Month: June 2017

Sponsoring a Sibo title

­ DID YOU KNOW…

You or your company can commission or sponsor a book in the Sibo Series?
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You can sponsor a brand new Sibo title or one of the existing titles in the series.
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Branding is printed on the inside front cover.
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You have a say in the text of the story (if it’s a new title) and illustrations (i.e. any specific information you would like woven into the story line or graphics you would like portrayed).
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The smallest print run is 3000 – although you can order less and have your branding attached to the front inside cover in sticker format, instead of being printed. (There is no limit to a large print run, and they do not go in batches of 3000 e.g. you can order 4000 or 16250!)

30% discount is given on orders of large quantities. (To give you an idea of prices – in 2017 a single Sibo book sells for R60.00. . 3000 books would cost ~R180,000 plus tax however the discounted price would be ~R126,000 plus tax – these prices are subject to change – please contact the publishers.)

­ These 3000 books would then obviously belong to you, to either sell (at the recommended price or less) or give-away as you wish. If you need help in this regard, Ginny does have connections with the Science Centres in South Africa.
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It should be noted that whilst you or your company may sponsor or commission x amount of copies of a title – please do understand that this title still remains part of the Sibo Series. It may also be sold in various retail
outlets (without your branding).

If you should want a book that BELONGS solely to you/your company this would have to be negotiated differently.

Whilst we are prepared to write stories on all sorts of different topics please do take note that The Sibo Series has a “green” theme that runs throughout all the books. Our aim is to convey messages in a gentle non-threatening
way, empower young children, help to change their mindsets, and give them confidence to go out and make a difference themselves. (Not to scare the pants off them!)

Titles in the series that have been sponsored/commissioned to date:

  • Sibo in Space – written to celebrate 2009 being International Year of Astronomy – 8000 copies sponsored by SAASTA/Dept of Science & Technology.
  • Sibo Sizes Things Up – commissioned by SAASTA for their nanotechnology awareness drive in 2010. 8000 copies sponsored.
  • Sibo Likes Life – written to celebrate 2010 being International Year of Biodiversity. 10,000 copies sponsored by SAASTA.
  • Sibo Mixes Things Up – written to celebrate International Year of Chemistry 2011. 3000 copies sponsored by BASF – The Chemical Company.
  • Sibo Saves a Stray – private sponsors 2012 – Michele & John Hattingh (1000 copies)
  • Sibo Fights Malaria – commissioned by the University of Pretoria Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control and The National Department of Health (8000 copies) – 2014.
  • Sibo Looks Right – crowdfunded – but sponsored mainly by NASH NISSAN (800 copies) ebook freely available on web site – 2016.
  • Sibo on the Move – commissioned by Gautrain (10,000 copies) – 2016. (This book recently won a Golden Quill International Award in the ‘writing’ category.

PLEASE NOTE – this does not prevent anybody else from sponsoring the same titles again.

We are also currently looking for a sponsor(s) for the following ideas for Sibo books.

  • Bullying
  • Manners
  • Sports
  • Communication
  • Immunology
  • Housing

If you are interested please contact either Ginny or Lets Look Publishers squiggle[@]telkomsa.net / imfundo[@]netactive.co.za

Become a Sibo Agent!

If you enjoy our books and would like to sell the Sibo Series then please read further…

2018 price of a Sibo title is R60.00 each.

You buy 100 books (minimum quantity to qualify for 30% discount) – can be the same title or a mixture of all the titles. There are 14 titles in the series at the moment.

100 x R60.00 = R6000.00

However, if you buy 100 books you get a 30% discount. Which brings the price down to R4200.00 for 100 books.

Which you could then sell for the recommended price of R60.00 – thereby making R1800.00 profit. Simple right?

If you would like to become a Sibo Agent – please contact:

Lets Look Publishers
Email: imfundo@netactive.co.za
Tel: +27(0)12 361 2329
Fax: +27(0)12 361 8060

Visit here for more information about Sibo’s books.

Sibo becomes a TV Star

In 2011 Lets Look Publishers decided to jazz up their marketing of the Sibo Series (books written by Ginny Stone) and employed Amaiye Productions to get creative. The producer of Amaiye thought that bringing little Sibo to life
with a series of cartoons based on the books might just do the trick.
Now we all know, sadly, that most kids would much rather watch TV than
read a book – but reckoned that this was a good “mass-produced” way of
introducing Sibo to children. It was hoped that they might then be
inspired to not only consider recycling their cool drink cans, start
conserving water and generally think more about saving the earth, but
also think about dashing off to their local bookstore to check out Sibo’s
books.

Of course, “dashing off to your local bookstore” is also funny hah hah because it’s actually not so easy to get books into bookstores unless you are a famous author – which Ginny certainly is not. It would appear that joe public has to ask (repeatedly in many cases) for the books – before they would dream of stocking them on their own. Otherwise, one has to work through distributors who demand such large discounts that you might as well hand over body parts. It gets worse… the “big” bookstores then happily send back a significant portion of the books supplied saying that they are soiled goods and nobody wants to buy them. A bit ironic when the goods actually got soiled in their very own outlets.

So… creating a “Sibo and Friends” TV show seemed like a great idea.

Based on the Sibo Series books, a 13 part, 2D animated cartoon series was created. Each episode a snappy 3 minutes short with a powerful “lets help save the earth” message embedded. The series was sponsored, and in return for their generosity the sponsors were looking forward to a “tag” at the end
of each episode.

Of course, nothing is ever simple … whilst the TV stations were more than willing to flight the series free of charge they were not willing to give the sponsor free advertising. And… in some cases, there were dodgy conversations around who Sibo belonged to from then on and for how long?
In the end – after Amaiye Productions had done some serious haggling with eTV, along with several postponed going on-air dates – a compromise was finally reached.

“Sibo and Friends” aired for the first time on 7th February 2011 at 14h30 on eTV. There are 13 episodes therefore this series will run for 13 weeks.

If you have young children… make a note, set your recorder, put a knot in your hankie, set your alarm clock… but whatever you do – don’t let them miss it. Blink and it’s gone, it’s only 3 minutes long! (Mondays at 14h30 on eTV.)

When you’ve finished watching – dash off to your local bookstore and demand that they stock the Sibo Series – all 9 of them! Failing that – go and visit Sibo’s website – http://www.sibo.com where you’ll find a direct link to Lets Look Publishers and you can buy the books on-line. And… you can also
download the cool “Sibo and Friends” song – written by Karen Zoid – for free! 

Remember – if your children have handy tips on earth saving habits, or draw cute pictures of anything relating to the books or cartoon series – feel free to email (or post) them to Ginny and she’ll put them on the website.

We only have one earth. Sibo wants to join hands with all the children in South Africa and help save it. She cannot do it alone.