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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://buzz-caribbean.com/app/uploads/2019/08/Aton-AA-1024x763.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4811" /><figcaption>Anton Marks has seven novels under his belt. (Photos: Contributed)</figcaption></figure>
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<p>Anton Marks has seven novels under his belt with
a number of them drawing on his Caribbean identity. And after visiting Jamaica
for Animecom Fest 2019 in Kingston, he’s more than happy with the state of
creativity in Jamaica.</p>
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<p>“Animecom Fest was an opportunity for me to
support the kind of event I would have loved to attend when growing up in
Jamaica. As a writer, my target audience is among the people who attend events
like this. The organiser, Ricardo Carter, and his great team have tapped into a
world trend that will only get more popular on the island,” he said. </p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://buzz-caribbean.com/app/uploads/2019/08/Aton-BB-1024x686.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4812" /><figcaption><strong>Dancehall</strong> is Anton Marks' first book.  </figcaption></figure>
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<p>Born Anthony Hewitt in the United Kingdom to
Jamaican parents, he moved to Jamaica with his parents when he was nine years
old. </p>
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<p>“I’ve always loved stories. I read and enjoyed
comics from an early age and copied their styles in school. I used exercise
books to write serialised tales with drawings for my classmates. I was drawn to
words and how they could convey emotion from an early age. I always felt I had
tales to tell from my unique perspective, so I created the opportunity and took
the leap,” he said. </p>
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<p>Hewitt eventually returned to England and made
that leap in the 1990s with his very first book, a crime thriller called <strong>Dancehall</strong>, under the pseudonym Anton Marks. It was part
of an experiment by an upcoming publisher at the time, X Press Publishers, who
were looking for writers that could deliver what Hewitt termed as the black
experience in an entertaining way. His latest book is the second in his <strong>Good II Be Bad</strong> series. A supernatural thriller, it revolves
around three mystically gifted female warriors, one of whom is Chinese-Jamaican.
</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://buzz-caribbean.com/app/uploads/2019/08/aton-CC-1024x686.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4813" /><figcaption>Anton Marks has done books on a wide range of topics. </figcaption></figure>
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<p>However, the road between these books wasn’t a
smooth one until the more recent invention of online publishing, through Amazon
and other Internet-based entities. The paradigm shift removed many of the
barriers, including the belief that there is a lack of financial benefit in producing
minority specific content. This freedom didn’t come without its own downside,
as Hewitt explains.</p>
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<p>“Just because you’ve written and published a
book doesn’t mean readers will find you,” he said.</p>
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<p>His advice to aspiring Caribbean writers of
any genre is to maintain three elements - quality, professionalism and
marketing.</p>
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<p>“The problem is no longer access, but quality and marketing. Authors like me must keep the quality of their work, writing and the finished product, high,” Hewitt told <strong>BUZZ</strong>, while encouraging other Caribbean and black writers to remember their heritage as they tackle a range of issues in their books. </p>
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<p><strong><em>— Written by Nichola Beckford</em></strong></p>
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