Are There Free Book Publishers in South Africa?

Short answer: yes. A traditional publisher does not charge you to publish your book. It pays for the editing, design, printing and distribution itself, and it pays you an advance or royalties from sales. In return it chooses which books it takes on, it owns the publishing rights for the term of the contract, and it decides on the cover, price and print run.

So "free" publishing exists, but it is a selection process, not a service you can buy. If a company tells you it will publish your book for free and then asks for money for editing, a "marketing package" or a minimum order of copies, it is not a traditional publisher.

These established publishers invite manuscript submissions. The genres they accept change from year to year, so always read the current guidelines on their website before you send anything:

• Penguin Random House South Africa considers general and literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, illustrated non-fiction, faith-based and inspirational books, and children's and young adult titles. For fiction they ask for a book proposal rather than the full manuscript.
• Jonathan Ball Publishers takes email submissions for South African non-fiction (biography, history, business, military history, politics) and illustrated titles. At the time of writing it is not accepting fiction, and assessment usually takes two to three months.
• Other South African publishers such as Pan Macmillan South Africa, NB Publishers and Jacana Media publish their own submission guidelines and open calls from time to time.

Expect a long wait and a high rejection rate. Most publishers receive far more manuscripts than they can publish, and many reply only if they are interested.

Government and industry programmes are another way to get published without paying. The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) Publishing Hub, run with ANFASA (the Academic and Non-Fiction Authors' Association of South Africa), has offered selected authors a R25,000 content-development award and paired them with a publisher. Its 2026/27 call closed on 26 June 2026, so watch the ANFASA website for the next round. It accepts manuscripts in any official South African language but excludes categories such as self-help and religious books.

If you self-publish, a few important steps cost nothing:

• Your ISBN. The National Library of South Africa issues ISBNs free of charge to South African self-publishers. Our ISBN guide walks you through the online form.
• Uploading to Amazon. Amazon KDP charges nothing to list an ebook or paperback, and it offers a free ISBN for paperbacks. See our guide to Amazon KDP for South African authors.
• Your barcode. Our ISBN barcode generator creates a print-ready back-cover barcode at no cost.

What is not free is the work that makes a book worth buying: editing, proofreading, cover design, interior layout and, for print books, the printed copies themselves.

A vanity publisher presents itself as a publisher but makes its money from authors rather than readers. Be careful if a company:

• accepts your manuscript within days, with praise but no real feedback;
• asks for an upfront "contribution", "co-publishing fee" or compulsory purchase of copies;
• wants to keep your rights or a share of your royalties even though you paid for the production;
• cannot tell you exactly what you get for the money, or pressures you to sign quickly.

Paying for publishing services is not wrong in itself. The difference is honesty: a self-publishing company should quote a fixed price for clearly listed services and leave you with 100% of your rights and profits. Read do South African publishers charge authors? for more on the difference.

We are a self-publishing company, not a free publisher, and we say so upfront. You pay once for the services you choose and you keep all rights and all sales income.

• Self-publishing packages: Bronze R21,000, Silver R25,500 and Gold R35,000, covering editing, cover design, typesetting, ISBN registration and printed copies. Compare the packages.
• Ebook and Amazon packages: from R6,500 for a formatted ebook. See ebook publishing.
• Printing only: softcover A5 runs from R4,500 for 100 copies, delivered 10 working days after you approve the proof. See book printing.

Choose traditional publishing if your book fits a publisher's list, you are happy to wait months or years, and you are willing to give up control in exchange for no upfront cost.

Choose self-publishing if you want your book out within weeks, need copies for a launch, business or church, or want to keep your rights and the full profit from every sale.

Many authors submit to traditional publishers first and self-publish if they have no offer after six to twelve months. Either way, a professionally edited manuscript gives you the best chance.