Emeritus Professor Owen Dean, a leading authority on intellectual property law and author of South Africa’s standard textbook on copyright, has opened up about his decades-long journey as a writer, from self-publishing frustrations to finally securing a mainstream publisher for his latest book.

Dean, who has written over 100 academic and legal articles since beginning his legal career in 1972, has also penned three books, each with deeply personal ties to his professional life.

His first novel, The Summit Syndrome, drew from an astonishing plagiarism case he handled, which he describes as involving “forgery, fraud, false evidence and even death threats.”

Dean said he originally intended to publish the case as non-fiction but instead fictionalised it as a “faction novel” to avoid possible defamation claims.

“When the time came to write the book, I decided that its explosive nature might expose me to a defamation claim. I therefore chose to write the story as a faction novel in which names and places were changed,” he explained.

After South African publishers declined the manuscript in 2017, Dean turned to self-publishing with the US-based company AuthorHouse. But high pricing and limited marketing meant the book struggled to gain traction.

“Without concerted marketing the book failed to make much of an impact. I learned the lesson that publication without proper marketing is something of a lost cause,” Dean said.

In 2024, Dean released a sequel, Reach for the Summit, which reimagined the case as if it had been published as a true-to-life account, leading to a defamation lawsuit within the story. Once again, traditional publishers rejected the manuscript, and Dean self-published it through Print on Demand.

His third book, however, has marked a turning point. Echoes of Injustice, The True Story Behind the Epic Song ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and of the Battle for Reparation tells the inside story of the landmark case Dean brought against Walt Disney Enterprises, securing royalties for the heirs of Solomon Linda, the composer of the iconic song.

“This story is a proper rags to riches fairy story with a happy outcome,” Dean said, though he added that Netflix’s documentary distorted the facts.

“The book sets the record straight.”

Unlike his previous works, Echoes of Injustice has been published and marketed by Juta, a major South African publishing house.

“Happily, the Lion book has been published by Juta and will be marketed by them. I am hopeful that this factor will lead to it enjoying success,” Dean said.

Dean has participated in all three editions of the Indie Festival, which spotlight self-published authors. Reflecting on his experiences, he described the festival as invaluable.

“It gives exposure to your self-published book and introduces it to a receptive public. This compensates to some extent for the lack of a proper marketing campaign,” he said.

He also noted the importance of the platform for fostering solidarity among writers.

“There is some comfort to be gained from realising that there are others in the same position as you are in securing publication of their books,” he added.

But Dean was also critical of the traditional publishing industry.

“It brings home to you just how unaccommodating and unhelpful established publishers are in general in promoting the entry of new authors and books into the literary field. This is a problem in developing a dynamic literary culture in South Africa,” he said.

Despite his frustrations, Dean said he believes self-publishing remains an important avenue.

“It causes you to realise that there is a viable option open to authors who yearn to publish their works. The converse is, of course, that it provides the reading public with access to books which would otherwise never have seen the light of day.”

IOL News

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