My name is Mfundo Mpofu, in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape. I have this amazing little book that I have written and published myself. The little book is called CREEPY TALES: Part One, wth four banging short stories, set in Mdantsane and Mthatha, Eastern Cape. It's horror fiction, about the darkest side of life known as witchcraft, which victimizes us black folk in the townships and the villages across South Africa, on a daily basis. Creepy Tales is 100 pages long, A5 sized and printed in black and white.
My stories maybe categorised as horror stories, but there is no bloodshed. With these stories, my audience would range between the fans of horror and the supernatural. Self-publishing the book was something that never crossed my mind. But after four rejections by four different traditional publishers, I had no choice but to take the self-publishing route than to give up. Creepy Tales comes in six parts. If I had given up after the rejections, all my efforts, the sleepless nights, the difficulties I went through putting the stories together would have gone down the drain, and of course, would have drained me mentally.
So I decided to do it myself. After obtaining the ISBN, I went to the printers (Copy World) in Berea, East London, with the script. They made the book, and from it they printed 50 copies. I sold them door-to-door, like insurance, at 30% markup. It took me a very long time to sell 50 copies. But I persevered and made another 50. Then I discovered I was losing more money than I was making. And the cause was not a mystery. It was marketing. I didn't have marketing power as it involved huge sums of money.
Then I realised self-publishing companies were there for this reason, among others. I contacted one of the best self-publishing companies (My eBOOK) in Gauteng and explained my problem. They asked for a script. I sent them, and they sent me a quote. The biggest mistake I made was assuming they would make the book and then deduct their fees from the sales. That was in 2016. The quote included, Editing - R8 990: Proof reading - R7 990: Book cover - R1 490: Ebook conversion - R2 990 & Publishing on Amazon - R2 990. And they wanted it upfront, to get started. I only paid R1400. And because I couldn't find any more money, I decided to look for funding. My first stop was Arts & Culture, in King William's Town, which turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt. I tried IDZ, in East London, unsuccessfully. I approached my family, relatives and friends. I got less than 5% of the entire amount needed by My eBOOK. Not daring to give up, I made 100 flyers and distributed to houses asking for donations. The first batch saw me receive R240 as a positive response. The second 100 flyers, I got R410. The third, the response was so negative I received R0.00, out of 100 flyers. Seeing how serious I was, my friends and family told me by distributing flyers I was actually crowdfunding, but was not aware of it. I only needed to do it the right way, by enlisting help of the real fundraiser, with the know how, not what I was doing. There, the help that I so desperately need to get my little book to countless number of wonderful readers out there is guaranteed.
The image above is the front cover of one of the three copies that remained when I was selling the 2nd print of the 50 copies.

Below are the names of the short stories, their lengths and some short synopses of each story.
1) REJECT Length: 21 pages

The story tells of a girl (Wendy Skhonyela), from Umtata studying in Qunu, in 1989, who is taken by the wicked witches to Gwadana, one of the witches' magically hidden (by black magic of course) many evil places in the former homeland of Transkei (they exist everywhere, not only in the former T.K.I.). But an unexpected twist, which makes the whole story a complete shocker, forces the sinister witches to bring Wendy back to the real world unharmed (which is not supposed to be, so they say. Once a victim, always a victim...no coming back). Wendy's return makes a chilling revelation about the supernatural dark world of Gwadana, so shocking you will slap, punch, pinch yourself, or even pull your skin (just to feel the pain) to make sure it's the real you, and that you're not in Gwadana yourself..... BELIEVE T HE UNB ELIEVABLE !

2) THE COLLEGE Length: 13 pages

The year is 1986. The place is a boarding school called Umtata Technical College. Between the college and the town is a forest of moderate size. Across the forest stands a narrow steel bridge, used by the college students (though not intended for that purpose) to go to town and back. It's the kind of bridge that no one student ever crosses alone at night. But not for Sylvia Bala. You have to be like her to have the guts to cross the bridge to the hostel alone at night. On this Friday night, she is taking her fearlessness of the bridge to the next level. She is crossing the bridge wearing a long white dress (imagine that). Against the the terrifying colour of darkness, the colour of her dress could easily attract to her anything unpleasant that occupies darkness. Would it be unpleasant to Sylvia? Here is a clue: All of her dorm mates - all 13 girls have gone missing. No one knows anything. Is it possible that Sylvia knows something? For God's sake, can't anyone find out before another dormitory loses more girls.....A BLOOD CURDLING TALE O F WITCHCRAFT !

3) EXPOSED - Part One - Length: 23 pages.

The story really gets down to the powerful and deadly art of exposing the foul deeds of witchcraft. Two boys, Bongani and Manyano from Mdantsane and Butterworth are about to expose some very evil and very wicked acts of witchcraft when they go for a traditional circumcision. In my language we call it UKWALUKA. The place where UKWALUKA takes place is called EHLATHINI (forest) or ENTABENI (mountain). In the process of UKWALUKA, the boys make a startling discovery about themselves, so sinister, so evil you have to read the whole story to know it. Sorry, I can't even give you a clue. My God! It's so bad it will take the story further, much further (in EXPOSED 2), beyond your wildest imagination. But what I can tell you is this; when the truth about their discovery finally hits your ears, you will be angry. It's the kind of truth that will make you realise, in real life, it can happen to you, or to a member of your family, precisely what will infuriate you. It's the kind of truth you don't want to come out. It had better stay buried. But Bongani and Manyano will dig it. From Umtata to Mdantsane to Port St Johns, it's digging until they get to the bottom of their discovery. Unfortunately, for them, it's not over yet. Their digging, unknown to them, turns out to be one giant leap to a more sinister truth that will destroy, literally, anything that stands in the way (it's like opening a can of worms, if you catch my drift). But that is in EXPOSED 2. For now, get to the bottom of their discovery. And brace yourself. It's a nasty one..... WILL KEE P YOU GUESS ING UN TIL THE DISTURBING TRU TH COME S OUT !

4) THE WINDOW - Part One - Length: 22 pages.

Look through this window and discover, to your breath-tightning, goose-bumps - forming, hair-raising horror, the diabolical occurrences created by the damned witches in the darkest hours of the night. It's all happening in Mdantsane, N.U.8 in the area of 36, in 1992. Philmon Ntanga is the main character. He has a friend. His name is Jack Filtane. Philmon and Jack's homes face each other and are separated by the street that runs in front of their homes. The window in question is in Philmon's room and is directly facing Jack's home, where the dark and nasty witching acts take place, witnessed only by Philmon. Is Jack involved? Since his friendship with Jack, Philmon's room window has suddenly become super cool. Now what's up with that? But now Jack himself becomes a victim of witchcraft, right in front of Philmon, on their way home, from the places of fun, in the middle of the night. Philmon believes the window can help bring Jack back from the abyss of witchcraft (Is it possible? Can it really be done?). The story has the answer. But he and the window can not do it on their own. They need help. Fortunately, there is the right person for the job. Her name is Nancy Myeni who lives in N.U.13. Totally immune to witchcraft, Nancy is the witches' worse nightmare, renowned for stopping the abominable witches dead in their evil tracks..... SO BIZARRE ! EXTR EMELY ENJOYA BLE !