First Hippo Book Set for Launch in 2008

August 16, 2007

The first of, what will hopefully be, many titles from Hippo publishers is set to be released in the summer of 2008. My Neighbour’s Faith by Ghanian John Azumah is ready to print and three additional titles are in production.Hippo Books, the brain-child of Langham Partnership’s Pieter Kwant, will be written by African authors and will be useful and applicable to Africa. It is envisaged that some will be directed at theology students while others will be aimed at pastors and interested laymen. An exciting feature of Hippo incorporates an African editor training programme that is helping indigenous publishers to succeed. Two editors have been trained in 60-day programmes and a third is scheduled for September/October 2007.

So why this initiative? Small African publishers have suffered from under-capitalisation and an emphasis on producing materials rather than the marketing and distribution. These publishers also face the challenge of copy-editing and production quality. All this has made it difficult for the African voice to be heard by Africa, as well as by the rest of the world.

Langham Partnership wants to establish a publishing imprint that will be fully owned by 3 or 4 African publishers and run from the outset on a commercial basis with pre-press subsidies, technical expertise and training.

Leave a Reply