Jacana Media publishes a wide range of books and materials. These include general fiction books and novels; and non-fiction field guides, maps, wildlife books and primary health and medical books. As an independent South African publisher, our focus is on South Africa and Africa.

We do not, however, publish in the following areas:

.    Poetry
.    Short stories
.    Science fiction
.    Fantasy
·    Teen fiction / young adult fiction
·    Scripts (drama, film or television)
.    Religion

We no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts, except for the following exceptions, in which case please adhere to these guidelines:

Submitting Book Proposals: Fiction

Jacana Media proudly hosts the European Union Literary Award. If you have not published a novel before, and your manuscript is general adult ficiton, then please submit it for entry to the award. Please see EU competition entry details on this website.

 Submitting Book Proposals: Short Stories

 We do not accept short story submissions ourselves,  but we publish  the annual collection of Caine Prize winners.but please visit www.caineprize.com for more information about the prize, and for entry details.

Submitting Book Proposals: Natural History

Please find below guidelines for presenting your publishing proposal. By following these guidelines you will be able to focus more clearly on what you propose to write and enable us to make a more accurate and speedy assessment of its viability.

Key points to bear in mind are:

·    Who you are writing for;
·    The structure of the book and its contents; and
·    How you can offer something different from competitive titles.

1. A 300 word description of the aim and scope of the publication (i.e. features and benefits for the reader; intended style; topics covered; why is there a need for such a book? etc). Is there a gap in the currently available literature? Does it present new findings? Is it topical?
2. A detailed contents list; chapter headings with a brief synopsis of each chapter.
3. An outline (one or two paragraphs) of the target market/readership for the book. Who are you writing the book for? What size approximately (in numbers) is the market? At what level are you writing? (For someone new to the subject, or an experienced practitioner?). Will the material be suitable for the international market or more useful to a certain regional readership? Is it appropriate for a particular course/qualification ie. does it have adoption potential?
4. Details of any comparable/competitive books and why yours offers something different. An analysis of their strengths and weaknesses would be most useful.
5. The length of the book you envisage writing (estimated wordage).
6. Please give an indication of the time scale you would be working to. When could the final manuscript be ready?
7. Is there, in your view, an optimal time of year to publish?
8. Biographical details of the author(s), editors or contributors, giving information on present employment, experience relevant to the book and previous publications (if any).
9. Could you provide any marketing or sales support by way of clients, contacts, students or links with professional bodies? Do you have any media contacts that would help in reviewing the book or placing articles that could help to promote it?
10. Do you have any possible sources of funding, or co-publishing links?
11. A sample chapter will help us to assess your proposal even more speedily.
    
    PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL YOUR ENTIRE MANUSCRIPT.

If your natural history manuscript or publishing proposal meets the above criteria, and you wish to submit your proposal to Jacana Media for consideration, please send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it