Having edited other people’s works for over four decades, and succeeded in laying his hands on some creative writing, it is only natural for Agbo Areo to educate his readers on writing and publishing. This is simply the mission in his book; A Guide to Writing and Publishing which is divided into two main parts, but which run into 26 illuminating chapters.

The author opens his treatise with a few questions on the art of writing. Why do people want to write and what should they write? In what genre or language should the writer communicate and what qualifies someone to become a writer? These and other pertinent questions easily make the author a teacher, as exemplified in his systematic approach of relaying his messages to the reader.

The first part of the book centers on writing, with highlights on how a writer can specialize in either creative works or textbooks (non-fiction). Here the author observes that while many people write mainly to express themselves, others do so out of conviction to contribute to knowledge. Some writers also write for monetary gains just as others do so for propaganda or strictly to reply to earlier works. Some of these works can also take the forms of literary books such as poetry, drama, and children literature, as well as non-literary works such as textbooks and general books.

But before setting up to write at all, the author advises readers to acquire certain skills. Apart from natural talents, a writer is expected to be literate in the subject he or she chooses to write on. As for creative writing, he or she doesn’t have to have studied the Humanities, as there exist scores of writers whose areas of training are different from the Arts. Nevertheless, competence in the use of language chosen for writing is quite essential. The prospective writer should also be a good reader. He or she should be someone who loves books, not for the sake of acquisition, but for reading.

In the same vein, the creative writer who writes from imagination has to take cognizance of history, accuracy, facts and relevant themes. He or she is also expected to be familiar with as many creative works as possible, to enable him or her to appropriate various forms and styles.

Meanwhile, the author in chapter three focuses on the problems of Book writing as far as use of English language is concerned. He notes that to achieve effective communication, in this “global village”, a writer needs to write in an English “ that is correct and clearly intelligible to an average English user or reader anywhere in the world”. The author, while listing many common grammatical and structural errors in the use of English, also blames ignorance and poorly written books for the “bad” English in society.

He therefore rules that any writer whose English is discovered or perceived by the readers to contain several grammatical and other errors falls in the estimation of the reader, however important the contents or subjects of the book may be. And as a simple solution to the problem, the author urges every writer to adopt George Orwell’s mode, which, among others, urges the writer ‘Never to use a long word where a short one will do…Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.’’

From chapters 4-10, the author treats in detail, various ways and techniques through which a prospective writer can succeed in his or her mission. In chapter four, the creative writer is guided on diverse aspects such as planning, choice of themes, styles, plot structure, characterization and setting. The author illustrates his points with a number of works by famous writers, which span poetry, prose and drama genres.
In chapters 5 –7, the author focuses on school textbooks, right from Nursery to Secondary levels. He addresses such vital areas as curriculum, syllabus, planning with publisher, methodology and psychology that go with writing for children and pupils.

Also in Chapter seven, the author shows how certain contemporary issues such as environment, religion, gender, stereotypes, ethnicity etc affect textbook writing. He goes on in chapter 8 to enumerate factors that determine the success of tertiary level books. He also treats general books, children books and choice of publishers from chapters 9-11, before furnishing the reader with a sample of Memorandum of Agreement between the writer and publisher in Chapter 12.

The author begins the second part of the book from Chapter 13, where he educates the reader on Book Publishing as business venture. He likens book publishing to manufacturing, noting that the dream of the owners or investors is mainly to make more money and sustain expansion. And while demonstrating his substantial knowledge of the industry, the author compares local publishing outfits with their multinational counterparts, noting among others that dwindling economy, poor management and inconsistent government policies remain the bane of progress in the local publishing sector.

In chapters 16 and 17, the author highlights the role of editors and copyright conventions respectively. He describes editing as an act of nurturing ideas through to the final product, hence the centrality of the editor to the overall vision of sustenance and expansion in the publishing firm. Meanwhile, the author reiterates the importance of feedback in any publishing venture, noting that an editor must seek to have feedback on the market performance of books he or she has handled.

On the issue of Copyright, the author stresses the influence of conventions and principles that moderate international copyright practices, including the Nigerian Copyright Act of 1988. He also educates the reader on Copyright laws, and concludes that Copyright evolved through several conventions, which made unauthorized replication of intellectual works illegal.

In chapter 18 and 19, the author deals extensively with Book editing, describing it as a crucial factor in the overall success of book publishing. He however warns on the tendency by editors to re-write or distort the author’s manuscripts all in the name of name of “ correction” . He cautions that the purpose of editing is to shape the copy into a really readable and fascinating text in every page.

In doing this, the editor embarks on certain actions, some of which include “cutting short too long sentences by rephrasing into shorter ones”, “ clearing ambiguities and obscurities in statements and ensuring correctness of, and consistency in spellings and use of essential terminologies, also eliminating worn-out clichés”.
The author in the remaining chapters addresses the issue of illustrations, pointing out the types of illustrations, diagrams, maps and photographs that may be agreed upon by both the author and the publisher.

He also touches on the House style, and how this affects both the publisher and the prospective author. Here the author/writer learns the best forms in the use of abbreviations, biological classifications, punctuation marks and biological references. He also raises topical issues on proofs and proof reading, with samples of manuscripts already edited.

The author uses the final chapter to discuss a number of contentious issues that are often raised in book publishing in Nigeria. Among these are allegations of favouritism, delay in publishing unpopular authors, book piracy and refusal to pay royalties.

A well researched, and well-written book, A guide to Book Writing and Publishing demonstrates many qualities that are rarely found in many books nowadays. It is obvious the author has painstakingly selected his subjects with a sense of mission to transfer his knowledge of book editing to others.
The book has a simple, yet durable paperback structure, which makes it appealing to readers. It also displays good print quality, which expectedly makes it error-free.

There is no doubt that every user of English language, such as the writer, the author, the journalist, the publisher, the copyright inspector as well as the pupil or student will benefit immensely from the book written by a man who has seen it all as a successful writer, author and publisher. The concluding part of the book- The Appendix-The Nigerian Copyright Act- also offers additional vital information to researchers and prospective authors alike.

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