Quramo Festival of Words (Qfest) 2023 RECAP- Day 1

 

Quramo Publishing's  annual literary and arts festival- Quramo Festival of Words- (Qfest) was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island. Unlike its previous editions, Qfest 2023 ( now in its 7th year) was a five-day event; from the 4th to the 8th of October, 2023. This year’s theme was “CONNECTING THE DOTS”, a call to initiate, strengthen, and empower communication, travel, and distribution networks within Nigeria and across Africa. 

 Thanks to the hard work of the festival director and the planning committee, Qfest 2023 was  a fun-filled and interactive week for all. What also made this year’s edition unique was Quramo’s collaboration with the Irish Embassy, who gave their support to the workshops, and added the delightful Simsa session to the festival’s schedule. Its ambassador, Mr Peter Ryan, and other Irish dignitaries graced the event.

Qfest 2023’s first two days consisted of Master Classes and Film Screenings, which took place in the exclusive wing of the Eko Hotel. Each class was taught by a renowned person in Literature, Art, and Film.

 

- Self Editing 101: To Be Your First Editor; which was taught by Anwuli Ojogwu,  co- founder & Executive Director  of Narrative Landscape

-Distributing Your Content: From Retail Stores to Digital Markets & Social Media; by Adedotun Eyinade, co-founder of Roving Heights book stores 

- Stories in Visuals: Picture Book Illustrations for Children; by renowned Illustrator, Morenike Olusanya

  Nothing But Bops: Writing For Music & Performance by  musician and songwriter , Dwin the Stoic

- Writing to Get That Grant; by Linda Bembatoum, International Development Consultant  

-Short Film Opening Screening

-Short Animation Opening Screening

Adedotun Eyinade, Co-founder of Roving Heights Book stores 

In Distributing Your Content, Mr Eyinde stated the current challenges authors face when trying to distribute physical books and digital content and several helpful distribution tips.  

Distribution Points (besides bookshops): Selling in streets, Restaurants, Lounges, Pharmacies, e.g Med Plus, Supermarkets, popular Gyms etc. 

Best Platforms for Ebooks & Audio Books:   Okada Books, Amazon Kindle, Scribd, Akoo Books, Spotify and Audible 

To Build your Audience: Get as many followers as possible by showcasing your content on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and newsletters. 

The Dos of Distribution that will yield profit: Book readings and signing events, Outdoor adverts, Social Media ads, Pre-Ordering, paying trustworthy traders to sell them on the street for you.  

Don't rely on the following- Book reviews in newspapers ad blogs,  celebrities' endorsement,   Book Launch ( one will only sell a ton of books THAT day). 

Under your pre-ordering campaign: 

-advertise in your official, publisher's and a bookstore's website, 

-Offer would be customers the following if they pre order before set date- pens, bookmarks, tote bags, a 10 % discount, free delivery at publication date, a free pass/ticket to speaking events 

Morenike Olusanya

In Ms Morenike's class,  Stories in Visuals: Picture Book Illustrations for Children, she spoke on her years as an illustrator,  how pictures tell a story, the styles she adopts and the steps  authors take when choosing illustrations for their books. 

After the classes, Day 1 ended with short film and short animation screenings, moderated by Laju Eresenara and Oyinkan Talabi respectively. While each short film aired was met with the audience’s approval, the best three entries were Ann Sarafina’s “Born Different”, an inspirational short film about a young woman living with neurofibromatosis, Kagho’ Idhebor’s insightful photo essay, “Burkina Babes”, and Durotimi Akinkugbe’s educative “The Kiriji War: Stories of Nigeria”.

 Kagho’s ‘Burkina Babes’  revealed that 90% percent of bike riders in Burkina Faso are women.