Self-starter Marcia on her publishing dreams

“I realised that there are many writers who want their stories published but did not know any publishers they can go to, so I decided to start Evelyn 50, a publishing company to help them get their books published,” said Marcia.  Not only is she the managing director of Evelyn 50, but she is currently also a final-year student at Unisa studying Forensic Science and Technology. She is also the author of the book, ‘From an Empty Pride to a Full Price’, which deals with black tax.

Born in Hlabine Leolo village, she relocated with her family to Johannesburg when she was three years old. In her late teens, she moved to Lenyenye with her mother. On her first day of matric, she lost her mother, this changed her life forever. “My mother taught me to be independent and how to live without her. One day I would like to teach my own children the same lesson, how to survive in a tough world after I have passed on.”

She says that depression is one of the biggest challenges she had to overcome. “I became depressed after my life fell apart in one second, I lost myself and everything I had, but attending therapy helped me in many ways,” she says. “Today I wish I knew that when life throws you down, and everything is falling apart, it does not mean that the world is against you, it means that life is shaping you to become a better person who’s much stronger than the current self.

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I also wish I knew that blaming yourself causes more pain and depression and the only way to heal is by forgiving yourself and focussing on the positives.” Marcia is inspired by her best friend, Dr. Noline Mkosa. “She works very hard and always strives for greatness in life. She pushed me and told me that I can make it. I believe that if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she adds. This has inspired her to balance her own busy life by trying to be less social and focus more on work. “I set myself deadlines and live according to them.”

She says that the Covid-19 pandemic had a big negative influence on her business.  “I had just got a PR agent to do media interviews. At the time we were hoping to do huge sales, but as we moved to level 4 and more people became unemployed, I could not sell books and was broke myself. It took months and months to pick up after that,” she says. Her dream is to one day open her own publishing office which will have an online and physical store to sell the books she publishes.

“I also want to venture into painting and publishing international books, scriptwriting for movies is also one of my goals,” says Marcia. She says she has learned that even if you don’t have parents, you can still make it. “Use your talent to survive, during times of high unemployment, that is how you are able to make it,” she concluded.