Striidas Publishers

We are determined to improve the lives of writers, artists and innovators to do it time and again and earn from it through promoting their unleashed talents.

Who is a writer according to the Striidas?

One who is engaged in literary composition as a profession; an author of a play, novel, novella, novelette, short story-writer, a film writer, a song writer or a poet/poetess…

The following training services are offered;

-Novel writing

-Novella writing

-Novelette writing

-Playwriting

-Short-story writing

-Film writing

-Poetry

-Song writing

The Striidas offers online and physical training of writers. The major goal is to discover their writing talents through creativity and innovation. With the rise of the technology The Striidas centre uses it to reach to train writers from across the world.

At the moment, we offer both free and paid trainings on social media platforms such as;

a. The Striidas writing What Sapp groups

b. The Striidas writing centre Facebook groups

c. The Striidas writing Centre on YouTube

d. Zoom & Webinar

The Striidas Writing Centre is a community for anyone interested in writing. Anything related to writing is encouraged here. We would love to focus on the creative writing processes, the exchange and inspiration that are involved in the craft and art of writing. We encourage writers to ask questions, discuss and debate matters writing. Our editors are ever ready to answer such questions as they mentor them right from where they are, until when they complete what they are writing. During the training, writers are encouraged to take up series-writing journey. Every successful writer is led to advance Striidas Self-Publishing processes. The training focuses on different genres and styles of presentations to the society. The well-written series are published, acted and filmed.

Outdoor writing mentorships programs in schools

In the pursuit of talent discovery we extend our creativity and innovation values to schools where we start and grow clubs called The Striidas creative writing clubs. To achieve our goals we collaborate with the creative and innovation departments. In the clubs, we work with the teachers of languages to achieve our goals of talent discovery. Theagenda of training is to empower students on creativity and innovation skills that can be initiated and established in their lives after school.

The club’s mission is to boost students’ creativity, invention and innovation skills thus leading to great development of drama and music clubs in their school. The training will cover areas of literature and science; Poetry, Acting, Writing, Playwriting, Oratory, great journalism and the general sciences. All these will widen the scope of creativity and innovation in them.

Once the training and testing in schools is over, The Striidas editorial office will provide a platform for the students to practice what they’d learn in their clubs. Thereafter, internal and external competitions are organized, where the victors will be awarded and sponsored by stake holders. The talented persons will get opportunities to be featured in the media platforms and be part of the Striidas team going forward. For instance, if we discover a good actor, we get him or her opportunity to join The Striidas Acting team that acts our published series that will later be pitched to the media according to their genre it’s withholding…

It’s the industry of publishing or making known; information to the people at large, either by words, writing, singing, or printing; proclamation; divulgation including the production and distribution of books, magazines, websites, newspapers, etc.

The Striidas Indie publishing House major on books & film publishing processes;

The following services are offered at the publishing sector;

a) -Editorial services

b) -Proofreading services

c) -Cover designing services

d) -Sales & Marketing services

e) -Printing press

f) -Editorial training services

g) Query letter review

(ii) The self-publishing doesn’t mean that the writer has to do it by him or herself.

Although it’s called self-publishing, you don’t have to do it alone. Consider the help of professionals who know the ropes. The market is flooded with books—and not just self-published books, either. To stand out in a crowded market, your book has to be as good as (or better than) the ones you see on bookstore shelves. Hiring Striidas experts in editing, proofreading, design, formatting, and printing are going to help you produce a book that can be competitive in the marketplace.

The Striidas editorial Office is trained to understand the industry. Our developmental editors know what your text needs to do to engage readers. Our copyeditors know how to clean up your prose. Our design team knows how to create a cover that’ll look good at a thumbnail size, in an eBook, and in print, which is harder than you might think. Our marketing staffs know what distributors look for when trying to get books on the shelves of brick-and-mortar stores.

Your best friend, the voracious reader, who “loves” your book and just “knows” it will sell, may not be qualified to give you optimal.

Interviewing the Writer

Before we begin the process of publishing, we first establish your voice by asking you the professional questions; these questions will help us to detect plagiarism and to help the writer to determine the types of publishing services that might be right.

Editorial Quizzes

a. Why did you choose writing?

b. What pushed you to write this story?

c. Who are your target audience?

d. Has someone read your story, if yes, were the results positive or not?

e. Have you published any other genre before?

f. Do you have another genre you are working on?

g. How did you know about us?

h. What are your publishing expectations?

i. What’s your publishing timeline?

j. Have you determined your budget?

k. What types of editing can benefit your book?

l. Have you thought about how you’d like your cover and interior to look?

Submission, Pagination & Printing Service

This is the second stage after typesetting the manuscript thus readying it for pagination, printing and editing.

Pagination is the process of creating and numbering pages of books, examination papers, newspapers or magazines. Immediately after the pagination is done, it is then taken to the printer for printing. Not less than ten copies are printed for The editorial processes. It is determined by the number of pages.

Once the client submits his/her work via Email;[email protected] or thestriidasliteraryagent@gmail, our managing editor will write back a publication report attached with the contract letter. The two explains the process it is involved in the publishing including time, quotations and an approximate total cost of it all. The cost of printing is determined by the size of the manuscript. The printing for sale comes after successful publication.

NEW CLIENTS

Clients who simply want printing services may submit their soft-copies via

Email;[email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] where our managerial editors will write back a printing report attached to the contract letter. The two explains the process it is involved in the printing including time, quotations and an approximate total cost of it all.

Editorial services

EDITING

It is the process of removing the excess, refining the necessary and giving a thought to, if anything more is needed.

Editing can be a daunting process. After working over your book for months—maybe even years—it’s difficult to let your manuscript go and admit it still needs some work.

When it comes to editing, your decision shouldn’t be whether to get editing; it should be what kind of editing to get. Yes, there’s more than one kind of editing—professionals at Striidas typically offer three after an editorial assessment: developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading.

Developmental edits cover big-picture items. With nonfiction, those might be suggestions to improve clarity, structure, or the soundness of your book’s argument. For fiction, a developmental edit focuses on characterization, dialogue, and plot development.

After pagination and copy printing, hard copies are submitted to The Striidas editorial office to trigger the reading stages before submerging into thorough editorial processes at The Striidas editorial office several editors at the Striidas editorial office where each ONE of them strikes his/her ideas into the book. The editorial team then starts the process of reading, assessment, developmental, discussion and proofreading.The acquisition editors, developmental editors, substantive editors and copy editors works as a team to achieve their goals…

The acquisition editors find new authors and promote them. They follow their manuscript from the submission to publication, suggesting plot-level changes to bring the story in line with the publisher’s vision for the product line. Often must fight to get the author accepted in the publishing house. They interview the writer and listens to his/her voice keenly.

There are many different types of editing services available on Striidas.Our editors have selected the services they offer according to the categories that best represent their skills. An editor can, of course, choose several categories. (e.g., a developmental and a copy editor)

THE STRIIDAS EDITORIAL OFFICE

Editorial assessment Desk

Manuscript evaluation

A one-off Striidas Editorial Assessment report on all aspects of the manuscript

Giving good first step if you are unsure what you need

Developmental editing Desk

Develop your book from bare concept or first draft

Major restructuring

Clarify concepts

Improve characterization

Assess plot

Development focus on craft

Improve accuracy

Copy Editing Desk

Brings completed manuscript drafts to a more professional level

Consistency

Attention to style/tone

Fact-checking

Grammar

Punctuation

Usage /diction

Proofreading Desk

This is the final editing before publication

Grammar

Spelling

Punctuation

Usage /diction

Error-free

The Striidas Editorial assessment Desk

An editorial assessment desk is a valuable first overview of your manuscript by professional editors. The Striidas editors will read through the entire manuscript and provide thoughtful, in-depth feedback concerning elements such as plot, characterization, structure, consistency, and style.

Recommendation from an editorial assessment can lead to significant changes to your manuscript. It will identify your book’s strengths and weaknesses, and help you devise a revision strategy that dramatically improves the ex*****on of your idea.

An editorial assessment can also help you determine if your work is ready for query. When paired with a query letter review, the assessment can help bring a much needed polish to your querying package.

Concise, direct feedback on the state of your manuscript

-Clear evaluation of strengths and weaknesses

-Preparation for developmental editing or beta reading ahead of publication

This stage will trigger after signing up The Striidas-client publishing payment agreement plan

Developmental editing Desk

Developmental editors look at everything — the forest and the trees, side-by-side. They make your whole book fit together better by examining everything from individual words to overall structure. Nothing is sacred; developmental editing leads to rewriting as often as it does revision, so expect your work to change substantially.

The Striidas developmental editors let you know when major changes need to be made: cuts, additions, total restructuring, and other hard truths. Your editor should counsel you on your target audience and inform you about the industry standards for your genre. Bring in a developmental editor when you're ready to move beyond drafting, or when you feel something is missing and you need someone to help you see what it is.

Copy Editing Desk

Copy editors are mechanics for language: they edit your book's text or "copy." Fiction or non-fiction, academic or populist, YA or Sci-Fi copy editors help create the most readable version of your book.

They'll make sure your manuscript isn't riddled with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or glaring inconsistencies. They'll break up your 50-word sentences into smaller ones that readers won't skim. They'll catch scenes where your antagonist is wearing sunglasses and spectacles at the same time. They'll save your tone and style from unintentionally wild shifts between sections. They will pull your book together page by page.

Note that many copy editors will not explain all their recommendations, but you can always ask for further clarification if you're unsure why a change was made. Ask to use Change Tracking if doing so is not explicitly stated in the editor's proposal.

Cover Designing Desk

Even though a lot rides on the quality of your cover, it’s one of the most exciting parts of the publishing process. Working with your designer to create your cover is the first moment your book truly feels real. There’s little else like it. (Except holding your book in your hands. That’s pretty cool too.)

The Striidas work hard to help our authors create beautiful covers. Check out examples of our work at www.striidascentre.com

How important is cover design? Well, despite the old adage to never judge a book by its cover, readers do. Think of yourself when you go to a bookstore. What first draws your attention to a book? An amazing cover could be the difference between a reader picking up your book or passing it over. A cover really does sell your book.

And if you’re looking to get your book in a brick-and-mortar store, an excellent cover is even more important. One of the major reasons retailers pass on carrying certain books is “an amazing cover design.” (That’s the actual language they use, by the way. We’re not making it up.)

When you get to the cover design process, here’s what you’ll want to think about:

Does the cover the envisioned, speaks to your target audience?

Will your cover compete with other books in your genre?

Is your designer a good match for your book?

INTERIOR LAYOUT

To many authors, the design of a book’s interior is an afterthought. It shouldn’t be. Parts of what gives a book that polished look are style elements like the margin size, font choice, and header placement.

The masterpiece product is produced after a successful editing is done. The Striidas editors guide the creative designer on issues to be included in the cover of the book. They just give their opinions in their internal house discussions. Their opinions are then implemented by the in-house designers after receiving the author’s opinion on the same cover. The designing of the blurbs, titles, drawings and other creativities is left to the designer.

Our designer receives works from any clients. The designing is based on the work interpretation through sketches and words sent through the emails. The cost of designing is based on the quality of the design and the time consumed in the designing process. We offer the creative designing services; book cover designs, book illustrations, animations, magazines and several others based on the clients wants and tastes.

Proofreading Desk

Proofreading is the final step in the editing process. It’s the ultimate polish on your final files before they go to the printer or digital press. Ensuring that a manuscript is free from tiny spelling and punctuation errors is critical. At the Striidas we hire more than one proof-reader, double checking that absolutely no mistakes get through.

Proofreading requires a keen eye for detail and a systematic method for spotting every subtle error and typographical mistake.

As a proof-reader, it’s best to work from an accepted, clean manuscript. It's their responsibility to find incomplete segments of the stories and gaps, those missing commas, and cut any unnecessary words or segments. We accept any art of work from any one or from any institutions.

Query letter review

A query letter is a vital document for writers seeking traditional publishers or literary agents. It’s a short letter that includes critical details about your book – genre, word count, title, and synopsis – as well as demonstrates your awareness of the market. The query also includes a few details about you – the author! A good query letter will pique an agent’s interest and lead to requests for a partial or full manuscript.

Special attention must be paid to the tone, structure, length and focus of the letter. Writing one is a significantly different exercise from writing a novel and often requires professional help. Many editors have worked with and received numerous query letters throughout their professional lives and can help you craft yours into a convincing and astute document.

What does a “query letter review” offer?

A query letter review is a service provided by some Striidas editors to help you create the best possible query letter. The process involves reviewing your letter and making detailed recommendations on structure, tone and content. A good query letter review will help you strengthen your hook and compose a compelling, tightly-woven synopsis. These particularly tricky aspects of the query frequently make the difference between grabbing an agent’s interest and fading into the slush.

Some of our editors will include a review of a certain number of manuscript pages with the query letter review — generally somewhere between 10 and 50 pages. This is the number likely to be requested alongside your query letter. Make sure you understand exactly what your query letter review includes before finalizing your editor selection on the Striidas marketplace.

A query letter review cannot guarantee agent responses or representation from a literary agent, but in a highly competitive environment where agents receive hundreds or thousands of letters a year, a brilliant query letter and the advice of an experienced professional editor can be extremely valuable.

Book Registration

The published book is submitted to the copyright board for copyrighting. It is then registered with the International Serial Book Number (ISBN) and finally submitted to Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) for approval or the relevant authority in the respective country. The cost of registration is determined by the quality of work done in the editorial process.

Copy Printing

At this stage, we print at least four copies. Three copies for the editorial team and one for the writer, the author is given a dummy copy to go and re-read before being asked to come for briefing on the manuscript final stages. The cost for this stage lies in the hands of the printer.

Launching

If the writer wants to start the business with his/her book then we shall launch the book .Here, The Striidas Centre will facilitate the launching by inviting the great writers, leaders and the company’s friends to support in launching the book. NOTE: ONLY FOR THE CLIENTS WHO INTEND TO SELL THEIR BOOKS IN THE KENYAN MARKET.

Marketing is all about getting your book in front of potential readers and creating so much interest in your book that people want to buy a copy. That means marketing is vital to your success; if people don’t know about your book, they can’t want it, and if they don’t want it, you won’t sell copies and no sales at all!

Because marketing is so vital to your success, you should begin as early as possible—before your book is even published. How can you market a book that hasn’t been published? By marketing yourself and making lasting connections.

But connecting with other people is only a small part of what you have to do to market your book. That’s why you need a solid marketing plan, along with an idea of how much of the marketing you want to handle yourself. You don’t have to handle it all on your own—in fact, many efforts are best done by a professional who can get your book in front of the right people. A publicist can help you determine how to most effectively promote your book, as well as which efforts you should do on your own and which you should hire a professional to do for you.

We are constantly tweaking how, when, and where we market books based on our knowledge of the industry and the specific needs and goals of each book that we help market.

· Writers published by the Striidas

The company gives options to its clients. After self-publishing; the writer receives a soft copy of the book. Therefore the writer is advised on several options and after all he/she will choose whether to do a business with us or not. If the writer chooses the company to sell his book then a business network is constructed to enable the writer to sell his or her book directly and indirectly. Group of investors (writers) will decide the cost of distribution.

In this case, writers will venture into the business with the company where they will be required to fund their project. Authors investing in their books will enable their books to be distributed to the consumers in the field. The company hatches a plan to create a smooth environment for selling e.g. continuous marketing in the media platforms. The company will seek direct orders from the county and national governments for their books. Clients are required to sign an investment contract with the company where the company will help them to manage their business. The investment contracts states that the writer takes 70% of the total sales while the company is left out with 30% for storage and management. Marketing and advertising will be a routine where the company focuses on the writer’s public relation image. He is given a platform in the media house and through the mentorship programs in schools…

BOOK DISTRIBUTION

This is the commercial activity of transporting and selling books from the company to the readers. It could be distributed to schools, commercial bookstores or to community libraries.

There are several ways to get our books to the readers.

a) Print distribution

-Print-on-demand (POD) distribution means books are printed to order; there’s no physical inventory of your book.

-Expanded distribution is similar to the traditional model of book distribution, where your book is printed ahead of time and stored at a warehouse. A distributor then fulfils orders using your printed inventory.

b) EBook distribution

Given that 20 percent of readers exclusively read on a tablet or eBook reader, eBook publishing and distribution is a must for almost every type of book. We therefore collaborate with 20 online marketing companies like Amazon, Lulu and Pay hip to get our books on sell.

c) Audio book distribution

We turn the books into audio; a narration of the text making it simpler to the reader to listen and enjoy the flow of the story.

d) Video book distribution

After publishing our books, we then film the series kind of stories and the short ones animated to suit the readers’ tastes …

ACTING AND FILMING

Here at The Striidas Publishing Centre, we pride ourselves by bringing tomorrow’s stories today. Thus we do not only publish the writers work but also act and film the art of work to films and microfilms. We offer the first priority to writers work to let them get known through filming. Our able actors as they stage theatric presentation of each writer’s title upon publication. That is if they are ready and authorizes a go ahead on the same. We advise the writers accordingly, on the importance of filming their work.

ACTING

The Striidas Publishing Centre involves professional actors in theatrical presentations. This is after actors’ auditions where roles are selected to bring the characters in their stories to life. Once auditions are done, the actors are issued with roles on short stories titles first. Then they do a stage presentation over the same. This is to evaluate their ability to role play and represent characters in real life situation. More so, it is with an aim of highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Lastly they integrate into a major task which is a major little, a novelette, a novella, a novel, a play and later or majoring on sequels and series that will be pitched in the media houses.

The Striidas have able and professional actors who present theatric scenes of the stories presented by the writers after publication. Most importantly we give the first priority to our published writers as far as acting, filming and video production is concerned. With potential writers available for a publishing process with The Striidas Publishing Centre, we work tirelessly to not only ensure that all writers share their God given knowledge through writing but also earn from it. For we believe that writing isn’t just a talent but also a way of benefiting writers.

Well set theatric presentations are done by professional actors who can be able to present every scenario of the books acted as they appear in the sets. We engage them on both contract basis and permanent basis. This is to those who are willing to extend their services further with us. More so we ensure that both the hard copy and the filmed copies of our authors’ titles are protected to avoid piracy or production without the author or the company’s consent. Our Writers are our priority our clients are our first consideration.

FILMING

Recording videos and film productions are done. Once done these films are presented to the media houses and to the public secured media channels upon authorization by the Kenya Film and video Classification Board. This is to ensure we have copyrights of the same and authorized protection rights to avoid piracy. Writers have to fully earn from their distinguished talents and that is why we focus on opening up and channeling avenues for them.

Upon absorption by the Media Houses they can be easily aired out on daily or weekly basis in regard to the agreements met by the negotiators with the media houses. More so The Striidas Centre is aiming at launching its Channel in the near future so as to also offer ample channels to play its films, acted, filmed and produced in its studios. However, right now it is highly relying on media houses in Kenya and social media platforms without forgetting its channels on YouTube and Viusasa.

We priotize on filming a series of stories from a single title the Author writes. Thus we have been encouraging our writers to set a story that is in series form to ensure that the viewers will be waiting for a continuation of the same when one series season is over. This doesn’t exclude those who write a story that majorly focus on a single story plot. They to have their stories filmed.

As if that isn’t enough the company also considers converting the titles into local languages where the writers accept. We are proud of our diversity and heritage. We would want to reach out to all through writing and creative art. Thus these talents aren’t meant for the educated only but everyone who has a desire to read or watch. Reaching out to the greater society will ensure a wider market than ever before as we quench the needs of our clients.

There are also researches, motivational books and other writings aiming at educating the society on various issues pertaining it. Such topics are also filmed as the speakers discuss them.

MARKETING

The Striidas Publishing Centre embraces dynamic marketing strategies. This is through marketing personals, Online marketing platforms, website and social media platforms created. We also have a slogan which is; ‘TELL A FRIEND TO TELL A FRIEND.’ Our Website too serves the wider population that maybe looking for service providers like us. Through this devised system of communication we are not only able to sell products and offer services but also share the knowledge with people looking for it in the field of writing.

We always work so hard to overcome the barriers that might restrict a successful share of knowledge. Our strength is integration, train, accommodate and business. More so friendship where the subject matter is the business...