The Secretary General of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), Dr. Wale Okediran, has advised African writers to look beyond the traditional publishing contract, which typically pays about 10 per cent royalty, and to earn from film adaptation, digital editions, audiobooks, translations and foreign deals.
Okediran spoke on Saturday, October 24, 2026, on Freedom Square TV’s Beyond the Headlines, hosted by Dr. Uchenna Cyril Anioke, when asked why many African writers remain poor and what makes a fair contract.
He said writing is regarded worldwide as “a supportive economy.” Writers in Western countries earn well, he said, but in developing countries a weak reading culture and poor access to books keep readership small, so authors and publishers are less prosperous. He advised upcoming writers to keep a day job while building their careers. He ran his own hospital by day and wrote at night, and the hospital paid the bills until his books began to sell. He went into full-time writing about ten years ago, after a book of his was adapted into a movie and Netflix paid him.
On the film, he said he took a bank loan to produce the adaptation of his novel Tenants of the House and acted as executive director. When Netflix paid, the debts were cleared “and some substantial profit left”. The story involves a Fulani flogging ceremony, which he researched by spending about three days in a Fulani village in Bauchi State. Foreign audiences found it striking, he said. The film is being subtitled in French, and he said plans exist for in-flight adaptations.
PAWA is now preparing to showcase about six African film adaptations of books across the continent, partly to show writers that film may pay more than books.
On contracts, he said authors should not stop at royalties. They should digitise their books so that international readers can find them, seek foreign deals (he said an East African publisher approached his Ibadan publisher at an event in Zimbabwe), and consider audiobooks. Through its “Book of the Week” initiative, PAWA picks a book in rotation from each of Africa’s 54 countries, but requires good local and international reviews and a digital edition.
He added that quality is the foundation of it all. “Content is key,” he said, urging writers to read widely, take online courses and use translation technology.