Helen Moffett

One of the most frustrating things imaginable for an author, especially in a global village, is when would-be readers can’t find our books. I hear over and over, “Where/how can I buy your books? I can’t find them in my nearest branch of Exclusives or Wordsworth.” Getting them to potential readers abroad often presents major logistical challenges. In theory, you should be able to get them all online by clicking below the covers arranged down the side of this page, but I often get a broken link when I try this — or once I click through, I find the site says “unknown”.

So here’s a guide, designed to make it as painless (and hopefully inexpensive) as possible.

Getting hold of my debut poetry collection, Strange Fruit, can involve a few hoops. There ARE branches of both Exclusives and Wordsworth that stock it (in Cape Town, both the Waterfront and Cavendish branches of EB have it). You’ll need to be very firm with those that don’t: order it, and refuse to take “No” for an answer. Supply all the details: title, my name (spelled correctly — I have lost count of the times bored sales-clerks, bullied by me into searching their databases, have announced triumphantly: “We have nothing by Moffat/Moffit/Mrrfitz on the system”) and ISBN/EAN if possible.

I realise this involves more determination and organization that most are prepared to invest, so take the easy route: send wonderful super-duper where-would-we-be-without-them Book Lounge an email, or give them a call. They will promptly send a copy anywhere in the world, hassle-free. What’s more, they’ll send you a signed copy if you ask for one. Alternatively, you could try www.kalahari.net — Strange Fruit isn’t on their system at the moment, but this is apparently being rectified. Kalk Bay Books, another grand indie bookstore, stocks it AND lets you order online. If all else fails, write to me or Colleen Higgs, my publisher — here the advantage is that we really, truly, deeply want you to buy the book. Americans have the advantage of the Scribd/Little White Bakkie system that enables them to buy the e-book. But (marketing ploy alert) the hard copy, with its fruity pink and dark chocolate cover, makes a great Valentine’s Day pressie — plus it contains erotica (it’s a Very Rude Book, according to my mother).

And while we’re talking about erotica, a word in favour of a much-loved stepchild book in which I have a story: Open, an erotic anthology by South African women writers. With a rather retiring cover, this glorious book never really got the kudos it deserved, although it did have a glittering and glam launch. It’s a literary tour de force, with a host of prize-winning writers contributing, including Caine Prize winners Henrietta Rose-Innes and Mary Watson. But this doesn’t compromise the raunch. Or the fun: male readers reported laughing their heads off, as well as taking notes. Use bulldozer tactics when ordering it from your local bookshop, or order it direct from Random House Struik. Or click here to get it from loot (at a rather nice price); and here to get it with ebucks via kalahari. Also a good Ballyhootine’s Day present.

And now a word for my beloved orphan book, Lovely Beyond Any Singing: shortly after it came out, the imprint was mothballed. The memory still causes hair-tearing. Nevertheless, while the books doze mostly undisturbed in a large warehouse in Ottery, sales limp on (it sells very sparingly but steadily to homesick Saffers abroad), and two bookshops in the entire country — Clarens’s The Bibliophile and our very own Book Lounge — keep it in stock. I strongly suspect it might be in line for pulping, but here’s some good news: it’s currently available from kalahari at an impressively low price — so low as to preclude me getting any royalties, so I have no ulterior motives in encouraging you to buy it. Everyone who has ever lived in this incredibly beautiful country, or who plans to travel to it, NEEDS to buy this book. Really.

The cricket book, aka Bob Woolmer’s Art and Science of Cricket, is perhaps the easiest to get hold of, with its own dedicated website and independent distributors in the UK, North America (including the Caribbean), India, Australia and New Zealand. Amazon does a steady trade in it, at a discount that once again pretty much precludes the authors getting any royalties, but what matters is that this labour of love and incredibly special memorial to Bob gets around. This is also the only book of mine that’s generally available in most bookshops. The price might give you pause — but remember it’s a hardcover illustrated behemoth of nearly 700 pages, and is a very good deal, esp as a Christmas or birthday present.

For those who want something they can pick up without straining, cricket-lovers in the UK can now buy paperback versions of the batting and bowling chapters: these will be released as separate books in March and can be pre-ordered via Amazon. (Ignore the dreadful descriptions of the books — I have been promised that these will be replaced with the final book blurbs, although Amazon seems to be taking its sweet time about updating them.)

I assume that anyone who wants to get Seasons Come to Pass, my university-level textbook on poetry, can do so fairly easily, and indeed, you can get it here, here and here. I’m very fond of this book, and non-students say they also enjoy it.

My academic stuff is more specialist, and I doubt whether many of you will be banging on counters demanding these titles, but here are some web links nonetheless:
Partners in change: Working with men to end gender-based violence, a UN-INSTRAW publication in which I have a chapter (this was so badly edited as to compromise the content, so on the off-chance anyone is interested, you might want to ask me for the original version);
Advancing Refugee Protection in South Africa, published by Berghahn Books and available as an e-book — I’ve co-authored a chapter on women refugees;
Women’s Activism in South Africa, for some reason much cheaper at loot than anywhere else online, plus I spotted a stack of copies at the Book Lounge — or you can just read my chapter here;
New South African Keywords, in which I wrote the section on gender (surprise). This is indeed a handy addition to your library, and packs a lot of punch for a such a little book. Very sharp, but not so academic as to be intimidating.

PS: In researching this post, I found that book websites do some rather weird things. According to kalahari, the readership for Lovely Beyond Any Singing (a book with something for everyone) is “undergraduate”, which is news to me. And to my annoyance, Amazon has downgraded me on all the cricket books from “author” to “contributor”. I imagine this is a reflection of the deep-rooted assumption that a woman can’t possibly have written a book about cricket, encapsulated when radio presenter (and usually flawless interviewer) John Maytham announced on Capetalk radio: “Tom Eaton did a great job of writing this book with Bob Woolmer and Tim Noakes, and Helen Moffett helped with the editing.” Er no, John, it was the other way round, and I’d spent quite some time on air explaining this to you.