Creating a sustainable publishing future: a case study of AMECEA Gaba Publications, Eldoret-Kenya

• Main Author: Jelagat, Cheruiyot Caroline
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Amecea; Publishers and publishing > Kenya > Case studies; Publishers and publishing > Forecasting; Book industries and trade
• Online Access: Jelagat, Cheruiyot Caroline (2016) Creating a sustainable publishing future: a case study of AMECEA Gaba Publications, Eldoret-Kenya, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21981>; http://hdl.handle.net/10539/21981

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Publishing Studies Johannesburg, 2016 === AMECEA Gaba Publications was founded in 1958 in Gaba, Uganda, by the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA) bishops. As a platform for theological reflections by the agents of evangelization in the AMECEA region, Gaba Publications’ sole aim is to make Christ’s message relevant to the Church in Africa through printed reflections, research findings, informed views and pastoral ministry experience. Its main publications are the African Ecclesial Review (AFER) journal and Spearhead monograph book series. The concern of this case study was that AMECEA Gaba Publications (AGP), which has been in the business for a relatively longer time than most publishers in the region, and with the influence it has across all of the East and Central Africa thanks to the support of AMECEA bishops, should by all estimates be doing better or at least competing favourably with the other players in the field of publishing in the region. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Over the years, Gaba Publications has witnessed a great reduction in its subscription, readership sales and authorship contributions. What is Gaba Publications not doing to stay competitive and in keeping with the publishing trends in the region? What is the Publications doing wrong? This study sought to answer these questions by examining the current publishing status of AMECEA Gaba Publications, identifying some of the opportunities available for Gaba Publications to improve its current financial status and assessing the capacity of Gaba Publications to engage in e-publishing. From the study findings, it was established that Gaba Publications, being an evangelical publishing firm, may never fully achieve self-sustainability. However, the findings of the study also indicated that a number of opportunities are available for Gaba Publications to attract business opportunities and help it make steps towards improving its current publishing status. The key lessons that this study has yielded are that a publishing company must have a product that has a distinct quality, genre and style, it must have a mission and goals that consumers can relate to, and be able to effectively sell its goods and services === GR2017