\u2018Dear Mama\u2019 by author Kinyanjui Kombani will retail at KSh. 890 at Kibanga Books, a KSh. 110 decrease from the store\u2019s previously set price.<\/p>\n
This decision by the two parties follows a very public and heated debate over the book\u2019s pricing. Kibanga Books was selling the book at KSh. 1000 before the exchange.<\/p>\n
The dispute, which played out on social media, began after Kombani publicly questioned the retailer\u2019s pricing of his title, arguing it was marked significantly higher than expected.<\/p>\n
Replying to a tweet<\/a> by Kibanga Books advertising the book at KSh. 1,000, Kombani replied: \u201cHow are you telling me I don\u2019t have info and yet (1) I am the author, (2) I also sell the books myself, (3) Everyone else \u2013 including TBC and Nuria \u2013 sells this book at 750\/-. Oxford recommends it at 750\/. Note, I have reached out to you guys before because of exorbitant pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to explain that while he could not dictate their pricing, he did not want to be associated with it.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years I\u2019ve been complaining about your pricing for my books,\u201d Kombani continued. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you what to price your stock, but if you overprice my books, don\u2019t tag me \u2013 I don\u2019t want to look like I am part of the rip off.\u201d<\/p>\n In subsequent tweets, the author raised concerns about affordability and access, sparking widespread debate among readers, writers, and industry stakeholders about how products are priced in Kenya.<\/p>\n In response, Kibanga Books defended its pricing structure, citing standard retail considerations such as distribution, operational costs, and margins.<\/p>\n \u201cFor now, we only sell at KShs1,000,\u201d Kibanga Bookstore\u2019s handle on X responded, urging Kombani to consult his publisher. \u201cInquire with Oxford how much they distribute it at?\u201d<\/p>\n However, the back-and-forth quickly gained traction online, with many users weighing in on the broader issue of whether Kenyan literature is becoming inaccessible to its primary audience due to rising costs.<\/p>\n \u2018Dear Mama\u2019 retails as a Grade 10 Autobiography approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.<\/p>\n As of Monday evening, however, Kombani said that the two parties had taken the discussion offline and had come to an agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a round of offline discussions and documentation review, and in the spirit of moving forward, Kinyanjui Kombani and Kibanga Books have agreed that: 1. All documents have been VERIFIED and confirm that Kibanga is purchasing books from the publisher legitimately. 2. The copies at the store are also confirmed as genuine. 3. Going forward, \u2018Dear Mama\u2019 will retail at 890\/-, a price that acknowledges the author\u2019s concerns while recognising the realities of running a genuine bookstore supporting Kenyan authors and our collective stories,\u201d Kombani wrote.<\/p>\n In agreement with Kombani\u2019s statement, Kibanga Books reposted the statement, further adding that the two would host a joint event.<\/p>\n \u201cThis opens up KKombani and Kibangabooks to work together for joint campaigns, including an in-house session when KK is in Kenya to promote Kenyan Literature.\u201d<\/p>\n While it remains unclear whether the adjustment was directly influenced by the online discourse, the outcome has been widely interpreted as a win for readers advocating for more affordable books and transparent pricing models.<\/p>\n The post \u2018Dear Mama\u2019 price reduced following heated debate between author, retailer<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018Dear Mama\u2019 by author Kinyanjui Kombani will retail at KSh. 890 at Kibanga Books, a KSh. 110 decrease from the store\u2019s previously set price. This decision by the two parties follows a very public and heated debate over the book\u2019s pricing. Kibanga Books was selling the book at KSh. 1000 before the exchange. The dispute, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}