I go by the names Ihekuna Chimezie Benedict. Currently unemployed but a faith-believing Christian, Nigerian by nationality, i had lived through the trying times of poverty.Though still faced with the challenges of finance, i am very optimistic that in no time, by the special Grace of God, i will get interested publishers and literary agents to push my works in all parts of the world.
The Able Author is simply my writing history: read it and be blessed mightily, in Jesus' name, Amen.
SYNOPSIS
JOURNEY INTO WRITING
The Able Author is a story about my writing exploits, manuscripts written through the years of my struggle to break into the writing world, my rejected manuscripts and more importantly, my never-say-die attitude to the incessant rejections by publishers. Also, it calls for support of interested publishers to see for themselves what they seem to be missing all this while and a source of motivation to discouraged writers. Not necessarily looking the ‘components’ of my works were arranged but seeing the marketability of my ideas in the form of manuscripts will eventually birth the synergic success between publishers(or literary agents and myself)
My journey into the world of literary showcase started on the 15th of February, 2006. Then, I was naïve in my approach to issues concerning writing. However, I was poised to break into the international literary industry, no matter what it will cost me. I never had the faintest idea of what I would go through in the years ahead to attain the said feat. Still, I was head-bent.
My first work was completed in the fall of 2006. It was titled ‘An Overview of Engi(o)sophy…a phase of true modernization’. Indeed, my along-awaited dream of becoming an author was about being fulfilled-I projected this work-piece will see the light of the day (not knowing that there is a clear-cut difference between writing a manuscript and getting it published). My dream would soon be dashed…
EXCERPT
Delighted I was, I decided to show my colleagues in school and lecturers the advent of a novel piece. Of course, after serious reviews, I had a ‘five-star’ rating from most of them. Then, I was still working on the completion of other manuscripts; sub-sets of ‘An Overview of Engi(o)sophy…a phase of true modernization’. Meanwhile, I was promoting this literary work piece in every nook and cranny of my school (an Agriculture-based university in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria). I became a household name on the lips of students in my department and beyond. I was amazed this work-piece so drew the attention of everyone that I was awarded the Most Creative Mind Award for 2008 by the College of Engineering. Also, I was offered the opportunity to speak about my work title at various college outings in my school in (my college and the College of Veterinary) that same year. Yet, a lot of work had to be done to push further towards the realization of the said objective I had placed ahead.
Eventually, I was done completing the sub-sets of ‘An Overview of Engi(o)sophy…a phase of true modernization’ write-up. They included the following:
1) The Inspiration-Driven Ideological Discoveries-the general public perspective
2) The Inspiration-driven Ideological Discoveries-the academic perspective
3) The Inspiration-Driven Ideological Discoveries-its practical approach. They were all completed in 2008. I then saw the need of pushing further beyond the campus environment; the media. I never knew that this effort of mine would be a wild goose chase.
Tooth and nail, I went out of the comfort of my home and school and started seeking for the links to various media agencies. By the way, Nigeria is a country where you have to know one or two person(s) to really get to where you want to go. Fortunately, a friend of mine ‘connected’ me to a presenter working for a top-notch radio establishment in Ogun State, where my school was located. After intense follow-ups (consistent phone calls), we agreed to meet a popular hang-out. Two hours before the stipulated time, I was there awaiting his arrival to discuss what we agreed on-a scheduled period for the interview to be transmitted live in a couple of days. Alas, I waited the whole day without seeing the shadow of his presence! How disappointed I was! My calls were subsequently not picked. And after a while, his phone line became unreachable. Despite this set-back, I was determined to move on…
Next was to see how I could through to one A-list TV presenter (name withheld) in Lagos State, where I was born. I decided to check on her then youth program, New Dawn. It was there I got her contacts. After several un-replied emails, I had the Hobson’s choice other than to call her on phone. Then, I discussed with passion about my work. She really felt interested in my work, since it fitted into what she usually talks about on air-youth creativity. She encouraged me to send a copy of the manuscript to her for review. A couple of days later, after much calls and other follow-ups via e-mail, she told me she will get back to me soonest. Although I was elated, I felt there was a need for certainty. So, I kept calling her frequently. It was then she opened up; telling me she wanted to make some adjustments in the dynamics of the program (this would take some 6-7 months to complete). Patience on my part! Never wanted to wait that long, I also searched tirelessly on the internet for the contacts of a renowned professor of Economics, an internationally known personality, a presenter of the popular TV show, ‘Patito’s Gang’, a business school owner, a one-time personal adviser to an ex- Nigerian president (in the 80s). Though I did not get the contacts of his outfits directly, I was able to secure the contacts of his The Future Nigeria platform; an arm of the ‘Patito’s Gang’. As usual, I did put calls through to the director of affairs to foster concrete conversations regarding the promotion of my work title. After sending to him via email my manuscript and subsequent follow-ups through phone calls, he told me outrightly he had no interest in my work, despite my attempts to make him see the way I see it. To make matters worse, after waiting patiently for 6-7 months, the New Dawn presenter told me that ‘… I should go seek for a better platform to promote my work’. Worst of them all, the photocopies of my work piece I sent to my friends during this period (I thought they would have distributed them to their various spheres of contact and get to me with positive news as they promised) were returned to me untreated!
REJECTIONS OF MY MANUSCRIPTS
I decided that I will go online and make the submissions. Afterall, all of my efforts were rendered abortive. My journey started….This was 2009
At this juncture, I will have to mention that though I was rejected by uncounted number of ‘core’ traditional publishers, I received a ‘yes’ contractual offer from a number of self-publishing outfits and partnership-traditional publishers. Self publishers such as Dorrance Publishing and others have given contractual offers and Partnership-traditional publishers such as Anomalous Publishing, Publish America and America Book Publishing and others have also done same but this time, wanted me to pay some amount in order to, according to what they say(in common), ‘bear the risk of loss’. Unfortunately, I had no money to push the project ahead. Nonetheless, acting unperturbed, I had a strong conviction that I will someday get a traditional publisher that will not only publish my works but also pay advance royalties(if need be) because I strongly believed in the potency of my works. This had been my mindset till this day.
Inspite of the unavailable purchasing power, I began writing more captivating books and at the same time, carrying out multiple submissions to various publishers online (although I preferred the ‘core’ traditional publishers to work with me). By the special grace of God, I have, till this day, completed twenty one manuscripts. Below is my author bibliography
Author Bibliography (Written Works of Mr. Ben)
1) Come To Think Of It, Sex!
2) Sexually, Are You Worth Being Faithful To?
3) Who Are Your Friends?
4) Who is Man?
5) Housewifery…giving the role of home-makers a professional and an academic touch
6) Postulation of the sex arithmetic and the way forward
7) 11 Major deceptions you must guard yourself against…
What must be considered for a successful marriage
9) Seven irrefutable facts associated with business success
10) Seven wrong acts associated with Christians
11) Why we no longer read books
12) What should we crave for in life?
13) What you do not know about your man, What you do not know about your woman
14) My kind of man and My kind of woman
15) The most outstanding quality of the mind
16) A trip to the world of Mr. Death
17) Stories of life significance…compiled selection of bestselling stories
18) The Code-13 Principle (Postulation of the sex arithmetic; a novel piece)
19) The ‘beyond-physics’ analogy of Newton’s laws of motion
20) ‘Wake Up, Dream Boy!’
21) Understanding Heterosexual Dynamics Using Science
Despite my write-ups, I have been rejected by over forty traditional publishers in a space of three years; some I have forgotten while others I get to remember because of repeated manuscript submissions. Some rejected my works because they feel they will not hit minimum sales as projected, did not fit their criteria, asserted that they do not receive unsolicited manuscripts from aspiring authors, deal with established authors while others, though commending how good they were, still declined on grounds that they cannot handle the publications. Some of them even suggested other publishers that eventually did the same thing to me-rejected my submitted manuscripts. Works like WINDS OF CHANGE, COME TO THINK OF IT, SEX!, WHAT MUST BE CONSIDERED FOR A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE, STORIES OF LIFE SIGNIFICANCE…COMPILED SELECTION OF BSETSELLING STORIES, WAKE UP, DREAM BOY! And others have suffered rejection setbacks. Below are a list of publishers (mostly traditional book publishers, some are literary agencies and other journal bodies) that rejected my works.
1) Old Wine Press
2) Zeus Publishing
3) Turner Publishing
4) Raider Publishing
5) Penguin Books
6) Mondial Books
7) Mundana Publishing
Odyssey Books
9) Tate Publishing
10) Prospect Literary Agencies
11) Great Minds Think Aloud Independent Publishing
12) Oxford Press
13) Cambridge Press
14) Hugo Publishers
15) Greenleaf Publishing Group
16) Cornerstone Publishing
17) Multnomah Publishing
18) Hart literary Agency
19) Lindachester Literary Agency
20) Canadian Journal of Communication
21) Journal of Physics
22) Boston Review
23) Graywolf Press
24) Mixed Fruit
25) Andrea Brown Literary Agency
26) Gracenotes Publishing
And many others…These are the ones I still remember. Perhaps, I will find out more on my online archives.
Determined I was, I wrote several articles on various article directories online such as Ezinearticles .com, articlebase.com, ABCales.com, searchwarp.com and other affiliates, with the hope that I will locate either a literary agent or a traditional publisher. Till this day, I am still looking forward (my article works I still showcased. If interested, after visiting any of the sites, you could enter the names Ihekuna Chimezie Benedict on its search area). In addition, I still went ahead on authonomy.com, inkubate.com, book-submit.com, absolutewrite.com and writingraw.com to seek for traditional publishers but to no avail. At some point, I tried kdp.amazon.com but did not work out because its readership is not visible to Nigerians at all.
For overviews and/or synopses, strap-lines of all my works available for publication, visit:
http://www.inkubate.com/Profile/ViewProfileWriter?userGuid=d7560de8-d4bf-42fd-8a12-868573f98013 a or the following
http://book-submit.com/ads/wake-up-dream-boy/..For
http://book-submit.com/ads/what-you-do-not-know-about-your-man-what-you-do-not-know-about-your-woman/
http://book-submit.com/ads/stories-of-life-significance/
http://book-submit.com/ads/sexually-are-you-worth-being-faithful-to/
http://book-submit.com/ads/seven-irrefutable-facts-associated-with-business-success/
http://book-submit.com/ads/why-we-no-longer-read-books/
http://book-submit.com/ads/the-code-13-priniciple/
http://book-submit.com/ads/an-overview-of-engiosophy-a-phase-of-true-modernization/
http://book-submit.com/ads/housewifery-giving-the-role-of-home-makers-a-professional-and-an-academic-touch/
http://book-submit.com/ads/my-kind-of-man-and-my-kind-of-woman/
http://book-submit.com/ads/what-must-be-considered-for-a-successful-marriage/
http://book-submit.com/ads/11-major-deceptions-you-must-guard-yourself-against/
http://book-submit.com/ads/come-to-think-of-it-sex/
http://book-submit.com/ads/what-should-we-crave-for-in-life/
http://book-submit.com/ads/seven-wrong-acts-associated-with-christians/
http://book-submit.com/ads/winds-of-change/
Without a pinch of salt, I am strongly convinced that christiancreativewriters.com.com is a unique platform where aspiring authors like me can realize our dreams. Though I have been submitting (and still submitting) a number of manuscripts on this site (the complete versions of the above-listed titles), I want to believe that there will be a ‘positive’ consideration and subsequent offers for publication as consolation to all my years of intense writings, disappointments and indefatigable follow-ups.
Above all, I have come to the realization of the following facts;
1) In the publishing industry, there are sentiments attached to the selection of manuscripts for publication, be it well- or badly written
2) Your manuscript being accepted for publication does not necessarily mean you are a good writer (vice versa)
3) The more popular you are as an author, the greater your chances of your manuscript(s) being accepted.
4) Your manuscript being accepted by a publisher does not mean it will be accepted by the other.
5) Partnership-publishing is a way of letting both parties (author and publisher) know that if the business points to the loss side, they will both bear the risk.
6) The traditional publishing industry is so overcrowded with loads of manuscripts that only a selected few authors breakthrough. It is usually difficult for aspiring authors to break into the industry because of its highly competitive dynamics
7) For aspiring authors, the idea of self-publishing is not bad. Yet, there is a need to extending the frontiers of their works. This can be made possible through traditional publishers.
I conclude by saying ‘determination without conception is like reaching a destination without intention’. Thanks for your reading audience and God Bless.
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