“I am an editor and publisher dedicated to nurturing and promoting new voices in the literary world through the publishing outfit “Mystery Publishers.” I also bring stories to life on screen with a keen sense of visual storytelling, blending narrative and visual art, and creating powerful and memorable cinematic experiences.
As a writer, my writing spans multiple genres. I write sociological thrillers, crime, and speculative fiction. My poetry aims to evoke the deeply entrenched emotions that resonate with audience.
I have written thirteen books — four novels, like ‘Twisted Times,’ collections of flash fiction stories like ‘Flashes of Vice,’ collections of poetry like ‘Flashes of Poetic Fancy’ and a nonfiction book ‘Fundamentals of Strategic Writing’ — and contributed to five anthologies.
Books are repositories of our souls. (Self-)publishing quality professional books when you don’t know how to or don’t have time is daunting. So, the idea was borne out of the desire to self-publish my books under a brand instead of using my name so as to remove the ‘self-published’ tag. So, in 2014, I was running Mystery Technologies Limited, which dealt with ICT supplies.
I decided to start a subsidiary of the company dealing with publishing. I published all my books under the name, but two years later, in 2016, it was incorporated as Mystery Publishers Limited and separated from Mystery Technologies Limited. So I was my own author, printer and publisher then.
When and How did it begin, what were your starting challenges?
When I started in 2014, in addition to publishing my books only, I realised that self-publishing authors lacked avenues to publish their stories. Dealing with mainstream publishing was, and still is, a challenge for up-and-coming authors. I felt a nagging need to fill that gap. However, I did not have the funds to establish a full-fledged publishing outfit.
Another challenge was human capital: I did not have a team to assist in editing, design and layout, sales and marketing, and distribution. So, I made a call for writer-editors to apply, the idea being that if we have a team of writers who could also edit each other’s works, the cost of publishing would be lower and be a starting point to build a portfolio for the company.
Our value proposition was to help self-publishing authors professionally tell their story their way, build their brand, and interest readers, through peer review and peer editing and peer promotion.
Who were your first authors, and what were their books?
I got the first authors who agreed to publish with Mystery Publishers in August 2015, a friend and a medical doctor, Gideon Mutai, and Famous Isaacs-Ogadu from Nigeria. We published their books for print-on-demand on Amazon and many others between 2015 and 2018. The portfolio was growing, word of mouth through those first authors was spreading, and the authors started coming.
In 2019, we signed up poetess Jerusha Kananu Marete for her book Echoes of Military Souls, which we published on Amazon and locally. Ever since, we have published all books on online platforms like Amazon and print editions for Kenyan audiences, which has helped cater to both online and domestic audiences. We are now in our tenth year.
What is the Business Model that MP operates on, its Modus Operandi so to say?
It is hard to pin our business model under any traditional models because we have incorporated quite a number of models. First, it is a B2C, offering publishing services to individual authors, but it still dabbles as a B2B because we get the occasional corporates needing our services.
Mystery Publishers is purely online, and we do not have a physical address. If a writer wants a physical meeting, we organise a meeting at a place convenient for each, the way we’re here with you at the Limpopo - although some authors do not feel comfortable and opt not to engage us. It’s okay!
We ride on the existing platforms to offer value to our authors: We publish all the books we publish on Amazon and other online platforms, which offer worldwide online distribution through online retailers and bookstores. Amazon offers print-on-demand publishing, meaning the books can be ordered from anywhere in the world, and Amazon will print and ship.
This model allows us (and the author) not to worry about storage on printed books that might not even sell. So, with this model, we become a micro-aggregator while Amazon is an aggregator (aggregates sales from all online retailers and bookstores).
As the company grew over the years, we realised that self-published authors face a challenge in gaining recognition. I mean, the self-published author must invest in the publishing process, sales and marketing, and distribution. However, in the book industry, these independently published books are given a wide berth by mainstream book prizes and awards (and readers, too).
So, in 2022, we felt that we needed to establish a book prize for independently published authors. Thus, the Prize aims to recognise quality self-published books with unique and extraordinary stories, addressing current and future Africa (Afro-currency and Afro-futurism) for books not more than three (3) years old since publication.
The first edition was open to Mystery Publishers’ authors only, while the second edition (2023) was open to Kenyan authors only. In 2024, the Prize was open to all African authors resident on the continent and those in the diaspora.
The 2024 shortlist featured an impressive array of works from talented authors across the continent, showcasing the diversity and richness of African literature. The first runner-up was Run, Cheche, Run (YA novella) by Tony Mochama (Kenya), and the second runner-up was Joe’s Collectanea by Joshua Omeke (Nigeria). The winner of the 2024 edition was Sibiloi: The Genesis of Humanity?, a Sci-Fi novel by Dr. Dan Kairo. Submissions for 2025 are open and will end on January 31, 2025.
The previous winners are Engineer Peter Nduati (2023) for his memoir Gööka from the Village to the City and Jerusha Kananu Marete (2022) for her poetry, Echoes of Military Souls.
Currently, we are working on five books, which will be published later in the year: ‘Patriotism and Visionary Leadership’ by Dr Muriithi Kiyu, ‘In and Outside Africa’ by Dominik Langenbacher, the second edition of ‘Marry Me a Co-Wife’ by poetess Jerusha Kananu Marete, ‘Through the Eyes of a Physician’ by Dr Bundi Karau, and ‘Inside Out’ by Dr Christine Mukhwana.
Our other already-published authors are writing more books besides focusing on their eight-to-five professional careers. A spot check at the beginning of the year showed that some are even working with mainstream publishers and writing educational texts. This is the versatility a writer should have to be successful.
Additionally, we have a pool of writers across Africa who contribute to the ‘Our Stories Redefined’ Anthology for African Writing, where we call for all new-age African writers to submit their stories. The anthology alternates between flash fiction and poetry, but the 2025 edition will be nonfiction stories about family. The 2024 edition was themed ‘Love Made in Africa’, and we received submissions from first-time countries like Somalia, Tanzania, Botswana, and Malawi, among others.
The anthology will be launched on 14 February 2025 at iHub, Nairobi.
