Every book lover dreams of having unlimited access to affordable books they can read. That is why knowing and having access to bookstores is essential. Co-owned by Tobi Eyinade, Roving Heights is a social-minded book sales and distribution company with a vibrant digital presence and brick and mortar stores in two major cities in Nigeria.
In this eelive.ng edition of Book People, we take a deep dive into how Tobi Eyinade uses Roving Heights to paint book reading as the new cool.
The Early Bookworm
As with many book lovers, Eyinade’s passion for books stemmed from her childhood. With both parents as teachers, she says, “I was exposed to books (especially African Literature) and magazines from my pre-teenage years. My elder brother also played a key role in building my passion for books. He regularly attended book fairs where rare books were sold at decent rates. I used to sneak into his room to take some of these books and read while he was away in University.”
Now, with many books at her disposal, Eyinade has become more intentional with the books she consumes. She attributes this to the limited time she has to spare; running a bookstore chain can be demanding. She says, “I manage to know something about every book we stock. This way, I know how best to pitch their value and recommend them to people. Life is too short to be stuck with an unimpressive book.”
Nigeria’s Reading Culture
There is a notorious saying that if you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book. Nigeria’s burgeoning reading culture questions this stereotype. Digital innovation and a dose of social media is reigniting the reading culture in Nigeria.
Speaking to eelive.ng’s Chidirim Ndeche, Eyinade attests to this. She says Roving Heights closes some of its biggest sales on social media platforms such as Instagram. “Social media has helped us influence the average Nigerian’s perception of reading. We sell books as the new cool to people.”
There is a fast-spreading thirst for knowledge to uncover a new world and frontiers, due to its immense benefits. This social impact, along with people’s fear of missing out, sits at the heart of Roving Height’s marketing strategy.
Notwithstanding, the ratio of Nigeria’s teeming population in comparison to the book-buying and reading culture of its citizens is depressingly low. Its book publishing success is also a failure compared to other developed parts of the world. Tobi Eyinade says it is typically a struggle for an average author in Nigeria to sell out a print run of a meagre 10,000 copies in a quarter.
Curing Readers’ Block
The literary industry in Nigeria faces multiple challenges, including access to data on its reading culture, piracy and book pricing. “Books are still considered some form of luxury because the buying power of readers is a huge determinant. Little wonder, there is a widespread problem of piracy in the country. Some people would rather opt for pirated books sold in traffic or jump on an epub book shared via Whatsapp.”
“To solve these challenges, we need to orientate people, first, about the value of human intellect and the need to place a premium on it. Government and Private organizations should also support more awareness drive by prioritizing literacy initiatives. They can also sponsor data-driven research that seeks to measure the true state of the reading culture in Nigeria. That way, we start propagating facts not mere statements.”
As a way to encourage more people to read and increase access to books, Roving Heights stocks a wide and eclectic range of titles across different genres. It is also easy for readers to order a book from any of its sales channels and have it delivered to their doorstep. In addition, the company supports book clubs to encourage readers to see the immense benefits of reading.
Eyinade points out books in the non-fiction genre “like religion, self-help/how-to, motivational books” as some of the categories Nigerians are inclined to. They also like reading memoirs and biographies.
Making Books the New Cool
Ebooks become popular by the day, with people being able to access thousands of books from a portable device. Nevertheless, Eyinade does not believe this dampens their desire for physical books. She insists, “I do not see paper books going into extinction anytime soon. What I foresee is both e-books and paper books playing complementary roles. That is already happening. There remains a large market share of paper book lovers. In the end, it is about providing different formats of books and not limiting customers preference and choices.”
With the Covid-19 pandemic came a surge in the demand for books. The lockdown especially triggered renewed interest in books and more people found themselves falling in love again with an age-long culture that time and busyness deprived them of.
Tobi Eyinade has a dream of making books the new cool, as stated in a 2017 interview with Tech Point Africa. Over three years later, she admits that his audacious statement that has grown to become my mission and mantra. “I realise that it is a marathon, not a sprint. We have scaled up the business over the years. I am also learning more ways than one to proffer solutions that address deep-rooted problems I have encountered over the last few years of being in the book space through my new startup: The BookLady NG.”