6TH CORA Publishers’ Forum holds from November 12

The 6th CORA Publishers’ Forum will kick off from Thursday, November 12, 2015 at Goethe Institut, City Hall, Catholic Mission Street, Lagos Island, from 10.00pm – 4.00pm.

The Co-Director of the Publishers Forum Project Director, CORA, Ayo Arigbabu, disclosed this in a press statement sent to Newswatch Times recently.

Organized by CORA Art and Cultural Foundation in partnership with Cassava Republic Press and Goethe Institut, Lagos, the forum, according to Arigbabu is a pre-event of the 17th Lagos Book & Art Festival, which holds from the 13th – 15th November 2015 at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos Island.

The theme for this year’s forum is: Publishing and Selling Genre Fiction in the Digital Age.  “This theme emerged from our keen observation and experience of how the publishing space in Nigeria (or at least that part of it that is not concentrated on school texts) continues to place great emphasis on literary fiction (which quite understandably has brought the nation and its writers considerable international acclaim) while genre fiction hardly receives as much attention.

“Given that genre fiction creates the groundswell upon which most readers cut their teeth and from which the publishing of literary fiction itself is funded in most literate societies, we consider it important to utilize the platform the Publishers’ Forum offers to encourage and empower publishers in finding useful perspectives from which to approach the publishing of genre fiction; and in our traditional bias for expanding the conversation on how digital technologies can be harnessed by publishers to achieve success, we are situating this discussing within the context of emerging and constantly evolving opportunities for production, marketing and sales of books through digital technologies, especially at the frontiers of the now ubiquitous social media.

“Expected outcomes from the 6th CORA Publishers Forum will include:

1. An increased awareness amongst participating publishers on genre fiction as distinct from literary fiction,

2. Improved appreciation of the different nuances that go with the different categories found under genre fiction such as Young Adults (YA), Romance and Crime Fiction,

3.            Increased awareness of the different opportunities that exist for harnessing digital technologies for producing and marketing genre fiction with a special focus on social media and mobile telephony.

ABOUT THE FORUM: The CORA Publishers’ Forum was conceived in 2010 to provide a critical space for publishers to engage with each other and other professionals within the book value chain about emerging themes in the sector, deepen their knowledge and improve their revenue base. The Cora Publishers’ Forum is part of the pre-events of the Lagos Book & Art Festival and is aimed at key personnel within the publishing sector in Nigeria and Africa.”