Publishing houses were established to publish good academic books for secondary schools and universities.  Some of them were Heinemann, Oxford and others.  Africans were introduced to good literature written by William Shakespeare, Thomas Stearns Eliot, Gerald Manley Hopkins, George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, and other writers from Europe, America and the Soviet Union.

The first crop of modern writers emerged.  There was a fundamental problem to address. It was the means of communication.  Was it the most ideal thing to communicate in indigenous languages or the languages mentioned earlier that the historical accident of slavery had internationalised?  The debate took place in Makerere University, Uganda in 1963.  Obi Wali wrote his article the ‘Dead End of African Literature’, predicting the problem of neglecting local languages, writing in foreign ones and killing the emergent Modern African Literature.  Ngugi was a strong proponent of using indigenous languages. Soyinka, Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi and others argued in support of using foreign languages but making them convey our values, feelings and cosmology.

The presses received works from the first academic graduates and others for consideration.  The works of the following authors were accepted for publication: Peter Abrahams, Naguib Mahfouz, Tewkfik Alhakim, Chinua Achebe, Elechi Amadi, Christopher Okigbo, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Ayi Kwe Armah, Jared Ngira, Bessie Head, Flora Nwapa and others.

The presses were managed appropriately and equipped with editors, marketing or sales managers, other members of staff.  Their distribution offices were spread in countries in Africa.  They sold the books and gave royalties to the authors.

They were conscious of quality and worked towards the production of flawless books.  The editors were proficient.  Most of them were whites who studied their own languages and knew their onions well.  It was advantageous to read standard works for purposes of criticism, entertainment and language education.

Africans were employed initially to assist the whites.  Africa started asking for independence until its striving materialised.  Whites started disengaging gradually until Blacks took over the presses.  They continued to adhere to the standard and published more works from the first crop of African creative writers and the second generation.

Some universities began to establish their own presses.  They employed staff from the same universities.  The editors were very good; some of them had worked as editors during their undergraduate days, some became editors after graduation in their countries, Europe, America and other places. They competed favourably with the editors in older presses.

Some trained publishers retired from the presses after they got sufficient money to start theirs.  The new trend towards self- publishing began.  The number of presses increased in the 1990s and has been on the increase till now.

The new consciousness is a sign of astute knowledge of the trade, many educated persons, increase in the number of writers and a higher level of readership.  These advantages are marred with poor staffing of the presses in the new era of several trades, jobs and interests.  The few competent publishers are unevenly distributed in the many presses.

The motive for the upsurge is money.  This consciousness has been responsible for many ills in the publishing world.  The good books by the authors that are needed by schools are re-printed without permission from them in obscure places, where they hide to evade copyright laws.  The authors are cheated financially.

The other problem associated with the new consciousness is poor editing.  The private presses do not insist on giving their works to good editors.  They tell intended authors that editing is optional for them but it has its price.  The authors could choose to reject the service or buy it.  Every good and competent writer edits his work before sending it to a press. This was what the first generation authors did.  The older presses were not foolish to insist on editing.  The new situation is undoubtedly a very unhealthy trend in publishing since editors crosscheck what authors have done: grammar, titles, structure and other relevant things, reject unreadable and bad works and, improve good works or publish as received.

One major problem in publishing is maintenance of staff and equipment.  It is always necessary to repair broken down machines as well as buying modern ones.  It is mandatory to replace good editors and managers who retire, die or resign.  These are the only means of injecting new strength, knowledge and competence into the profession to maintain the standard.

Another emergent form of publishing is E-publishing which exposes and advertises ready-made materials online.  There are copyright laws to them which mandate owners to retain their works.  They may be downloaded and used when specified sums are paid for them using master-cards, prepaid and other forms for economic transactions online.  Hardcopies are also advertised online and could be ordered from publishing houses and bookshops.

In conclusion, the publishing industry has grown to maturation in Africa.  Its uses are undoubtedly very necessary.  Its fame has waned; its anti-climax is disturbing.  Its new sunrise is anticipated.  The university presses are crucial to academic development.  They are highly regarded in America and Europe; they will be so in Africa.  New presses need urgent attention and maintenance as well as the older ones that should not be the silhouettes of themselves.

Barine Saana Ngaage