Meet Antoine Bandele

Today we’d like to introduce you to Antoine Bandele.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Antoine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well, my creative endeavors are multifaceted. I started up “officially” with my YouTube channel in 2006 or 2007 but when it took off in 2015 I got more serious with it.

My channel is mostly about all things geek, notably Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra and Star Wars.

Then, after catching up with Game of Thrones during Season 6, I looked for books depicting a fantasy setting based around African myth and history in the same way Game of Thrones bites off of the War of Roses. But I didn’t really find any in that specific configuration so… I did it myself.

Since 2017, I’ve been writing stories inspired by African and African diaspora history and folklore, with 2018 seeing my debut in “The Kishi.”

Right now, I am working on continuing two series, one targeted to the adult market (adult in age, not content), which is a more Pan-African project, and one for the young adult market, which is based specifically in West Africa’s Yoruba mythology. On top of that, I am currently publishing other authors, one of which is writing a children’s book.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve yet to hit any major snags. The publishing is more slow-going than YouTube. YouTube sees a lot of spikes and valleys so success and failure can come hard and fast but with publishing it’s definitely more of a long game. Come back to me in five years and ask me how it’s going. As an indie publisher, I shouldn’t be seeing the fruits of my labor until after I have a fair few books under my belt. The flash-in-the-pan successes that you see on news sites are one-in-a-million. A majority of authors and publishers make their consistent funds from, well, consistent and widespread releases, not their premiere ones.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My company is two-fold video editing and publishing. Currently, I’m more well-known for my presence on YouTube where I specialize in editing. What set me apart in the geek space, specifically with regards to the Versus Series (where YouTubers pit fictional characters against one another), is my clean video editing and production value, which up to that time was lacking.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory was also potentially the scariest one. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but in 1996-1997 my dad, who was in the army at the, was stationed on Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington (near Seattle, Washington). My dad spent a lot of time on base so my brother and I did a lot of exploring in our huge apartment complex in the middle of a forest with all the other army brats.

But one day I was alone.

While walking around, I came across a full-sized deer and for what felt like several very long minutes, we just stared at each other. I think neither of us wanted to move because we weren’t sure what the other would do. But it was both the most beautiful and scariest thing I’ve experienced. You see Bambi on TV but having her just in front of you where you can see her, smell her, it’s a totally different thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.antoinebandele.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antoine_bandele/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youtubeantoinebandele/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/antoinebandele

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