Now that Okadabooks is shutting down in 6 days, what's next for Nigerian Writers.

We know we rarely make sales on Amazon. So, what do we do now?


I know of Bambooks but can't vouch for them. Yet, seen some guys make money from them.


We have Dasabook too.

I know of Stellar and one I'm not sure I remember their name.

What's the way forward?

Why are they shutting down

They're closing for lack of funding, as if they weren't supposed to fund their business from profits. I wrote them an email concerning money from the sales of my books but they never got back to me, so they are closing with my money, my wife's money, and probably that of many other writers. You can see that they lack integrity. Now, any surprise that their business failed?

If you are an Okadabook writer and they are yet to pay you, click the link to join a group of ex-Okadabooks writers on WhatsApp. We are planning a movement.

I tried to post the WhatsApp chat link a million times but I just don't know why Nairaland kept editing it for me. 🤦🏾‍♂️

How in the world do I post a WhatsApp group link on Nairaland. Arrrgh!

*AFTER SLAUGHTERING OKADABOOKS, WILL OKECHUKWU OFILI SLAUGHTER WRITERS' CREATIVITY TOO?*

A brief introduction of Okadabooks which was just brutally slaughtered by *Okechukwu Ofili*: Okadabooks was a brainchild of Okechukwu Ofili. She came into existence in the year 2013.

Okadabooks allowed authors to self-publish & self-promote their books online without having to go through the challenges of traditional publishing platforms that had sent many writers to the depth and expiration of their creativity. The advent of Okadabook and other self-publishing platforms revived the purity of literary art by ensuring writers' independence.

When writers publish on Okadabooks, the deal is 70/30. Okadabooks take 30% of our earnings while they remit the 70% balance in our account. But here is the twist, Okadabooks won’t be paying us the 70% until we reach the #5,000 threshold (It used to be #10,000). I won’t be going deep into how hard it was for authors to reach this threshold before they get paid but you can read this Nairaland thread (https://www.nairaland.com/6037550/dont-fall-into-trap-okadabooks) written by one of the riders on Okadabooks who sustained an emotional injury while riding their bike with his helmet on.

For a business to thrive, promotion is pertinent. It is the responsibility of writers to promote their books on OkadaBooks while it is the sole responsibility of *_Okechukwu Ofili and his team_* to promote OkadaBooks. Unfortunately, we observed that Ofili and his team were doing poorly in performing their end of the bargain for our dear OkadaBooks. Maybe they did the best they could but evidently, their best was not enough.

For an organization whose operation is based online, getting your social media page verified for more visibility is the least any responsible management would do for an online publishing platform they care about. I dare you to check OkadaBooks X and Instagram page, go through their posts, and you will find yourself asking OkadaBooks, “Poor kid, how did you survive this long?”

She survived with the promotion made by individual authors whose books and funds are trapped in her account. Maybe the 30%(s) Ofili and his team deduct through Okadabooks is insufficient to sustain the business, maybe the withheld 70%(s) that did not meet the threshold is also insufficient to give Okadabooks a #6,000 verified badge on Twitter. Ofili and his team designed Okadabooks with policies that discourage authors from withdrawing their funds yet Okadabooks was starved and looked malnourished till the managing team decided to brutally murder her on November 30.

Maybe someday we will be able to prosecute parents for starving and slaughtering their brainchild, but not today. *Today, we seek to save the future of literary art by saving the freedom of the blazing writer’s spirit from the claws of Ofili and his team.*

Before the death of Okadabooks (May her soul rest in peace), they called on authors to request a payout for their funds on the platform. After the request was made, they replied to some of the authors that their payment would be made after Okadabooks compiled the payout requests on their desks. This is where we suspected foul play. Okadabooks gave a deadline for withdrawal requests, why aren’t they telling us the exact date that writers should expect their pay? “When we are done compiling the payout request list” is indefinite. It could be next week, next year, or the next ten years. So we asked how the payment will be made. We wanted to hear them give an exact date that writers should look forward to.

Two days before the company closure, we expressed our concerns on a WhatsApp group created by Okadabook to resolve writers' complaints. Even though the Okadabook admin saw our messages, they chose to ignore them until *November 30 when they started removing writers from the group chat.*

Despite all the calls and cries, Ofili and his team did not bat an eye like they heard the writers. *Ofili was busy posting about the Squid Game show he watched on his Facebook account.*

This is no longer about the money. The greatest tool of a writer is his mind, the moment he feels small, limited, and powerless within – the art he expresses will no longer be true. Ofili and his team already murdered their brainchild, Okadabook, in cold blood, we appeal that you lend your voice to stop them from murdering the purity of our literary arts.

Our request from Ofili and his team is simple, make the payment or write us the exact date when the payment will be made.

At this juncture, I must state clearly that OkadaBooks does not owe me a dime. But if I choose to ignore the owed writers who are currently receiving silent treatment, nothing I and other writers earn on other online platforms will be secured because we may receive the same treatment someday. This is also why we are calling on other online publishing platforms in Nigeria to reassure their users by responding to the question:

_@Bambooks- Can you give your writers a silent treatment like Ofili and his team are doing right now?_

_@Libribooks: Can you treat your users with such levity that Ofili and his team are doing right now?_

Adieu Okadabooks, we wish you peace in a faraway land – far away from all the traumas that your handlers put you through. As for Okechukwu Ofili and his team, *_I care not if they rot in the hottest part of hell for all they did to Okadabooks and are doing to writers right now._* #Okadabooks #Make-D-pay #Write-D-date