amazon websites around the world, as a digital download from the Kindle Store, via spoken-word audio download on Audible.com and in national and independent bookstores via third-party wholesalers.

“Sometimes exceptional books and new authors don’t get the attention they deserve. We’re fortunate at Amazon to have customers who know great books and aren’t shy about telling us when they find one. We developed AmazonEncore to connect readers with great books that were overlooked the first time they were released,” said Jeff Belle, Vice President of Books for Amazon. 

This is a giant leap for Amazon. Fifteen years after starting off as an online bookstore, the company has metamorphosed quite dramatically to become, among other things, a full-fledged publisher and has grown powerful enough to compete head on with the world’s leading publishing houses – and threaten the livelihoods of small indie bookstores around the world. It is estimated that Amazon controls about 90% of the global e-books market and a substantial share of the print book market as well.

From atop their lofty perch they have made another carnivorous grab for market share by offering US-based authors a 70% royalty on sales of all electronic books, provided they’re priced between $2.99 and $9.99, net of delivery costs. There are other strings attached.

The list price must be at least 20% below the lowest list price for the physical book; the titles must be made available in all countries where the author or publisher has rights; they must be included in a broad range of features in the Kindle Store, such as text-to-speech and they “must be offered at or below price parity with competition”.

According to Amazon, delivery costs will be based on file size and pricing will be $0.15/MB. “This new program can thus enable authors and publishers to make more money on every sale. For example, on an $8.99 book an author would make $3.15 with the standard option, and $6.25 with the new 70 percent option,” Amazon explained in a press release.  

Vice President of Kindle Content, Russ Grandinetti said, “Today, authors often receive royalties in the range of 7 to 15 percent of the list price that publishers set for their physical books, or 25 percent of the net that publishers receive from retailers for their digital books. We’re excited that the new 70 percent royalty option for the Kindle Digital Text Platform will help us pay authors higher royalties when readers choose their books.”

The 70% royalty option is for in-copyright works and does not apply to public domain books published before 1923.

No doubt, some publishers will be tempted to take the bait and use the Kindle Digital Text Platform to sell their older backlist titles to take advantage of the 70% royalty offer – which could bode well for some writers. Although the Kindle is available globally, many users complain that there are still many titles that are not available on the device. By Jeff Bezos’ own admission, Amazon adds digital books to the Kindle on the basis of popularity and their sales rank in print form. Otherwise, the company leaves it up to authors and publishers to put their books for sale in the Kindle store themselves.   

World-renowned poet and author, Nikki Giovanni, a self-professed fan of the Kindle, said in an interview with the Herald Mail that the device did not offer enough titles in African fiction.

“I was going someplace – I think the Caribbean – and I was thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll read ‘Things Fall Apart’ again, because it was the 50th anniversary in 2008. And there you go, you can’t get it,” Giovanni said.

As the complaints increase, showing clearly that certain authors (particularly those outside of North America and Europe) are being marginalized, this could serve as a wake-up call to publishers and booksellers and spur the development of more initiatives aimed at further democratizing the publishing process and expanding readers’ access to a greater diversity of books. 

All the same, Amazon’s generous 70% royalty offer is a striking turnaround for a company which previously retained well over half of the revenues from non-exclusive e-books and was criticized by both authors and publishers.

In a December 5, 2009 interview with the New York Times, CEO Jeff Bezos, disclosed that Amazon normally kept 65% of the revenue from all ebook sales for the Kindle. The remaining 35% is shared between the book author and publisher. He was unfazed by the interviewer’s suggestion that a 65% cut for Amazon was a lot. “You’re an author, what does your royalty check look like? Are your royalties 35 percent?” Bezos countered.

It is quite telling that Amazon announced the 70% royalty option just prior to Apple’s launch of the Ipad. Apple is reportedly offering publishers a 70/30 split for books sold through their iPhone App Store, with certain conditions.

Amazon is also gearing up for Google’s promised launch of Google Editions, an online e-book store. Last October Google announced that they planned to launch Google Editions in the first half of 2010 with about half a million e-books supplied by publishers whom they’re already doing business with,

The Google-hosted e-books will be accessible on any device with a web browser. They will also be available for sale on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Amazon’s 70% royalty option is by no means unique and comes somewhat late in the game. Several e-publishers have been offering authors returns far higher than what was offered by the online giant. Among them is the e-book and print-on-demand publisher E-Reads which has been paying a royalty of 50% of net receipts for e-book sales since its launch in 2000.

POD and e-book publisher BookLocker pays royalties of 70% of the list price on ebooks priced $8.95 or higher and 50% of the list price on e-books priced lower than $8.95. For POD titles they pay 35% of the list price.

Smashwords pays authors and publishers 85% of the net for sales at Smashwords.com or on Stanza, and 81.5% for sales generated by affiliate marketers. They have an alliance with Wordclay, a print-on-demand publisher, to cover the print end of publication and distribution deals with the Sony Reader store and Barnes & Noble.

Amazon is leaving nothing to chance. They have now made their Kindle Development Kit available for software developers, opening the door for new applications to expand the functionality of the device. A number of companies have been experimenting with delivering active content through the Kindle’s browser. Amazon is reportedly working on a new revenue sharing model for developers.

Meantime, Wattpad, a Toronto-based online writing community, social networking site and mobile phone e-book developer, announced that it is partnering with self-publishing and POD provider Lulu.com.

The deal will allow the Wattpad writer community to publish, market, promote and sell print-on-demand (POD) print copies of their works via the Wattpad Marketplace on Lulu.com, a site hosted by Lulu.com.

Wattpad co-founder Allen Lau said, “This partnership will bring the authors of these 300,000 titles an opportunity to monetize their work.”

Anyone can join the Wattpad community and registration is free. Wattpad draws a large international audience. Each month the site attracts millions of visitors and showcases a wide variety of self-published e-books and other literary content. Users can publish whatever they want – short stories and novels, poetry and essays and share them with the community. More than 20,000 text documents are uploaded every day.

Wattpad has also developed an e-book reading application that allows users to read on most mobile phones and smartphones, including Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, , Sharp, Panasonic, Sanyo,RIM BlackBerry and the Apple iPhone.

Following its partnership deal with Lulu.com, e-books downloaded from the Wattpad site will continue to be free. On the Wattpad Marketplace/Lulu.com site, Wattpad-generated e-books will be offered both for free and for sale.

Wattpad has also reached an agreement to release its mobile phone e-book application on Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile phone network. The app will be available through the Bharti Airtel Application Store. Bharti Airtel currently has over 100 million mobile subscribers in India.

Additionally, Wattpad announced plans to develop an e-book reading app for Apple’s iPad device.  

Whether the publishing industry likes it or not, free and open access is where the global book trade is heading, propelled by the unrelenting march of digital technology. Writers are being further empowered by social media and blogging, all of which are helping to showcase promising literary works to the world, even helping some authors to build large followings. Increasingly, what stands between them and the achievement of their goals is their knowledge of the book trade and their resourcefulness and creativity.

It appears that Smashwords CEO, Mark Coker had indeed glimpsed the future when he declared that his dream is to “create a future where every author can be published, where every author is given a fair chance to reach their audience, and where every author becomes the captain of their own destiny.”   

For publishers and booksellers in regions like the Caribbean and Africa, it’s left to them to decide how to adapt to the changes. One thing is certain – the economic imperatives of the marketplace, the spiraling costs of publishing, distributing, financing and marketing physical books, and the indifference of their governments are conspiring to marginalize them and even put them out of business.

Polly Pattullo is the cofounder of Papillote Press, a small publishing house based in Dominica and in London. Papillote Press publishes a range of books, both fiction and non-fiction, including children’s books, from Dominica. The titles all reflect the island’s rich culture and literary heritage and a number of them have received critical acclaim.

Located in the Eastern Caribbean between Martinique and Guadeloupe, Dominica is known as the Nature Isle because of its abundant and largely unspoilt natural beauty. Publishers are few and far between in this part of the Caribbean, which makes Polly Pattullo’s decision to set up shop there a courageous one given that small presses and bookstores in the region face tremendous odds as they try to discover and nurture home-grown talent. 

In addition to being a publisher, Polly is a published author and a journalist who worked for many years with the Guardian newspaper in the UK. Her books include Last Resorts: the Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean, a critical assessment of the economic, environmental and cultural impacts of tourism development in the region. She is also a co-author of the Gardens of Dominica and Home Again, both published by Papillote Press.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Polly via email during which she spoke about her experiences as a publisher and the challenges Papillote Press faces in trying to win an audience for its writers.

 Whose inspiration was it to create Papillote Press?

Polly: I’m not sure it could be called an inspiration but more a practical response to the problem of finding a publisher for a book. When I realised that no mainstream publisher would take on the book that Anne Jno Baptiste, the owner of Papillote Wilderness Retreat in Dominica, and I wanted to write (The Gardens of Dominica), I thought, “I can do this.” And so I published it myself. After that I realised that if I could publish one book, I could probably publish another. I also thought that there were many stories waiting to be told in Dominica.

Did you have difficulties getting it off the ground?

Polly: Not particularly, in terms of the practicalities. I published the first book, marketed it and got it into shops and other outlets in Dominica and into some bookshops in the UK – asking friends’ advice as to how the process works. I was lucky in that I am a journalist, have written books and have friends in publishing – so I could pick people’s brains and also felt confident about the whole editing and production process. Papillote Press only exists by being an unpaid one-woman operation and making sure that each book that is published generates enough cash to print the next book.

Do you have difficulties getting bookstores in the UK to stock your books?

Polly: Yes. I have a distributor, Central Books, and their sales reps go round taking orders, but I will be lucky to get many sales – the big chains may order a couple of copies and some independent bookshops, especially in areas where there is a Caribbean readership. I have my own database and sell directly too. Unless you pay the big retailers to give your book a high-profile positioning – as in on the front tables – your book will disappear onto the shelves and will only be discovered by the most hardcore of readers. I have managed to get excellent publicity for my books – a major feature in the Guardian newspaper and on BBC Radio 4, for example, for Home Again: Stories of Migration and Return – but this has not dramatically increased sales. The sales reps say that Papillote Press’ niche market – Dominica – is too tiny a niche, and doesn’t cross into the mainstream. However, I live in hope that I will find the book which will do just that. I have no doubt that the Caribbean is a rich repository of potential bestsellers.

Have you done book launches in other islands besides Dominica? What was the public response? 

Polly: No. Only in Dominica and the UK. I don’t have the finances to move from island to island but Papillote Press books are now in bookshops in Barbados and Trinidad. I would like to think that readers in the Caribbean would be interested in books from Dominica and would hope to increase sales in the region. Both in Dominica and the UK, the launches have been very well attended and, especially in the UK, a great interest from the Dominican diaspora has been very heartening.

As an author did you gravitate naturally towards travel writing or was it a calculated decision to take up this genre?

 Polly: I’m not a travel writer although I have written travel pieces from time to time. I have always been a jobbing journalist, writing about a range of subjects. I became a kind of specialist on the Caribbean through working for a publication called Caribbean Insight, a political and economic newsletter. I then wrote a book, Last Resorts: the Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean (Latin America Bureau/Routledge) and learned more about the region that way.

How vibrant is the literary community in Dominica?

Polly: We now have a wonderful Literary Festival and Book Fair which will be celebrating its third birthday in 2010. Past contributing writers for readings and workshops have included Derek Walcott, Mervyn Morris, Kwame Dawes, Earl Lovelace, Marie Elena John. The Festival has also provided much needed platforms for local writers and workshops to help them develop their skills. The book fair has been an opportunity for booksellers to sell local books. The Festival has attracted sizeable audiences but we hope for larger ones this year. Apart from the Festival, there are also a couple of writers’ groups, with an emphasis on poetry. However, there is a small reading population – few people can afford to buy books (which tend to be expensive – there are no supermarkets selling cut-price books), there is the distraction of television and the internet, there is a lack of books that speak to a Dominican (or Caribbean) identity.

Unfortunately the only proper bookshop, with an interest in Caribbean and local literature – in Dominica – Frontline – closed last year.  This is a terrible blow because Frontline had been in existence for many years, was a grass roots cultural focus for the island, and had an enthusiasm for selling local books. Its closure is a great loss.

Included among Papillote Press’ titles are Black and White Sands by Elma Napier, the first woman to sit in a Caribbean parliament, having served in Dominica’s Legislative Assembly in 1947, and the short-story collection It Falls into Place by Phyllis Shand Allfrey, author of the Caribbean classic Orchid House and a co-founder of the Dominica Labour Party. She later became a cabinet minister in the short-lived Federation of the West Indies. Do you think these two women’s contributions to the political evolution of Dominica and the Caribbean have been given sufficient recognition, compared to that of other well-known political figures from the region, most of who are males?

Polly: The political landscape of the Caribbean has always been – and remains – male.  That makes it more extraordinary that Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Elma Napier should both have played such important roles in Dominican politics half a century or more ago.  Both were white, however, with the attendant privileges  (although Allfrey’s colour meant that in the years of liberation politics she became a less prominent figure) and both had spent part of their lives overseas (Elma Napier was born in Scotland and only arrived in Dominica at the age of 40). As individuals, they both had to fight hard to be heard; Phyllis Allfrey, in particular, had to bear virulent criticism from her own class, and from relatives and friends, in Dominica. Nowadays, however, I feel that their legacy is respected – and publication of their works has to some extent helped this.

You have written several books yourself, including “Fire from the Mountain: The Tragedy of Montserrat and the Betrayal of Its People’ which received critical acclaim and was cited for its vivid portrayal of the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption “against a backdrop of island politics and imperial neglect.” In an article on The Times Higher Education website, the writer James Ferguson said, “Polly Pattullo’s lucid account makes clear the Montserrat volcano affair cast unexpected light into one of the dustier recesses of British foreign policy.” Did you set out to make a political statement in writing the book?

Polly: Well, I don’t think of the book as a “political statement” but it would be strange to write about the story of the Montserrat volcano and  not to include anything about the relationship between Montserrat (an Overseas Territory) and the UK (the colonial power), which was/is crucial to the management of the volcano crisis.

You have lived in the Caribbean for extended periods and the islands seemed to have inspired a lot of your work, both as a journalist and an author. Do you feel an affinity with the region?

Polly: All I know is that I love being in Dominica – where I spend many months each year – that I am interested in its people and culture, and that Dominicans have always made me feel welcome.

As far as you can tell, what have been the experience of writers from Dominica and the smaller English-speaking islands of the Eastern Caribbean seeking to get published? 

Polly: I think that one problem is that many aspiring writers in Dominica (I don’t really know about the other islands) don’t really know how to go about getting their book published. They don’t have the contacts – this is also a problem for aspiring writers all over the world. Many publishers won’t look at manuscripts from unknown writers – they insist on going through an agent, and an agent is almost as difficult to find as a publisher. This, I hope, is where a small publisher such as Papillote Press might come in useful – it is approachable (at least I hope it is) and accessible.

I don’t, however, believe that by and large there are wonderful books languishing unpublished. I think that most decent writers do get published. It is important for unpublished writers to read as much literature as possible, to be willing to polish and re-polish their work and to have it criticised. This is the role of book clubs and writers’ circles. Having said that the economic climate does not encourage publishers to take risks; perhaps small publishing companies with a commitment rather than an obsession with economic returns are the best bet for unpublished writers, who, unfortunately, have to realise that no one is likely to get rich – neither publisher nor writer. There is also another point to make: writers from the Caribbean have traditionally “made it” by having to be published by major companies in the UK or the US, who don’t have any particular knowledge or affinity with the region. It would be great to think that a Caribbean publisher could make the breakthrough into the big time.

Nowadays, the alternative for many writers from Dominica is to go down the route of self-publishing. To my mind this is both good and bad: good in that people with a manuscript in their bottom drawers can see it published and readers can have the opportunity to read a home-grown book. Publishing has become more democratic, which must only be a good thing. The negative is that writers have to spend a lot of money getting their book out; the companies who publish their books promise a lot but expectations are not usually realised. There is also no opportunity for critical editing or, indeed, peer review before publication, so some self-published books are sometimes of a low standard. But, perhaps, we should never not welcome a book – perhaps it should always be the more the merrier, and the market will decide whether a book is of interest or not.

Do you find the Internet helpful in promoting and marketing your books?

Polly: Absolutely. Without it, it would be even harder to promote Papillote Press books.  I have a website (www.papillotepress.co.uk) and a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Papillote.Press) and there is, of course, Amazon, which is the one way in which people without bookshops in their neighbourhoods can buy just about any book in print.

In your view, what does the future hold for small presses?

Polly: Difficult to say. We don’t even know the future of large presses given the birth of e-books etc. However, the large presses over the last 20 years or so in the US and the UK have ravenously been eating up the small presses and I can’t see this process stopping. But let’s hope tiny publishing companies with smaller overheads and a lot of passion can survive the onslaught.

In addition to its website www.papillotepress.co.uk Papillote Press has a Facebook page as it is keen to engage its readers and get them involved in its literary projects. It’s gradually amassing a loyal following who are enthusiastic about the press’ adult and children’s books. Check it out at  www.facebook.com/Papillote.Press  

Thursday 28th January 2010 saw the launch of the Black Londoners Appeal, an initiative by the Black Londoners Meetup Group and supported by various London based Afro/Caribbean centric grassroots groups and organisations. The aim of this initiative is to help provide much-needed support to the people of Haiti.

The initial focus of the appeal is to develop a year-long assistance program aimed at:
•    Raising funds for the appeal’s chosen Haitian charitable organisation, the Lambi Fund
•    Raising awareness of the historic significance of Haiti in world events
•    Promoting the Haitian cultural experience

A Word for Haiti – A Call for Submissions

A call for submissions is open to poets, writers, journalists and graphic artists from all backgrounds and origins.  We invite you to write in solidarity for Haiti. You can send us poems, song lyrics, short stories, opinion pieces, drawings, paintings or photographs. The work must be about or inspired by Haiti, its people and its culture. Also, when you submit your work, please tell us where you initially heard about the Black Londoners Appeal.

The entries shortlisted will be compiled into an anthology. Proceeds of the book sales will be donated to the Lambi Haiti Fund. A book launch will take place in London, with writers and poets invited to read excerpts of the book.

Submission deadline: Thursday 18 March

Guidelines

-          Please send poems of 1000 words max. Short pieces of prose should be 2,500 words max. Include a short bio about yourself and / or a link to your blog. Documents must be sent as an attachment in .doc format. You can submit up to 3 different pieces

-          Drawings / paintings / photographs: send a high resolution picture in a jpeg or gif format. They can be in colour or in Black and White. B&W will be used in the internal pages of the book. The cover will be in colour.

-          Upon agreeing to publication, catchavibe.co.uk and Black Londoners will acquire first rights and retain the right to archive the work for an indefinite period. The author retains all the rights upon publication.

-          We’ll accept only original, non published work, no reprints.

All submissions and info requests must be sent to: wordforhaiti@googlemail.com

There is no fee involved as this is a charity project.  Submission deadline: Thursday 18 March.

A Call for Volunteers

We need a number of skills in order to produce this anthology:

-          Researcher: to identify writers or artists we could contact directly, plus the different networks where we could promote the project

 -          Editorial Assistant: to shortlist and edit the submissions received. An experience in publishing would be preferable

 -          Admin Assistant: to manage our incoming messages

 -          Desktop Publishing Specialist: to help us produce the final book

 -          Publicist: to manage contacts with the media and create a buzz around the project

Please send an email to wordforhaiti@googlemail.com and we will send you more information about the different roles

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

In the midst of the global publishing industry there are huge rumblings of discontent. Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer of books is embroiled in a dispute with publishing giant Macmillan over Amazon’s pricing of e-books at $9.99. 

In defiance of complaints from the world’s leading publishers, Amazon has insisted on setting e-book prices itself, with $9.99 as the default for new titles and bestsellers. Publishing industry insiders are convinced that Amazon’s aim is to corner the market for e-books via the Kindle

This does not sit well with Macmillan and the other 5 of the so-called “Big 6” trade publishers – Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster and Thomas Nelson– all of whom have been wringing their hands over Amazon’s insistence on setting their own prices for Kindle e-books because of their dominance in the fast-growing e-book market.  

Macmillan, for their part, have been trying to price e-book editions of their books at $15 for fear consumers get addicted to Amazon’s discounted price tag, which in turn could cause print publishers and brick-and-mortar bookstores to lose sales of hardcover titles to much cheaper electronic editions.

In a meeting last week with Amazon, Macmillan CEO John Sargent reportedly tried to sway the online giant to accept his company’s pricing and new sales model and even offered to allow Amazon to continue buying Macmillan titles for sale via the Kindle, provided Amazon agreed to delay the release of all digital editions by several months after the publication of hardcover books, as is done with paperbacks.

But Amazon would have none of it. So Macmillan put their foot down.  Last week they threatened to stop distributing new books to Amazon when they are released unless Amazon sets the price of new e-books at $15

Amazon retaliated by suspending direct sales of Kindle editions and printed books published by Macmillan. They removed the “buy” buttons from thousands of titles, including several bestsellers. If you wanted to buy print editions you could do so only from third-party sellers. Macmillan responded by taking out an ad in the Publishers Marketplace magazine protesting Amazon’s tactics in their bid to maintain their $9.99 e-book pricing.

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs shows the iPad

In the midst of the faceoff, Apple CEO Steve Jobs weighed in and confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that publishers are withholding their e-books from Amazon.com because they are not happy with the online giant’s pricing policies.

Macmillan was one of the five publishers named by Apple as initial content providers for their new iBooks store. The iBooks store will distribute digital reading content in the same way that iTunes does with music and video. Apple will allow the publishers to set their own prices for their e-books sold through the iBooks store and many of them, including bestsellers are expected to be priced at $12.99 or $14.99.

This is the same Steve Jobs who, just prior to the launch of the Apple iPad, had been urging the US TV networks to slash their prices for video content sold through iTunes to $0.99 — half of the regular $1.99 price.

As Business Insider noted, “Networks are resisting, citing the music industry’s 2003 pact with Apple to reduce prices. The plan helped boost downloads, but album sales slumped.” 

US TV network insiders have expressed concern that Apple’s proposed 99¢ for iTunes downloads could adversely impact sales of DVD boxed sets, which are a vital source of revenue for the networks. Their fears resemble those of the “Big 6” publishers (with whom Apple is holding hands sympathetically) – namely that Amazon’s e-book pricing could cause a slump in the sales of more expensive hardcover books.

Music recording companies also have their own gripes against Apple. Less than three years after the music labels lined up behind Jobs and began hailing iTunes as a shot in the arm for music sales, some of the major record companies were upbraiding him for his insistence on maintaining a one-price model of 99 cents for songs downloaded via iTunes. They wanted it to be replaced with a structure that prices songs by popularity. They essentially wanted a mechanism that would allow the price of single-song downloads to increase on the basis of demand and enable them to make more profits. But for years they were unable to get iTunes to budge – just like the book publishers have been unable to move Amazon.

That’s not all. In 2008 when he was asked by the New York Times to comment on the Kindle’s potential, Steve Jobs said scornfully that it would go nowhere. “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is; the fact is that people don’t read anymore … Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year.”

Having seen the light, he has since unveiled the iPad and like a veritable wizard he has the publishing industry mesmerised. He also announced that the Big 6, including Macmillan, would begin using the iPad to sell digital editions of their books at prices upwards of $12.99.  

With their backs against the wall, Amazon finally caved in to Macmillan’s demands. In a press release, the wounded giant stated:

“Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases. We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books.”

News Corp CEO, Rupert Murdoch

At Amazon’s capitulation, even News Corp CEO, Rupert Murdoch whose media empire includes Harper Collins books, chimed in and had a go at twisting the knife in Jeff Bezos’ gut. “We don’t like the Amazon model of selling everything at $9.99 … They pay us the wholesale price of $14 or whatever we charge but I think it really devalues books and it hurts all the retailers of the hardcover books,” said Murdoch.

The big question is, where does all this leave Kindle users who have become used to $9.99 e-books?

Furthermore, Amazon has raised a troubling question. In their statement of surrender, they said categorically that they believe the price of $14.99 is “needlessly high for e-books,” adding that customers will eventually “decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book.”

Interestingly, Apple reportedly employs similar logic in their negotiations with the TV networks over the pricing of iTunes downloads of their shows. As Business Insider noted, “Apple thinks users are paying too much for shows, or simply aren’t bothering to get them at all because of high prices.”

This begs the question – how does a publisher justify the price of an e-book being the same as hardcover books? Some hardbacks can cost as much as $27. Do e-books incur the same costs associated with hardcover books, such as printing, warehousing and distribution? What is the rationale for equal pricing?

The Huffington Post is among those who think that pricing e-books the same as hardbacks is unfair. “Manned printing presses, manned distribution warehouses and manned retail stores place high fixed costs on the publishing industry. E-books eliminate almost all of those costs. But instead of reflecting the savings in reasonably priced e-books, the industry contorts itself to maintain its bloated distribution model and the attendant high prices.”

It should be noted that this was not the first time that Amazon had sought to teach a publisher a lesson by temporarily stripping it of access to their all-powerful “buy” button.

In 2008 they disabled the buy button on their UK website for numerous titles published by the British unit of Hachette Livre on account of a dispute over revenue sharing from online sales. The publisher’s chief executive, Tim Hely Hutchinson had to write to the affected authors explaining the cause of the vanished buy buttons.  

In his letter Hutchinson said “Amazon seems each year to go from one publisher to another, making increasing demands in order to achieve richer terms at our expense and sometimes at yours … if this continued, it would not be long before Amazon got virtually all of the revenue that is presently shared between author, publisher, retailer, printer and other parties.”

A few months earlier Amazon denied some small publishers in the US access to their buy buttons after the publishers resisted Amazon’s demand that they use an Amazon-owned company, BookSurge, for print-on-demand services. Some of the publishers opted to yield with their tails between their legs and signed service agreements with Amazon. Others refused to do business with BookSurge, complaining that the POD publisher had been demanding discounts of up to 52% on the retail prices of their books. 

Even the Authors Guild, a US-based trade group, got a taste of Amazon discipline when the buy icon was removed for some of their books sold from the POD service BackinPrint.com. Commenting on Amazon’s actions to the New York Times, the Authors Guild executive director Paul Aiken said, “The buy button is their weapon of choice and that’s how they impose market discipline.” He warned cryptically, “This is such a clear indication that once they have the clout they are willing to use it to the full extent that they can. It’s ugly with Amazon and will probably get uglier.” 

Amazon’s actions ignited such rage among bloggers in the blogosphere some of them began organizing petitions and letter-writing campaigns deriding the online giant for behaving like a bully.

Two years later the chickens have come home to roost with a vengeance.

Notwithstanding Amazon’s hardball antics, Macmillan and the rest of the Big 6 give the impression, by the way they’re rallying around Apple that they see in Steve Jobs a savior who can shield them from the claws of the great digital giant, who, like it or not controls about 20% of the book-buying market.

Apple seems agreeable to allowing publishers to set their own e-book prices within a limited range when they sell them via the iPad. But it bears repeating that this is precisely the sort of deal that they were unwilling to offer the TV networks and music companies, which complained incessantly about the iTunes 99 cents one-price model that they had to contend with for years.

Commenting on the pas de deux between Apple and the Big 6, the blog An American Editor asks a very pertinent question: “Let’s assume that publishers get very favorable terms from Apple. How long do publishers think that honeymoon will last? My guess: until Jobs decides that people really do read books and realizes that he needs to do to publishers what he did to the music companies.”

Since Macmillan took the decision to delay the release of all digital editions of their books by several months after the hardcover publication, some Kindle users have been boycotting their titles in protest. They have also been refusing to buy e-books priced higher than $9.99.

Inevitably, authors are going to feel the pinch if this continues. To make matters worse, as of Thursday, February 4, Amazon still had not restored the buy buttons for Macmillan titles despite conceding that they would have to “capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms” in their earlier public statement.

Meanwhile, the Authors Guild on February 5 announced the launch of WhoMovedMyBuyButton.com, which allows authors to keep track of whether Amazon has removed the “buy buttons” from any of their books. “Simply register the ISBNs of any books you’d like monitored and our web tool will check daily to make sure your buy buttons are safe and sound.  If there’s a problem, we’ll e-mail you an alert,” said the Guild.

That the world’s publishing giants could be so vulnerable to the machinations of Amazon and Apple is sad to say the least – bearing in mind that between them the top six trade publishers control about 59.1% of the book market. It underscores the reality that the heart and soul of publishing (and the future of the industry) lie in the hands of a cabal of corporate overlords who seem content to cling to a modus operandi that is archaic and rooted in outdated practices and traditions. This leaves them ill-equipped to deal with the advent of new media and increasingly complex negotiations – not to mention the dynamic changes being wrought by technology.  

As the Huffington Post alluded, even with basic functions their backwardness was evident. “Only recently have the majority of publishers accepted electronic submissions … They insisted on five pounds of paper being schlepped around Manhattan. Only in the past few years have agents routinely responded to e-mail queries. They insisted on snail mail.”

Here’s hoping the indie presses and their writers, as well as the brick-and-mortar bookstores, learn some valuable lessons from the errors of the Big Guys.  To the extent that the techno-revolution empowers small and independent presses, writers, readers and booksellers, they must seize hold of it and own it.

There is no question that e-books and other related technologies empower writers, booksellers and publishers (including small and medium indie presses) and give them the ability to extend their reach and tap into markets that hitherto were inaccessible.   It’s up to them to pursue these alternative paths and make the most of them.

The race to win the coveted titles of Best Book and Best First Book in the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize has begun. It was launched at the Jaipur Literary Festival where competitors learnt that the winners of the 24th year of the prize will be announced in Delhi, India on 12 April.

The final programme, starting on 7 April in Delhi, will bring together the eight finalists from the different regions and their corresponding judges for a celebration of literature which will include discussions with the authors, readings and community and public events. The final round of judging will take place in Delhi before the winners of the two categories of Overall Best Book and Best First Book are announced. The Best First Book winner claims £5,000 while the writer of the Best Book wins £10,000.

The Prize is presented by the Commonwealth Foundation with support from the Macquarie Group Foundation and the winning ceremony is held in a different country each year.

India has embraced the Commonwealth in 2010 as it looks forward to also hosting October’s Commonwealth Games.

The Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, Mark Collins, said, “The final programme of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize comes in an important year for India at the heart of the modern Commonwealth. The Prize fires the starting pistol for a year of cultural celebration that will culminate in the Commonwealth Games. October will see the top athletes in the world going head to head on the racetrack, but in April, the finest literary talent of our two billion people will be equally as keen to take first prize.”

Key literary figures and previous prize winners will also be present during the final stages of the competition. Acclaimed writer Vikram Chandra, who won the Best First Book in 1996 for Red Earth, Pouring Rain, and has since been the subject of bidding wars between several international publishers, said of the Prize, “The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is coming back to India, bringing conversations, arguments, controversy, great books and a feast of literary pleasures.”

David Clarke, Chairman of the Macquarie Group Foundation, the main sponsor of the Prize, commented: “In the fifth year of Macquarie Group Foundation’s support of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, we are very pleased the winner will be announced in India, a country with an extremely distinguished literary history. Past entrants from all over the Commonwealth have exhibited consistently high standards and we’re sure 2010 will continue to present works of lasting and world-class merit. “

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English, by both established and new writers, and to take their works to a global audience. Winning the prize means not only greater commercial success for the winners, but reaching wider audiences around the world.

2008 Best First Book winner, Tahmima Anam from Bangladesh, commented, “I am immensely grateful to the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, which has given me a kind of global exposure I could only have dreamed of. It is a great honour for a first-time novelist, and I am especially grateful that the story of the Bangladesh War has now, thanks to the prize, been read all over the world.”

For further information about the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize:
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/

A group of Kalinago children from Dominica has done something quite remarkable. They got together and wrote a storybook based on an ancient Kalinago legend which, from all accounts, is receiving rave reviews, even from fans as far away as the UK.

The book is called The Snake King of the Kalinago and it was written by students from the Atkinson Primary School  with illustrations by teenagers from the Carib Territory in Dominica. The Kalinago (erroneously called Caribs) are descendents of Dominica’s first indigenous settlers. They live on a 3,700 acre territory on the island’s east coast that was set aside for them in 1903. They number approximately 3,500 and elect their own chief who holds the position for 4 years.

The Snake King of the Kalinago tells the story of Bakwa, a great diamond-crested snake with magical powers which slithers out of the sea and goes to live in a cave in the mountains of Dominica. When Maruka, a Kalinago farmer goes to see him, Bakwa uses his powers to grant Maruka his wishes. Then strangers arrive and everything changes.  

L'escalier Tete Chien

The story is the retelling of an ancient Kalinago legend revolved around L’ Escalier Tete Chien (the staircase of the snake) a natural rock formation resembling a staircase that comes out of the Atlantic ocean unto the southern coast of Dominca in the hamlet of Sineku in the Carib Territory. According to the Kalinago legend, it is a pathway made by an enormous boa constrictor (or tête chien) that emerged from the ocean.

The book is published by Papillote Press with support from Wandsworth Ethnic Minority Service of south London, and all primary schools in Wandsworth will receive copies. Currently two of the schools are partnered with primary schools in Dominica. Asked to comment on the book, one child said, “It’s the best story I’ve heard in ages. I loved the snake – he brings so much good luck.”

Dominican historian, Lennox Honeychurch said, “This charming story based o an ancient myth is retold by the island’s children with refreshing liveliness.”

The Snake King of the Kalinago corresponds with similar legends which were prevalent in virtually all the leading cultures of the world.

Mystics throughout Europe have used the symbol of a serpent with its tail in its mouth – a circle, never beginning, never ending – as an emblem of light and eternity.  

According to a Cherokee legend, the snake (indädû’) has supernatural powers and a natural connection with the elements and plant life.

In Japan most children are familiar with the story of a young boy who goes fishing one night and catches a multicoloured turtle and brings it home. The next morning he wakes up to find the turtle gone and a beautiful woman in its place.

In Hindu mythology Lord Vishnu is said to sleep while floating on the cosmic waters on the serpent Shesha.

Numerous African legends feature a snake-god personified by a coiled serpent with its tail in its mouth.

In the Holy Scriptures Christ is likened to the bronze serpent Moses raised to heal the Israelites when they had been afflicted by fiery serpents in the wilderness (Numbers 21: 8- 9; John 3:14). The word for serpent used in the Bible is nahash and it has the same gematria (numerical value) to the word Messiah.  It also features in the book of Genesis, albeit as a purveyor of dubious knowledge.

The Hebrew letter Teth means “a serpent” and its numerical value is nine.

The rod of Asclepius is an ancient symbol associated with astrology, the Greek god Asclepius and with medicine and healing.

The serpent (specifically the adder) is an important magical symbol in Celtic mythology. Its image is found in carvings and sacred jewellery and represented wisdom, good fortune, healing, spiritual energy, cunning and transformation.

The list goes on and on.

In that context, the young authors of the Snake King have done their bit to further dispel the one-time European myth that the Kalinago were “uncivilized” and a people of inferior intellect. The Legend of the Snake King shows that the Kalinago had been on par with other cultures.

Nonetheless, the Kalinago chief, Garnet Joseph is worried that the influence of the outside world, especially North American culture, may succeed in eroding the culture of his people in ways that European conquest and colonization had not been able to do. He sees signs of that in the way some of the Kalinago youth wear their clothes, the music they listen to and the way they speak.  

“We are being plagued with the same problems that affect the youth across the country. Certainly there is no doubt that the impact of the Black Entertainment Television is having an effect on us. We are being bombarded with these negativities and our culture is being dragged from underneath our feet,” Joseph told Dominica News Online.  He said he is hoping to work in collaboration with the Government and ministry of education to ensure that the culture of the Carib people become an integral part in the schools syllabus.

“Within my five years tenure, I am hoping that the ministry of education will work with me to ensure that the Carib history is taught in schools around the country. We need to allow the children to become more aware of our culture. This has been lacking in Dominican schools. It doesn’t teach about the Kalinago history and that is bad,” said Joseph.

In their fight to preserve their culture, the Kalinago have an ally in The Snake King publisher Papillote Press.  An earlier book - Yet We Survive: The Kalinago People of Dominica: Our Lives in Words and Pictures, was also published by Papillote Press.

The Snake King of the Kalinago is available from Papillote Press http://www.papillotepress.co.uk or email pollyp@globalnet.co.uk

For more information on the Kalinago of Dominica check out the following links:  

http://dantanner.tripod.com/dca04-carib.html

http://www.kalinagobaranaaute.com/about_us/

http://www.dominica.dm/site/caribs.cfm