Submission Guidelines

Pan Macmillan South Africa publishes books for the general market in the following categories:

- General fiction (including crime fiction)
- Literary fiction
- Memoir/biography/autobiography
- General non-fiction
- Children’s picture books

We do not accept submissions for short story collections, poetry or plays. As an African publishing house, we believe in publishing books by African authors and/or books that deal with contemporary African themes and issues.
We are extremely selective in accepting works for publication. Only works of the highest writing standard, level of originality and market appeal can be considered.

All submissions should contain:

• for non-fiction: a detailed chapter outline with the first 3 chapters (preferably) or several selected finished chapters. Please do not submit the entire manuscript.
• for fiction: a brief (one page or less) synopsis of the plot and the first 3 chapters (preferably) or several selected finished chapters. Please do not submit the entire manuscript.
• a note on the author's view of the potential market/readership of the book
• all of the author’s contact details.

All material must be typed. Please ensure all pages are numbered consecutively. No handwritten submissions will be considered. Please make sure to keep a copy of your submission – we cannot be held responsible for manuscript that goes missing in the post. Submission should be emailed to Pan Macmillan, c/o Smangele Mathebula at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or posted to the Publishing Department, Pan Macmillan, Private Bag X19, Northlands, 2116.

If you also want your entire submission returned, please enclose a suitably-sized stamped self-addressed envelope — submissions will not be returned unless return postage is enclosed. Assessment takes 6-8 weeks.