‘Book influencer community and Masobe Books, fingers of one hand to expand the culture we all love’

By Othuke Ominiabohs

WE have not responded to the issues that have been raised in the last 24 hours with regards to our interaction with the book influencer community, not because we do not think they are important, but because we needed to first carry out a thorough internal review. That due diligence needed to be done so that we are able to provide the response required for a situation of this magnitude and be seen to have done so adequately. While we were at it, we continued operations because of the prior commitments we have made to authors and other partners. If this came off as insensitive, I take full responsibility and tender an unreserved apology on behalf of Masobe.

First, I want to assure you that I have seen and heard all the concerns raised, and I thank you for voicing them out. Second, I would like to thank the book influencer community for your support towards Masobe from the beginning of this journey until this moment.

At Masobe, we believe partnerships are a very vital means of meeting our common goals and we must say your collaboration with us has been invaluable.

Over the years we have worked hand-in-hand to advance this collaboration, driving the message and mission of bringing more people into the reading culture. In fact, in the last year alone we have engaged and paid several influencers from our community to carry out book hosting gigs and marketing of the Masobe App. We hope to do more of this.

On the issue of us reaching out to influencers outside the book influencer community to market the Masobe App – it was not our intention to ignore our community, but a genuine wish to reach more people outside the literary space so as to get more readers for our authors and grow the reading culture in general. This was not done to undermine or overlook your support and contribution to the growth of our ecosystem. We believe we can combine the power of the reach of everyone for the sake of the culture we all love so much.

We are also aware of the issues raised about the disrespectful attitude regarding some of our members of staff in correspondences. Investigations are ongoing and those involved will be appropriately sanctioned. We will put measures in place to forestall possibilities of a reoccurrence, including providing appropriate training.

Masobe recognises the effort of the book influencer community towards the development of our literary industry, which is a common goal, and we will continue to work with you as we grow.

Thank you very much for your support as we move forward to resolve the ongoing misunderstanding and anchor the mission: to build a platform that recognises and platforms the best African stories, and a community that reads them.

* Ominiabohs is the MD/CEO of Masobe Books