Volume 65 December 2026-January 2026 : Readers Diary

Betty Sengwaketse is a determined, selfless, vibrant and diligent young lady emerging from the southern region of Botswana. She was born and bread in Kanye Village. Betty is a student at Botho University Studying Bachelor of Science (hons) in Computing specialising in Network Engineering and Infrastructure Management. At Botho University, she has been a member of the student representative council for the last two years as a Minister in Academic Affairs. Betty is the author of a book titled THE SECRETS OF LOVE which is a motivational book on love and relationships. Her book was released during the month of December 2013.

“I am a self published author and I want to share my story with other aspiring authors out there. As I was growing up I really liked reading novels. The first novel I attempted to read was a Sidney Sheldon novel titled The Naked Face back in 2004 when I was doing STD 7. The vocabulary was a bit tricky then as the English was a bit advanced for me. I, however, did not give up until I finished all the chapters. When I was doing Form one, my sister always brought home from school a copy of Sidney Sheldon`s novels and I would devour it within a day or two. It was my passion reading novels. I really did enjoy it. As I proceeded to senior school I continued to read books from other authors. My teachers always caught me with a novel under the desk, as I was busy reading while the teacher was tutoring in front of class. Even when I walked home on the way from school I would read a novel. I sometimes tripped and fell but even that couldn`t stop me from continuing to read. One day as I was seated at home back in the days, I decided to try and write a story imitating Sydney Sheldon`s writing.  The idea came out of nowhere; I grabbed a pen and paper and I started writing in my note book. I wanted to continue with the story but I decided to wait until I finished writing my matric exams. I then forgot all about it and the story got lost. 

Years went by and by until last year during the winter vacation and I was seated home bored and I just decided to take a pen and started writing. It all came naturally and it took my mind off things. I had a conversation with some friends of mine the previous days and they all had something negative to say about their love lives. I remembered all that and I thought maybe I should write about relationships as a start. I took at least two days and I was done with writing the book. I couldn`t have done it without passion and the love for writing. I remember when I was doing a survey, I went around asking people and my friends questions that I wanted to compile and put into my book, and some of them were laughing at me saying what do I know about writing, some of them even refused to answer my questions. The painful part was when I was actually done writing, I was just so exited and posted on Facebook that I would be publishing a book soon. One my friends said to me “u have a lot of time to waste, what do you know, I wont waste my money buying your book”. I didn`t say anything I just kept on going with my spirit of excitement. Nonetheless, even the critics from people with negative minds didn`t stop me from writing.

After writing, I knew I had to see my book as a printed copy. The fact of the matter was that I was totally clueless of what to do next. I had no idea where to start. I didn`t know how to acquire the ISBN number. I remember I went to CNA store in Game City and when I got there I told them that I came to buy an ISBN number for my book. That`s how much clueless I was, thinking that an ISBN is bought from a shop. I didn`t even know what the meaning of publishing was. I had to go to Collegium and asked them to publish my book. I then said to the lady who was helping me “how much do I have to pay you to publish my book?” she just smiled and told me that they only published educational books and that when a company published for you don`t pay them for publishing your book. I also didn`t know anything about book designing or that there was specific software to design a book, I had to learn all that from printing companies as I was getting quotations.

I went back home and searched the internet, that`s when I learnt about self publishing. And that it was actually stress free especially when you have a problem finding a publisher. I then started going around printing companies getting quotations for printing. I was devastated by the prices; they were so high especially for a student like me. But still that didn`t discourage me. I found a graphic designer to design the book and I then started worrying about where I was going to find money for printing the book. I learnt that I had to get the ISBN from library references; I went there and got it. I also had to take pictures because I wanted my picture on the cover. Taking pictures required money plus paying the makeup artist. Since I didn`t have any enough money, I went into my room and decided to cut the costs. I took my own makeup and made my self look beautiful as I do look on the cover, my friend styled my hair and we went to the photo studio near my house and took pictures. I didn`t have to go for a photo shoot or anything; I had to cut the costs!

 I had a small sum of money that I raised and kept it in my savings account, but still that was not nearly enough to cover the cost of printing. I then had to ask my mom for help, she had to postpone and leave whatever she was going to use the money for and gave it to me instead. She was just doing what a mother who wants to see her daughter`s dream come true got to do. I promised her that I would reimburse all the money because I wanted that to be about me, I wanted to know that I could do something on my own and I wanted my mom to be proud of me. I then printed the book and now here we are, I am proud to say that everyone can now refer to me as an Author.

I encourage anyone who has a story packed away in a shelf somewhere that it`s time to take it out and make it into a book. It is very possible but it`s not an easy journey. You have to be determined and be self-driven if you want to self publish your book. It will drown you and sometimes you may feel like giving up, but if you have the love and the passion, it is going to be easy to overcome any obstacles. One thing that you have to look out for are crooks out there who pretend to be publishers. Before you can give anyone your work, gather information first and know all the things that need to be known about publishing a book otherwise people will take advantage of you. I am proud to say that as I am writing my second book now, I am confident that I know exactly what to do and where to go next time. I won`t have to go to CNA to attempt buying my ISBN number like I did the first time. That`s the story of my life. You learn as you go through struggles, you can also do it. ENDS

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