Kgotla ya Bakwadi
The Author Mentorship Programme

Core Teaching — always in this order

1. Developmental edit: structure, plot/argument logic, pacing, character arcs, chapter order. Big surgery first — no point polishing a sentence you will later delete.
2. Line edit: paragraph and sentence craft — rhythm, clarity, transitions, voice consistency, showing vs telling.
3. Copy edit: grammar, spelling, punctuation, consistency (names, timelines, capitalisation, hyphenation), style-sheet enforcement.
4. Proofread: the final pass on the formatted book — typos, spacing, widows/orphans, page-number errors. Done last, on the designed file.

• The cooling-off rule: minimum two weeks between finishing a draft and editing it. Distance creates the stranger's eye.
• Read aloud (or text-to-speech): the ear catches what the eye forgives — clunky rhythm, repeated words, missing words.
• Search-and-destroy list: hunt "very", "really", "just", "that", "started to", "began to", passive constructions, and your personal crutch words (everyone has three).
• Style sheet: one page recording every decision — character name spellings, place names, UK vs US spelling (Botswana standard: UK), number style, Setswana italicisation policy.
• Tools: Word's Editor / Grammarly as a first net — never as final authority; they routinely mangle Setswana names and local idiom.

• When to hire: after your best self-edit, never before — you pay editors by the hour of problems they find.
• Briefing an editor: supply your premise sentence, audience, style sheet, and what level of edit you want. Vague briefs produce vague edits.
• Reading an edit: accept/reject in Track Changes deliberately; query, don't fight. The editor protects the reader, not your ego.
• Rates guide (regional): developmental edits cost more than copy edits; expect per-word or per-page quotes. Villescence provides transparent standard rates to cohort members.

Core Teaching

• The thumbnail test: your cover will be judged at 100 pixels tall on Amazon. Title readable, genre obvious, one focal image — at postage-stamp size.
• Genre signalling: study the top 20 covers in your category; yours must belong to the family while standing out within it. Romance looks like romance; business looks like business.
• Typography hierarchy: title largest, author name grows with your fame, subtitle carries the promise (non-fiction). Maximum two typefaces.
• Spine & back: spine text legible on a shelf; back cover = hook paragraph, 3 bullet benefits or review quotes, author bio, ISBN barcode zone (bottom right, never obstructed).
• Botswana aesthetic: local texture, pattern and photography differentiate on the global shelf — used with professional restraint, not as decoration.

• Trim sizes: 5"×8" or 5.25"×8" (fiction/memoir), 6"×9" (non-fiction), 8.5"×8.5" (children's). Choose before typesetting — it drives page count and print cost.
• Body type: a book serif (Garamond, Caslon, Minion) at 10.5–12pt, leading 120–145%, justified with hyphenation. Sans-serif body text signals "office document".
• Page anatomy: front matter order (half-title → title → copyright → dedication → contents), running heads, drop folios on chapter openers, back matter (about the author, also-by, review ask).
• Widows, orphans & rivers: the three typesetting sins; how to fix each with tracking and rebreaking — never by stretching word spacing.
• Tools: InDesign (professional standard, what Villescence uses), Word with discipline (acceptable for simple novels), free alternatives and their limits.

• Print-ready PDF: embedded fonts, 300dpi images, CMYK, correct bleed (3mm) and spine-width calculation from page count and paper stock.
• KDP print setup: cover template generator, matte vs glossy, cream vs white paper (fiction = cream, image-heavy = white), proof ordering — always order a physical proof.
• Local printing: when short local runs beat print-on-demand (events, school orders, church launches) — leveraging Villescence's binding capability for fast Gaborone turnaround.
• Ebook (EPUB): reflowable text, embedded cover, working table of contents, no fixed layouts for novels; validation before upload.

• What an ISBN does: uniquely identifies each edition/format (print and ebook need separate ISBNs); required for bookshop and library distribution.
• Getting an ISBN in Botswana: apply through the national ISBN agency (Botswana National Library Service) — the process, what to submit, and typical timelines. Free KDP-assigned ISBNs work for Amazon-only, but a Botswana ISBN registers your book to your imprint and country.
• Legal deposit: your obligation to lodge copies with the national library — and why it matters for national bibliography and posterity.
• Copyright basics: copyright exists on creation; the copyright page wording, publisher imprint naming, and when to consider formal registration.

• Account setup done right: legal name vs imprint, tax interview (W-8BEN for Botswana residents — claiming treaty status honestly), and the settings that block accounts when rushed.
• Metadata that sells: title/subtitle keywords, the 7 backend keyword slots (phrases readers actually search, no repetition of title words), and choosing 3 categories where you can realistically rank.
• Book description: hook line → promise → bullets → social proof → call to action; formatted with HTML for scannability.
• Pricing strategy: ebook royalty bands (70% window), print costs vs list price, pricing for US/UK markets while remaining accessible to African buyers.
• Launch settings: pre-orders, KDP Select trade-offs (exclusivity vs Kindle Unlimited pages), and when wide distribution beats Select.

Core Teaching — the module most programmes skip

• The problem: Amazon does not pay directly into most African bank accounts; unprepared authors accumulate unreachable royalties.
• Payoneer route: opening and verifying a Payoneer account (documents, proof of address, common verification failures and how to resolve them), linking receiving accounts to KDP per-marketplace, and withdrawal to local banking.
• Alternative gateways: evaluating services like Grey and similar cross-border fintech accounts — fees, limits, verification requirements, and building redundancy so one blocked account never strands your income.
• Thresholds & timing: payment thresholds per marketplace, 60-day payment cycles, currency conversion costs and how to minimise them.
• Record-keeping: tracking royalties for your own accounts and tax compliance in Botswana.

• Author brand = promise + proof + personality: define your three brand words, your reader avatar, and the transformation you are known for. The brand sells book two before it exists.
• Platform priorities for Botswana authors: Facebook (widest local reach), WhatsApp (community and direct sales), Instagram/TikTok (younger readers), LinkedIn (non-fiction credibility). Pick two; do them properly.
• Author bio system: 3 lengths (one-liner, 50-word, 150-word) written once, reused everywhere.
• Email list from day one: a simple reader list (even a managed WhatsApp broadcast) outperforms any algorithm you don't control.

Phase 1 — Runway (Days -60 to -30)

• Cover reveal, street team recruitment (10–30 early readers), advance review copies out, launch event venue and partners booked.

Phase 2 — Ignition (Days -30 to 0)

• Pre-order push, countdown content, media outreach (radio — Duma FM, RB2, Yarona FM — newspapers, podcasts), influencer/book-club seeding, launch event promotion.

Phase 3 — Liftoff (Days 0 to +30)

• Launch event (bookshop, kgotla-style community gathering, church or campus), review harvesting to hit 10+ Amazon reviews fast, daily social proof content, school/organisation bulk pitches.

Phase 4 — Cruise (Days +30 to +90)

• Content repurposing, speaking bookings, category-ranking maintenance, second-market pushes (South Africa, diaspora), lessons-learned review.

• Content pillars: behind-the-book, reader transformation, author journey, and topical commentary — a 4-week repeating calendar so you never stare at a blank post.
• Earning local media: the one-page press release, pitching radio producers, and turning every appearance into recorded content.
• Reviews engine: back-matter review ask, street-team sequencing, and the ethics line — never buy or fake reviews; Amazon's detection is unforgiving.
• Paid ads (advanced): when Amazon Ads and Facebook ads make sense — only after organic proof, with small daily budgets and a kill-switch discipline.

• Wide vs exclusive: aggregators (Draft2Digital, PublishDrive) to reach Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play — and when KDP Select exclusivity earns more.
• Direct sales: selling signed copies via WhatsApp Business catalogue, mobile money and EFT — highest margin channel available to Botswana authors.
• Audiobooks (horizon): production routes and costs; when your sales justify it.

• Bookshop placement: approaching local bookshops and chains — trade terms, consignment vs sale-or-return, invoice discipline, and restocking rhythm.
• Schools & curriculum: pitching supplementary readers to schools; understanding textbook approval pathways and where independent titles realistically fit.
• Libraries & institutions: Botswana National Library Service purchasing, university libraries, corporate bulk orders (staff gifts, CSR literacy programmes).
• Events as channels: book fairs, cultural festivals, church and school visits — with a table kit checklist (float, card/mobile payments, banner, signing pen).

• Your rights portfolio: print, ebook, audio, translation, film — what you own and never sign away carelessly.
• Setswana editions & translation: the cultural and commercial case for local-language editions; costing a translation properly.
• Backlist thinking: books are assets that compound; series strategy, boxsets, and annual re-launch pushes.
• The author business: speaking, workshops, and consulting income that a published book unlocks — often exceeding royalties.