KREST PUBLISHERS BLOG PAGE

Our bookish community, who know us as trustworthy traditional publishers, might not be aware that we do self publish writers too! Traditional publishing and self-publishing under one roof, one might ask. Yes, indeed! This is why: There are a lot of decision-making factors in the written world, such as cost estimates, market share, distribution commission... and so sometimes really creative manuscripts get overlooked because of these things. We don't see any problem with turning to self-publishing if you know the value of your work. In fact, we rather advocate it at certain times.  The world might have never seen these gems, if the writers hadn't thought to go ahead and shoot their own shot! Here are 8 famous books that were actually self-published...  1. FIFTY SHADES OF GREY - E.L. JAMES Alright, so we understand it's not everyone's cup of literary merit. Author E.L. James believed she was on to something nonetheless, and she self-published the first Fifty ...

A massive congratulations to Riette De Kock who wins first place in our 2020 short story competition! Riette took the “Whodunnit” topic and turned it on its head with a unique twist. Riette lives in Hermanus and says she keeps writing stories out of love even though she has never won anything. Well, Riette, your day has come! Here’s her winning story: “MURDER BY THE BOOK” BY RIETTE DE KOCK He emerged from rolls of paper, his pages neatly cut, arranged in order, and glued before he was put into a press. When he came out he wore a thick hard cover. After he cooled down a bit, a designer body sleeve was put around the cover. He looked undeniably immaculate, and still smelled like printer’s ink. He was delivered by an overnight courier that morning, after which he was unpacked. He received a sticker on his back and one in his inside cover page, and was placed on a trolley. Next to him sat Passionately Yours Forever , a lusty little dame – a fresh-from-the-press beau...

Congratulations to Elouise Drage for placing second in our first annual short story competition. Elouise was not afraid to touch on a current topic when she wrote on “a problem faced in South Africa”. She is a grade 11 pupil at Steinkopf High School and aspires to be a lawyer. Here is her empowering story: “BEAUTIFUL CHILD” BY ELOUISE DRAGE “To my little dark-skinned girl, Momma never meant for this to happen. For me leaving this world so soon, and not seeing you blossom into the young and beautiful lady you are today. Mr and Mrs Van Der Buik promised to give you the life I could only dream of and I knew I only had a few weeks to live before the cancer would take me, so I took their offer and gave them my precious one-year-old baby, with only this letter and tears in my eyes. I know what it is like out there in their world. By your skin you will be hated, by your eyes you will be judged…’’ This is as far as Bongile can read before the tears run do...