MosD:


Not that I can't self publish, the only problem I have with the idea is the marketing of the book. As they say, you have done nothing if people don't get to appreciate what you've done

There is nothing hard to achieve bro. You can learn marketing.

MosD:
I have this completed crime fiction manuscript (note; a complete novel, not a short story) that I once entered for an all african crime fiction competition and was picked one of the best three. But afterward, I've tried to get a publisher for it to no avail, though Nigeria is sure short of crime fiction publishers. I'm still hanging on to the manuscript because I don't want to self publish. Please I really need advice on how to handle it

Come on! You've got it, why not flaunt it. In a matter of days i will be self-publishing one work of mine and sharing it with over 15+ outlet abroad. what issue have you got with Self publishing? Have you forgotten you haven't make a name yet and no publisher will want to risk their money on an unknown writer. I'm not discouraging you, but don't think you've queried publishers like i have done.

Thats the way forward bro. Pls adhere. You have it in you.

Book title: The autobiography of Malcolm X
Author: Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication year: 1964



I heard people speak of someone by the name Malcolm X. I’ve heard of someone who never schooled beyond the eighth grade but drilled on the street of Harlem and also of someone who attended the University of Charlestown Prison. I finally was privileged to meet him after several years of anticipation, yes on the pages of this good read.

On the account of this autobiographical narrative, Malcolm’s psychological approach to getting one's request granted in life is sped up through making some noise. I would open my mouth and let the whole world know about it... I learned early that crying out in protest could accomplish things [pg8]. And this he learnt during his childhood. This then affirms the African proverb which says, (paraphrased) what will become of a man can easily be identified during his formative years. The negroes in the early 50s have something in common. Most were poor, talented, maltreated, and hostile (even towards each other) and finds solace in religion. Even while Malcolm was been taken to live with the Gohannas, his weak mother still remembers to inform the state man that Malcolm shouldn't be fed with pig [pg19].

The analysis of any story with a strong theme of Afro-American activism and in this case, black Americans in a black populated city like Harlem wouldn't be complete without stating the poor mindset most black Americans had nurtured since time immemorial. You do odd jobs, get rich through tips, gamble and when you had your hit, you've got to buy your friends drinks and steaks, buy a Cadillac and in a brief squander those returns on gambling without any thought of investment. Most of the time it happens as a result of wanting to show off one's spending habit, in a quest to meet up with the status quo. Malcolm did well by tackling this demeaning mindset when he joined the Nation of Islam.


How ridiculous I was! Stupid enough to stand... (Pg 54)
Malcolm X is man with a ‘glass’ heart. His version of the Negro suffering was told in this biographical account of his without 'padding' things up. Even when he seems to be betraying the race to which he belongs, he says it in clearer terms. While Reginald plot out Malcolm's path into becoming a Muslim, his presumptions about the white folks will just be unrealistic as anything. Speaking about the anti-white policy and loss of identity syndrome which works hand in hand with the white’s hatred for the negroes, one might have just thought that is his best move towards working out the conversion of his anti-Christian brother. Malcolm wouldn't listen to anyone order than Reginald, but even at that he wouldn’t swallow all he's saying hook line and sinker. He still remembers some good white buddies. Several letters Malcolm got while he was in the prison hastened him to accept the Islamic religion. The fact that Elijah Muhammad in a way blast opens the truth about the black race, also in a way affirms Malcolm’s previous thought of his race. It also affirms James Brown pride in his colour when he sang in 1968 at Los Angles, 'I am black and proud' but in a way discouraged Michael Jackson's several surgeries which defeated the real him. While some of what Elijah Muhammad's studied might be true, there is still no proof up till this very day of this review that the white man ever brainwashed Negroes to accept Christianity on any oral or documented account. This makes Elijah Muhammad’s theory not substantial. Arguably, Christianity on the African continent only met with some taste of racial oppression, black's loss of identity, when slavery also was at its peak and therefore, just in correlation with that which has been said above, the black will always want to find solace in something. And then Christianity sets in for the black majority... Continue reading

https://niftyreview./2017/01/10/the-autobiography-of-malcolm-x/

Hi folks

I'm writing a new story titled How i met Him. Of
course it is for your reading pleasure. I will be
updating this post twice once in a week and twice at the most. Kindly drop your
comments and let me know how you feel about the
story. For the sake of emphasis, this one is titled, 'How i
met Him'

Don't forget the hashtag
#HowimetHim

Also patronize my facebook author page (Odunayo Ajani - Author)
Enjoy.







It was the rascal rooster behind my room window
that woke the morning. It woke me up while I was
almost collecting my share of a deal with my friends.
Had it been the rooster alone it would have been
better, but it came alongside my disciplinarian mum’s heavy knock that was almost renting my
door apart. She yelled angrily at the other end of the
door.
“Won’t you get up Tony? It is 8am already and
you’re still there stretching and yawning on the bed.
As if that wasn’t enough, she continued. I guess you’re tempting me to always wake you up with
that cold water you said you don’t like again right?
I don’t even know why she is always like his I
hummed seated at angle ninety of my bed with my
pillow on my chest. Coming to wake one up 5:30am
every day. Can’t I just enjoy my sleep at least? I don’t know why she wants me to wake up at just
that exact time when even nature itself is still snoring.
I don’t just understand this mother of mine again.
Can’t we pray some other time of the day? So
angrily and with all reluctance I got up, stared into the
brightness of another new dawn hoping I will be favored with some good things I’ve never had
before now. I also nurtured the thought of laying my
hands on that crazy rooster that cracked the dawn
without my permission.
I was christened Anthony. The last child in the birth
order of five children all from a late General in the Nigerian army. My father died after actively serving this nation
for more than forty-five years as far as I can still
remember. He died. Yes, but he died leaving some
good inheritance for us. Several millions of naira for
the whole family, and some sum of money for my
educational upkeep all through my undergraduate studies till I enroll as a masters student . He left two
jeeps, two saloon cars and some properties within
Lagos and two in our hometown. I lived most of my
life in the mainland in lagos, wherei was brought to
the knowledge of arithemtics and letters. Attending
one of the best institution in the country was all I ever aspired all my days. And yes I got it on a platter made
with gold when my mum told me about my paternal
uncle being the present registrar of one of the best
university in town. And just as your guess was just
good as mine, my uncle ensured I passed my entry
exam into school. My excitement was triggered the more, rekindled towards a great time I’ve ever
anticipated, going to a higher institution. At least I’m
going to have a life of my own. This then gave me
more morale when I speak amongst my peers some
who were still struggling to make all of their O’level
papers. Each time we were gathered I will be like. “You guys don’t need to bother about me when
you struggle around, writing all manner of Post-Utme.
But as for me, I’m going to the university where my
uncle serves as a registrar, I mean one of the best
university that is known for her academic excellence
in the country. I don’t know why, my friends do say I’m too boastful, but I tell the truth I reply them. No
two ways about life if you care to say the same too.
And truly, just as destiny will have it, I got admitted
into school at my first attempt, just a fortnight after I
clocked twenty-one years old. It was a dream come
through. The day I got my admission letter seems though I was presented the visa to come study in the
United States. I was so glad that day that I begin to run
certain errands I wouldn’t run for my mum on a
normal day. The excitement was too much that I even
skip lunch after I’d boasted about my going to the
university amongst my friends who weren’t admitted yet. Mum who initially knew not why I was
doing all I was doing asked me after I came back from
the market with two big shopping bags, pregnant with
all sort of cooking ingredients. I’d helped her with
shopping after I picked her shopping list.
“Tony, why are you doing all these you once said you won’t want to do again? Or am I daydreaming.
She questioned and continued. At least, today is not
your birthday and it is not that I told you to help me do
all these before you had the initiative of doing it for
me. Ha-ha-ha. You even remembered to get our
favourite groceries. That’s interesting”. Mum was actually glad that I shopped for her without she telling
me.
Why are you not talking son? Mum asked. Or have you
won a heavy money from your sport betting?
Just as she rounded up her talk, I dipped my hand into
my pocket and handed her my letter of admission, neatly wrapped by me . From the chair where she sat
examining her jewelries, she stretched and took her
second eyes, her glasses and read through the details
on the letter headed admission letter.
‘Ehn, so my son will be going to the university
anytime soon? Oh my good Lord I thank you oooh. My mum stood, and start dancing, swerving her waist to
and fro the same way she’d done every first Sunday
in church. Truly, I can tell without any sorcerer telling
that she was really joyous.
‘No wonder you were so happy running my errands
for me at no cost. She giggled and stopped. As if that was the real me, I supported.
“if I don’t run the errands for you, who will?
“but you’ve not been doing that before now she
finally added”

Book title: Highway Queen
Author: Virginia Phiri
Published by: Corals Services
Publication year: 2010


When the bakery from where a family enjoys a wholesome consumption of fresh bake gets burnt to rubbles, then the means of sustenance might probably be a thing of the past.

Virginia Phiri opens the pages of this mind blowing piece with the story of a family whose means of survival rest solely on a husband (Steven) who all of a sudden was retrenched due to some financial upheaval at his workplace. And without thinking, all in the name of making ends meet for her family, Sophie Mumba the wife of the retrenched worker and the lead character in this story seek for a greener pasture doing the incredible. Just as anyone probably would have guessed, it never came cool. Having not enough with her was a good privilege for some ill-hearted men who helped but took advantage of this helpless woman from a squatter camp.

Steven seems not to be responsible. Even though some life threatening situation had tortured him ruthlessly, it still shouldn't have translated into drinking to stupor or seeing a way out of a mess and ignoring it. Being the head of the family demands lot of work and leadership role, this thus will make a hardworking wife like Sophie go gaga when her husband who ought to be complementing her industrious effort, fails at performing his own part and even had the effrontery to complain about inadequacies of finance and food, (what happened to meat? We’re tired of vegetables!) See pg 81. The author carefully establishes that fact when she tells of Sophie's grievance towards her hubby's excessive drinking habit and his lackadaisical attitudes to get any job.
Continue reading https://niftyreview./2016/10/26/highway-queen/

Lawyers are very crafty, analytic and could also be referred to as good legal-case drivers. Their arguments are always spiced with proofs and choices to pick from where the final decision of the judge is concerned. And then when a legal practitioner woos a lady of his choice, what will you expect? Adam’s careful proposal to Francy and his bait-like offers presented should be well applauded in the whole of this book. His careful use of words and patience deployed to getting innocent Italian Francy was quite laudable for what some may call a sharp shooter’s approach to get the big game. He had carefully lined up activities even before the days unfold for Francy up to a point where she was totally hooked and couldn’t let go. Well if I may say, it was a struggle that was really worth it, had Francy changed her mind, and then it would have been another thing light-hearted Prosecutor from Howard County will have to battle with for the rest of his bachelor’s life.

Jane’s act of switching too swiftly from one scene to another might be too much in a haste leaving less detail to feast on. From my end, I may say she’s not taking enough time to flesh out each scene before birthing it forth and ten taking on a new one. This was quite vivid in several portions of the book and on Pg 167 where Adam invited Francy to go with him on a vac to Bermuda, and then the author wouldn’t establish this well on Pg 177. Maybe it was just an intentional act to conceal some details but I actually was waiting for her to immerse the reader's mind into more about Bermuda before eventually embarking on the aeroplane. My opinion though.

Living with a reading disability like dyslexia (became one central theme determining the progress of Francy’s portion of the story) is one big problem for Francy as she just couldn’t read. Telling Adam even was one big problem for her even though Theresa had told her to explain things to him hoping he would understand. And now with the love in the air, Ben Chalett’s view about Francy’s background, Patricia Pearce’s wanting to know who her daughter-in-law is and Adam’s political ambition at stake, one might just be a bit confused which way to go.

See full Review - https://niftyreview./2016/10/25/beyond-mere-words/

I’d likened The Awakened Mage to a TV series in 2008 by the title ‘Merlin’. There is so much resemblance to the characters in The Awakened Mage and the storyline in Merlin. Two Kingdoms played a significant role in the progression of this story by Karen Miller. The Olken and the Doranen. The Olken were the original owner of the land but were scattered all around. The Doranen came with Barl their leader, running away from what has become an evil mage Morg. The Doranen saw that the land was good but the weather was so bad that their farmers were suffering and wouldn’t get a good yield. Both kingdoms went into an agreement.

The Olken will do magic no longer while the Doranen will continue doing magic. Generations of Olken born after believed they had no magic, but the prophecy was spoken and the expected Mage who will bring the people out of their trouble was born. As expectantly as possible, some members of the circle had awaited the time for the fulfilment of this prophesy, and finally, the Mage spoken of in this prophecy was eventually identified, though by few people. And then comes Asher of Restharvan.

Asher (the innocent mage) in this story played a significant role, partly in decision making and also as an adviser in his own way in the kingdom of Lur though directly to Prince Gar who later became the king. He was the fate of the kingdom, this which was only known to some few people but of course by members of the circle and the evil Mage himself. Gar being a crowned prince and an apparent heir to the throne of his father, never initially possess any magic (possessing magic is one basic quality any King that will rule in Lur should have) whatsoever but instead, his sister had (this she used in oppressing his brother who seems not to have one). But just as fate will take charge of the turns of event in the story, and after the death of his family, Gar realised he was beginning to have magic, which initially couldn’t take control of...

See more - https://niftyreview./2016/10/25/awakened-mage-the-prophecy-is-fulfilled-now-the-battle-begins/

Title: Black Boy
Author: Richard Wright
Published by: Longman
Publication year: 1970

It would have been so good if Anne Moody waited for Richard before she got her book published two years before Richard published this title of his. Well, just a joke by the way. But then, I’ve only come to notice the close similarities between Richard’s Black Boy and Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi.

The Black boy sets in the black populated city of Mississippi where killing and lynching was just the order of the day. The beautiful thing about this autobiographical account of Richard Wright’s life is the fact that, it holds close similarities with Anne Moody’s ‘Coming of age in Mississippi’. It is so much of an American story with imagery mostly related to America, (partly Africa, where the theme of suffering might just be concerned) Americans and might be so hard for one outside the United States to come to its full understanding.

In treating this book, lots of comparisons will be done relating Black boy by Richard Wright with Coming of age in Mississippi by Anne Moody. The initial chapters of this book preface on a ground of horror, pain, future uncertainty and feelings of sufferings where a black boy was made to know hardship at a time when he could hardly differentiate from his right to his left. The turns and consistent emotional torture meted on the black folks wherein he lives alongside abuse by the white bosses sets in young Richard a sense of coercion (even on real-life events and his thought) showing superiority to whites only, while the blacks remain at their (whites) mercy. The seed of coercion planted in Richard by several racial prejudicial happenings in his environment also becomes part of Richard. I ever wonder in the course of this autobiographical account, how a young teenage boy can put up courage and attempt stabbing or threatening an adult with knives.

Oppression and hostility on the black minority seem to be the order of the day hereby leading little Richard to learn to curse before he could read. Just as Anne Moody also had her own account, one can quite agree that severe hardship alongside ill-treatment was predominantly constant amongst the black folks in the early American days so much that the whites were treated with much reverence, while words from the black folks were meticulously selected when addressing them and even their young ones. The effect of several cases of ill-treatment on blacks soon becomes part of Richard’s subconscious when he naively thought; P.19 the white folks have got the right to beat Black kids, thus thinking that the right black parents have is only the parental.

See more- https://niftyreview./2016/09/06/black-boy-by-richard-wright/

Here is a review of Segilola Salami's, Yetunde –An Ode to my Mother. It is such a book you will like to read.


Book title: Yetunde –An Ode to my Mother

Author’s name: Segilola Salami

Published by: Segilola Publishing

Publication year: 2016



If a babe really speaks this way, I would have given this laptop I type with to my one year old nephew Joshua, but of course this is an author’s fictitious expression of an infantile admiration for her mother’s care.



The author sets this work in a city in London and precisely in the mind of a little girl-child by the name Yetunde. Segilola Salami can be somewhat strict in the way she communicates the thoughts of Yetunde, a nine months old infant. But then the reality boils down to the fact that , having her think all these by herself can only be fictitious, entertaining (what any fictional writer does), but never to be imagined. It is an author’s intentional hijacking of the mind of a toddler.



Amongst the Yoruba descent and when we talk about mother to infant relationship, there is this time in the formative months of an infant when the mother speaks to her child, words meant to be understood only by older kids (see page 8 of 36). Telling little Yetunde about the cultures of the Yoruba race at her ninth month seems never too early. Yeah of course, the best time to start instilling the cultural heritage of one’s nativity. Though an infant will not come to the knowledge of all these teachings so soon but then, when these words continuously reiterates, the tender mind of the child begins to absorb and eventually speaks out to everyone’s awe someday.

See more here https://niftyreview./2016/06/07/yetunde-an-ode-to-my-mother/

SegilolaSalami:


thanks, much appreciated

https://niftyreview./2016/06/07/yetunde-an-ode-to-my-mother/
So you also need to promote my ministry over there in the UK

SegilolaSalami:
Hiya,

Do you still review books? Would you be interested in reviewing my latest book?

It is called Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother and simply put it is a celebration of motherhood.

Going by the reviews it has had so far, I think you'll enjoy reading it.

It is free to download in all platforms now as an ebook
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/603700
Amazon universal link myBook.to/yetundeanodetomymother
Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/yetunde-an-ode-to-my-mother-1
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/en/book/yetunde-an-ode-to-my-mother/id1072179529?mt=11
B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/yetunde-segilola-salami/1123187693
GRs https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28388212-yetunde

I would really appreciate it if you can spare the time to read it.

Many thanks,

Segilola

Of course I still review.
I've downloaded it. I'll read and review it soonest.

Title: Brilliant Presentation
Author: Richard Hall
Publisher: Pearson Prentice Hall
Publication year: 2nd edition 2008


The main reason executives fails is not because they are slack at their duty post, not necessarily because they embezzles company's fund, but because they are poor presenters. Learning to do brilliant Presentation has often been the challenge encountered by top executives and I tell you folks, reading this masterpiece cooked and well spiced by Richard Hall makes a good eye opener into the nitty gritty of a brilliant presentation.

Richard Hall kicks off with the first chapter summarizing basically what presentation generally connotes. Stating five brilliant phrases every presenter ought to know, he uses the 'fires' acronym. Richard centered the ideology of this 182pages long book on three key factors.
The presenter
Presenter’s slides and
Audience.

The presenter. Here the author says the presentation is all about the presenter himself. He is the actor who is reaching forth for the stage and thus this demand him to familiarize himself with his slides and materials he needs for the success of his presentation. He further buttresses the need to control one's nerves, voice and maintaining good body balance at each presentation opportunities. At this point in the book, he mentions some basic posture the presenter needs to maintain while he delivers his presentation.

Read More - https://niftyreview./2016/03/28/brilliant-presentations-by-richard-hall/

I'm presently reading the Innocent Mage By Karen Miller
The Review

The Innocent Mage
By Karen Miller

The kingdom of Lur is where to use magic
unlawfully means death, summary death.
Doranen haveruled Lur with magic since
arriving as refugees centuries back. Theirs
was desperate flight to escape the wrath of a
powerful mage who started a bitter war in their homeland, so to keep Lur safe, the
native Olken inhabitants agreed to abandon
their own magic. Magic is now forbidden
them, and any who break this law was
executed. Asher left his coastal village to make his
fortune. Employed in the royal stables, he
soon finds himself befriended by Prince Gar
and given more money and power than
he’d never dreamt possible....
See more www.niftyreview.

One of the best books i've read this year is the Innocent Mage
By Karen Miller

Check out the review below

The Innocent Mage
By Karen Miller

The kingdom of Lur is where to use magic
unlawfully means death, summary death.
Doranen haveruled Lur with magic since
arriving as refugees centuries back. Theirs
was desperate flight to escape the wrath of a
powerful mage who started a bitter war in their homeland, so to keep Lur safe, the
native Olken inhabitants agreed to abandon
their own magic. Magic is now forbidden
them, and any who break this law was
executed. Asher left his coastal village to make his
fortune. Employed in the royal stables, he
soon finds himself befriended by Prince Gar
and given more money and power than
he’d never dreamt possible....
See more www.niftyreview.