Poet, McDennias gets Amazon nod

Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
Poet McDennias Moyo is proving to be a force to reckon with after his collection, My Everyday Valentine, was last month rated the best new release on Amazon (online marketplace for books) in the “Poetry About Love” category.

The Kwekwe-based poet said My Everyday Valentine, a collection that was released in January this year, contains 14 poems centred on Valentine’s Day.

“The poems cover the 14 days leading to Valentine’s Day. They try to describe what a lover or a partner means to me. When I penned them, my hope was for them to resonate with many out there and it seems they did just that.

“The Valentine’s special was received very well, particularly in Europe and in the United States of America (USA). The USA alone had many downloads on Kindle Unlimited and it also recorded many paid orders for the book,” an excited Moyo said.

It seems his talent is really being appreciated globally as his second book titled My Prickly Heart that he released last week on both Amazon and Kindle Store is also doing well. It is currently on position seven in the Best New Release (African Poetry), position 26 on Best New

Release (World Poetry about Love) and position 43 on Best Seller (African Books) on Amazon.

Moyo whose works are inspired by people’s everyday lives said he decided to utilise the online space in order to gain mileage.

Describing himself, Moyo said: “I’m a political scientist and educationist who has an inquisitive mind that seeks to understand problems that people face in their day to day lives. As a young Zimbabwean politician, poet, writer and influencer who believes in the power of knowledge and sharing ideas, my poetry and writings are influenced by my life experiences and those of people around me.

“As such, I write about love, pain, loss and social injustices among other themes,” said Moyo. Commenting on the positive response his works are receiving, Moyo said:

“I never thought that in about more than 500 000 books released at the start of the year, my first book would become the best new release. My only hope at the time was to get a few people to read my thoughts and related to my art.

“I’m ecstatic to get such recognition, especially from the owners of the language I used,” he said. Moyo said this recognition has given him confidence to continue sharing his art with the world. Turning to his journey on the online space, Moyo said it was not easy to get sales on Amazon as he established that most boost their books by buying reviews and ratings.

“It’s hard to get sales on Amazon if your book has no colourful reviews and five-star ratings. I’ve since discovered that authors pay for reviews and ratings in order to entice more people to buy their books,” he said. -@mthabisi_mthire.