Getting your book to be approved in schools in Nigeria may seem like a daunting task. To be honest, it is, but it is not something impossible. Remember back in the days when you were still in high school as a student and you read several books because they were recommended for you to read, and now that you are an author and you have published your own book, wouldn’t it be a good idea if you desire students to read your book, too? Of course not. But have you ever wondered the processes that those books passed through before getting recommended in the first place? You know in most cases, the recommendation is not just limited by one school, or by the teachers or principals of the school because, sometimes it stretches across schools all over the state or country. In this case, Nigeria. That means, it must be approved by the government. But, how?
My name is Chinonso Aguzie, the Author of the book, The Mind of a Hero. Let me take you a little back so that you can understand where I am coming from. Having been writing since I was a teen, I have always wanted to be a writer, to write books that everyone would read, obviously, not everyone, but at least, most people. I published my first novel in 2023 which took a long time and struggle. But it’s not really just about the published work, but about the journey and the process it took which had got me to where I am now. Back in the days, I have written a lot of things that I called manuscripts but which I was not really proud enough to call a book because, I only enjoy the creative process of writing, and giving life to my characters.
It was only in October 2018 to February 14, 2019, when I was still in the higher institution that I decided to take writing seriously, and summoned the courage to write what I could call a novel. It was a straight hassle of 4 months which I juggled between school work and writing. In 2020 during Covid, I used the lock down to devote more time into my writing. And I wrote two more novels while I spent more time to polish my first novel.
Here is the funniest part of my early writing. I started writing with pen and paper. As a matter of fact, everything I wrote between 2018-2020 were written with pen and paper. And it was not because I enjoyed writing with pen and paper, it was because I didn’t have a laptop. It was sometime later in 2020 that I was able purchase a laptop and started typing instead of writing with pen and paper.
Even though I still enjoy writing, I must still confess that it is hard work. And when I lost my dad in that same year, 2020, it grossly affected my progress, emotionally and physically. In 2021 I have already started sending out query letters to different publishers because in the beginning, I wanted my book to be published traditionally. And that was for good reasons because I thought that I did not have what it takes to self-publish my own books. I don’t have the money, and I don’t have the connections to go about with the marketing. In fact, I consciously believed that for the book to attain the level of success that I dream of, the book must be published by a traditional publisher. That was my simple conviction.
But here is the problem, in Nigeria, there are only but very few traditional publishers. They are not even up to four. And even in the whole African continent, they are not that many. Now you will understand that the competition would be absolutely fierce. But I don’t mind, I queried almost every traditional publisher that I could find in Africa. And when that seemed un, I didn’t spend time before moving across the shores of Africa to query most of the traditional publishers in the western countries like Europe, America, and Canada. But it never really worked out because most of the traditional publishers and literary agents have high expectations. Because, for the fact I didn’t have a huge followings and audience across social media was a huge impediment to my book getting accepted.
One day, I got a response from one of the big publishers in Europe requesting to publish my book. That day was one of the best days of my life. They were so passionate about my work. And for some time, we kept a steady communication over email before we chose a meeting date on WhatsApp. Our conversation was a long one. They told me how the book is a great book and the type they would like to publish and market. They have branches across the globe and they showed me the authors, prominent people they had published which I also went further to confirm. I was very excited. But, at the end of the day, I rejected the offer. That was in 2021.
In 2022, I was already getting frustrated and tired of looking out for literary agents and publishers to publish my book. I was sad and already giving up hope when it comes to going the traditional route. But I kept writing and sending out query letters, learning and relearning how to approach literary agents. But then nothing happened. In January 2023 I finally decided to ditch the traditional publishing. I began to learn what it takes to publish and market a book. I read a lot of articles about self-publishing as I was considering going all in. But I was scared, too scared when I set out on the journey. Because I had to be the one to take care of everything that is required for the book to be successful. So I switch on to my entrepreneurial mode.
So now, I’m done with publishing my book, what next? Where do I start? I began to make contact with bookshops and marketers as I was distributing my book. But to me that was not enough. I want my book to gain more visibility and most importantly, I want the book to be used in schools. While your book being used in schools would be a viable strategy, I didn’t know how to go about it. I began to carry out my research. I couldn’t find anyone who has done it before. It took a while until one day I saw an article talking about NERDC, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. It was my first time to hear the acronym. The office of NERDC is located in Sheeda, Abuja. It was a body that specializes on what goes into the Nigerian educational system. They have the right to approve what type of book to be used schools and also the exact level to find it useful. So I made further research about NERDC and when I’m done, I said to myself, ‘we need to move’.
Before your book would be approved by NERDC, you need to officially write to them sending four copies of your book, and count the pages of your book including the cover and multiply it by 300 Naira and remit to them whatever amount it is. One Monday early morning I left Port Harcourt and headed straight to Abuja. It was a very long journey, about 14hrs if you are traveling by road.
As I arrived in Abuja on Monday, I went to the institution on Tuesday. The staffs I met were very kind and helpful. Since I came prepared, before the next four hours, I’m done with what I came for and from Abuja, the next day, I went straight to Lagos State for a television interview on TVC where I was invited to speak about my book.
How Long Does It Take for a Book to be Approved?
When I asked the staffs at NERDC how long it would take to get the book approved, they simply replied “submit and wait.” There was no direct answer to the question since in some circumstances, some books are more likely to stay longer than others. The staffs, however, took some time to educate me on how they operate. Submitting your book to them is not a guarantee that it would be approved immediately. When your book could not be approved in the first attempt, they would say it is ‘recommendable’, letting you know the errors you need to fix before it would be approved. When approved, they would take two copies out of the four you submitted and send two copies back to you accompanied by an approval letter.
And the later was how it went for me. In my own case, I thought It would take a very long time. But it wasn’t fully three months before they contacted and delivered to me a doubled sealed brown envelope. When I saw the approval letter, that afternoon, it was one of the happiest days of my life. Because I know that the best is yet to come.
In conclusion, whenever you want your book to be approved for schools in Nigeria, now you know where to go, NERDC.
You can also watch the video
