Is getting published as simple as hanging your undies out, on the washing line?
Updated: Sep 6
You’ve completed the typeset and want readers all over the world to read your masterpiece. One problem — how are you going to get it published?
It's a bit more complicated than that.It Whatever the argument, it definitely doesn’t excuse a writer hiding under a company they invented - or their other half invented - to publish their novel. Or their short stores. Or their chapbook or anthology.
While we all want to get our manuscripts out there a good few submitters who may be brand new to writing, or seem to not fully understand the rigorous process of traditional publishing.
Definition:
Traditional publishing means an institution or outlet buys your (finished) manuscript after reviewing the typeset for an upfront fee. Some traditional publishers pay for poems too.
Don't confuse them with small, privately-run presses.
The Big Five Publishing Houses Are:
1. Penguin Random House
Largest of the Big Five.
Formed from the 2013 merger of Penguin and Random House.
Reportedly Publishes around 70,000 digital and 15,000 print titles annually.
2. HarperCollins
Second largest.
Publishes about 10,000 new books per year.
Reportedly Operates 120+ imprints.
3. Hachette Book Group
U.S. division of French conglomerate Hachette Livre.
Publishes roughly 2,100 adult titles and 500 children’s titles annually.
Reportedly Runs 24 imprints.
4. Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan’s publishing programme spans literary, commercial, genre, and academic markets through a diverse set of imprints, producing roughly 1,000 new books each year.
5. Simon & Schuster
Reportedly Publishes about 2,000 titles per year across 35 imprints.
Traditional publishers PAY you. You don’t pay any costs.
Independent publishers may also pay you a royalty.
Some traditional outlets are State-owned or regulated by the government especially in sub-Saharan Africa or, they may operate through a project by a University.
Traditional publishers are reputable prestigious firms and may supply to educational institutions and bookshops.
Traditional or Independent publishers will ask you to sign a contract often giving them ownership of your manuscript. You cannot republish the manuscript without their permission as you might plagiarise their work. Penguin South Africa is one such outlet.
Traditional and Independent publishers will expect a contract of ownership.
These sorts of publishers often require validation of manuscript, authorship and claims made in book.
A peer review is another process of verification.
Traditional publishers are expected to carry out background checks and academic publications must be peer reviewed. These processes protect the public from bogus claims example a pastor writing about fertility would not be published in the UK, except he were an expert on reproductive medicine.
Traditional and Independent publishers reject work submitted. Sadly, due to the volume of submissions they receive, traditional firms often turn down manuscripts.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times my work has been rejected.”
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is not traditional publishing. It’s classes as self-publishing, regardless of whether or not you created a publishing company and publish behind its mask. You should state that you are self-published. I reserve the right to decline work published by a self-owned business.
Traditional publishers have a team of experts often comprising an editor with qualifications in English language for instance, a marketing team, book design team and reviewers.
High Printing costs
There are presses out there waiting to hang you out to dry, like my washing on the line. It’s not surprising that many writers in the African continent resort to self-publishing platforms. Although Kindle Direct Publishing doesn’t operate in nearly any African country. Self-publishing platforms host whatever you publish for you on their website. They may happily charge you for the service too.
Self-publishing
Traditional/Independent Publishing Outlets
Hybrid Publishing-
The author contributes money towards publishing the book/product (editing, cover design, layout, printing, distribution and marketing, while the publisher prints the product and takes a cut of revenue from sales.)
Hybrid Publishing – The Way Forward for Writers in Africa Drowning in the Slush Pile
Hybrid models offer desperate writers a lifeline. Pay-as-you publishers support first-time writers by enabling the publication of poems, novels and short stories locally. Some firs even combine print, e-book, direct-to-reader sales and author branding. But you must shop around before you buy. I have seen some faint front covers and heard scary stories about editors in the African continent inputting manuscripts of unsuspecting writers, through ChatGPT in order to edit them. The half of the editors out there in the continent, may lack the necessary experience or speak tutorials bad English.
How are Poets/Short Writers published?
1. In an anthology: some start off by co-authoring anthologies with others for traditional publishers.
2. In their own chapbook: a chapbook might only consist of about 18-20 poems on one theme. Often prize winners get a chapbook. I was a joint Dithering Chaps, Chapbook competition winner and they've published my book.
Gestating Creatures (2025)
3. Established poets might self-publish their own anthologies which might include short stories or essays. Vanity publishers publish for a fee.
4. National Publishers are mostly free outlet. They might require qualifications in your chosen domain and a peer review
5. e-Magazines/print magazines sometimes charge a small fee and might ask you to write on a specific theme or use a particular style.
6. Literary Journals may feature established or emergent writers
7. Writing Competitions
8. In broadsheet newspapers.
9. Online websites: these may sometimes disappear due to a variety of reasons
10. Hybrid Publishing: author splits costs of publishing a book with publisher.
In June 2025, I paid Zambian Arts Publications, (see link: https://zambianartspublishing.com) hundreds of dollars via Western Union, to publish 30 copies of a winner's anthology.
They didn’t even compile a manuscript, nor have they ever got back to me with the books.
I reported the matter to their local police but even they can't locate the company owner. He has terminated all contact with me via email, social media and WhatsApp...in other words I was led up the garden path.
However, the contentious book is available on Amazon and was republished in Malawi.
The Problem with Self-Publishing Outlets or Vanity Presses
A vanity press-published or self-published writer may have bypassed the validation process or checks for plagiarism or the use of artificial intelligence. I know some independent outlets in Nigeria and South Africa do ask for proof of knowledge in subject area; verification may be done through firms that liaise with the institutions which writers list in their biography to ascertain the validity of claims.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is not traditional publishing. It’s classes as self-publishing, regardless of whether you created a publishing company and publish behind its mask, or not.
Most Literary Journals like ours, only publish reviews of traditionally books or those published by a reputable Independent press.
[I've nearly had the wool pulled over my eyes by indie writers distancing themselves from their book/s by using a company name.]
Example: Sunflowers in Ethiopia by John Smith (2023) published by John Smith the Wordsmith Press. Reviewed by Smith John.
You upload your manuscript which you probably wrote and edited. Your book might be published three days later while traditional publishing generally takes about 8 months to a year.
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