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You finally have a good novel, ready to be read by millions. The only problem is no one in SA wants to publish your book unless it's a self-help book, a book about apartheid or simply something about our beautiful country.
Why is it so hard to publish a Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical Romance or simply a book that is just a fun read?
So what do we do, where do we go? Self-publish overseas or simple do an ebook which is great, yet you still want to see your dream in full colour, for it to be tangible and advertised anywhere it might sell.
I think SA has some wonderful fantasy, paranormal writers, and ask publishing houses and agents to give them a fair shot.

Have you thought about publishing with Amazon?

Hi Lu, Yes I actually do have a book on Amazon. They really are great and make it easy for 1st time writers. I just think we have so much to offer. South Africans are tough, proud and have our own kind of humour and it needs to be discovered by the whole world.
Thanks for the post. I'd like to hear about your publishing experience in SA and from anyone else out there.

Hi Melanie. I work at one of the largest book distributors in South Africa which also publishes (albeit mainly political) books. I agree with you, it's incredibly hard to get published in SA and, believe me, not nice for publishers either. We love books, and I especially love fiction, but there's just not a big enough market out there to publish what we love.

Generally overseas authors are already established and SA readers tend to buy these authors over local ones. Plus overseas publishers (who have a lot of money) do tons of publicity which helps. The book market in SA is tiny, publishers don't make a lot of money, the margins are extremely tight. It's sad but true.

I know that doesn't make it any easier, or make it right, but that's just my explanation of a not-so-great situation. However, there are still companies that publish more mainstream fiction and I'd recommend approaching a company like Jacana who might be able to help.

Thanks Jaclyn, It's good to have a perspective from a Publishing house and it does make sense although like you said, it's sad but at least not the end of the world. Your advice is really appreciated. Have a super weekend and hope to discuss future topics with you.

I studied Publishing and I agree with Jaclyn. Lack of a reading culture and an audience for those genres is an issue in South Africa.

However, I do know of a South African indie publishing house specializing in speculative fiction that just started: . They publish short stories and will publish novels, you should check out their submission guidelines.

Jacana and Umuzi are publishing houses that also publish in the genres you are looking at, but they also publish in a much wider range of genres than Fox & Raven.

It's not only authors who need support but also those publishers willing to take a risk and niche publishing houses if we want to establish a foundation for publishing something besides the same old genres (which I personally do not find exciting) in South Africa.

You don't have to jump straight to self-pub. You can go the route of getting an American or British agent and having them sub your work to overseas editors. I won't pretend that it's not a long hard slog, and they are not overly positive to the tinge of SA-ness, but it can be done.

For fantasy etc, local is no good, unless you dress it in literary robes (Rachel Zadok's Sister-Sister is flat-out genre, but is beautifully written and will appeal to lit audiences, also, it's not marketed as genre at all.)

Anyway, best of luck!

Hi

I'm a South African indie/self-pubbed author. I've been searching online for more South African indies, but I can't seem to find many. Self-publishing is getting bigger and bigger overseas as more and more self-pubbed authors hit the big name bestseller lists, so I was hoping to find more South African authors taking the same publishing route. Anyway, my online searching lead me to this group, so I thought I'd leave a comment about my own experience.

I was also told that it's very difficult to publish fantasy in South Africa, so I always planned to query overseas publishers. But after the ebook revolution really took off and authors like Amanda Hocking started doing well for themselves, I decided to take the indie route instead. I self-published my YA fantasy series through Amazon, Smashwords and CreateSpace. My ebooks do well internationally, but I'm obviously keen to get my print books out into the South African market. It's a slow, difficult process for a self-publisher, but I'm getting there by approaching bookstores individually, getting my books into school libraries, and doing talks at schools.

There is no "right" publication path, but for me, self-publishing has been fantastic. I've never regretted it. I'm just hoping that the stigma surrounding self-publishing that is disappearing so quickly overseas will soon be gone in South Africa too :-)

Great to know they have been working for you Rachel! I have read some fantastic indie books, so I definitely see them on par with the rest.

Hi Rachel, I feel your pain, just don't give up. Things will eventually turn in SA about the perception of self pub authors. Getting a print book is either impossible or not at all cost effective in our country. I mean really how hard is it to print a fantasy book compared to a self help book. I guess they are worried about the sales stats, but what they don't understand yet is that it's not just american's that read. we do too. I have a print edition from createspace but the delivery costs more than what the book does. South Africans wont pay so much for a book. I wish I could help you but I guess our search isn't over yet. Let me know if you find a good printer in S.A.

Hi Melanie

I've been using Mega Digital (megadigital.co.za) for the past year for my local print books. I highly recommend them. I looked around at a number of printers, and Mega Digital seemed the best for small print runs. After factoring in the cost of printing plus the cost of delivery (having books delivered from Mega Digital in Cape Town vs having books delivered from CreateSpace in the US), the unit price for one book works out to about HALF from Mega Digital than it would from CreateSpace. And that's for about 100 copies. If you were to print 500 copies, or 1000, the unit price would be even lower. I use this local print stock to supply any bookstores that I have private deals with and to sell at schools and markets and anyone who contacts me looking for a signed copy. Contact Mega Digital and ask for a quote. They're also usually pretty quick with printing and delivery.

Thanks Rachel, I'm going to check it out. Sounds much better than printing with Createspace because of the delivery charges. I see that you have private deals with bookstores... Exclusive Books isn't one of them is it? I've been trying to find a contact there to get my book in their stores but to no avail. Anyway what type of books do you do? Anything I might know, or look up?

Thanks again for the great advice, it really has helped me tremendously.

Hi Melanie

No, Exclusive Books tells me they only work with approved distributers, and so far I have no deal with any distributor. But I'm in the middle of trying to get my books into another set of South African book chain stores. And any independent, privately-owned bookstores might be interested in indie books. I just go in, ask for the owner, and chat to them. They usually take some stock on consignment first.

I write fiction for teens, all fantasy so far :-)

I went onto your face book. Your covers are fantastic. I'm going to download your 1st book asap. plus my daughter saw it and she insists we have to get it. I'm so proud of you. It's so great to find a SA fantasy author that is doing so well, it gives us hope.

Thanks so much, Melanie! I really hope you and your daughter enjoy the first book!

Melanie wrote: "Hi Rachel, I feel your pain, just don't give up. Things will eventually turn in SA about the perception of self pub authors. Getting a print book is either impossible or not at all cost effective ..."

I'm self published and used Reach Publishers in Durban to edit,upload etc and print my books.Overall I'm very happy with them,so maybe give them a call?

Rachel wrote: "Hi Melanie

No, Exclusive Books tells me they only work with approved distributers, and so far I have no deal with any distributor. But I'm in the middle of trying to get my books into another set ..."

Thanks for this Rachel,I will pluck up the courage and approach some independent bookstores.

Hello Melanie,
I published using Fireblade Publishers last year after becoming impatient with the slow process of submission and then waiting and waiting. After three months Penguin came back to me, said it was good but it didn't fit their allotted number of books for the year. In SA you either have to be a celebrity or connected to the universities to get a book deal. As someone coming from a business background I understand the factors they take into account in deciding to publish a book. I like the control over the process when self publishing but the marketing aspect is really hard.

Melanie wrote: "You finally have a good novel, ready to be read by millions. The only problem is no one in SA wants to publish your book unless it's a self-help book, a book about apartheid or simply something ab..."

Oh, let me tell you why!!! I feel your pain. It is exactly the same in the TV/ film world, for the most part. You cannot simply write something that is good and fun- for the sake of just being fun and entertaining. There has to be some political, or social message to it, hence the stuff we churn out is just not good (mostly). It is actually mandated that way by channel and broadcasters. It seems, in my opinion, that this country is still too preoccupied with matters that are political and social, and matters that should now be left in the past. We are a young country in a way, still maturing and growing and hopefully we will eventually grow into recognizing content that is only there to entertain, as viable and good- instead of rejecting most of it in favor of deep, angsty stuff with heavy political overtures. I am a published author, self and tradition, i am south african and honestly, I am not even bothering with getting published here. The market here is too small anyway. So I look abroad, and sadly, have no desire to publish here- for those very reasons.

Cat wrote: "You don't have to jump straight to self-pub. You can go the route of getting an American or British agent and having them sub your work to overseas editors. I won't pretend that it's not a long har..."

I have just had another book picked up, this time with Entangled. It is a romantic comedy featuring a South African. It is being released as a single title next year and they initially wanted me to change the character to American, but decided to go with it and were quite excited about it. A lot of international publishes are now looking for South African themed stuff, Harlequin for instance is, I am published with them too and they ask me to write SA style stuff. Carina UK is also asking for SA stuff, and I recently sent them a MS. So I think interest in South Africa, and South African characters is actually growing in the international publishing world. So hopefully it become easier for all of us. :)

I tried getting published with Penguin twice since most of the other publishers I've found don't publish non-fiction or English. I've been rejected twice simply because my book wasn't a "financially viable venture". It's really demotivating since I've got years of experience writing various things online. I'm so glad to find this thread and know there's others going through this too