The conversation
An idea, a draft, a life worth recording.
Tell us what you are writing, who it is for, and where you are in the process. A consultation explores your intention, manuscript readiness and the editorial direction your book needs.
AN INVITATION · SSALI PUBLISHING HOUSE
Your story belongs
in the world.
From the words you carry
to the book others will hold.
Bring us your story, your scholarship, your imagination. Together, let us explore the book it can become.
PLO Lumumba · Author & member of our editorial board
EVERY AFRICAN VOICE DESERVES TO BE AMPLIFIED
What we write
becomes what
we remember.
A family history. A question that changes a discipline. A world only you could imagine.
Writing gives experience a place to live beyond the person who holds it. Publishing gives that work an enduring form: something to read, discuss, question and pass to another generation.
Africa is a continent of many voices, languages and ways of seeing. We invite writers to contribute to that living record with honesty, curiosity and care.
Becoming an author is a transition into a relationship with readers. The work moves from a private draft to a considered public edition, carrying your name, your voice and your responsibility for what you share.
FROM WRITER TO AUTHOR
The transition.
The work. The book.
Every manuscript begins somewhere different. The consultation establishes the route; the contract defines the commitments.
The agreement
A clear foundation for the work.
Before work begins, agree the publishing route, scope, costs and payment terms, rights, royalties where applicable, responsibilities, approvals and a realistic timetable in a written contract. Ask questions until the terms are clear.
The manuscript
Your voice, carefully developed.
Structure, narrative, language and evidence receive close attention. Editing is a conversation with the author. Revisions, permissions and fact-checking prepare the work; scholarly projects may also require specialist or peer review.
The book
A manuscript becomes an edition.
Title, cover, interior typography and layout bring the work into its final form. Proofreading and author approvals come before production. Formats, ISBN arrangements and publication details are confirmed for the agreed edition.
The readership
The beginning of your public life as an author.
A thoughtful description, author biography, launch approach and agreed distribution plan introduce the book to readers. Your participation matters: conversations, readings and a consistent presence help the work find its audience.
THE AUTHOR BEYOND THE PAGE
Find your voice.
Let readers find you.
You wrote the book.
Now invite people into its world.
An author’s voice lives in the writing—and in the way they speak about it. What moved you to begin? Who did you hope would read it? What conversation do you want the book to open?
Readings, interviews, thoughtful social posts and conversations with book clubs give readers a chance to meet the person behind the pages. Start with an introduction that sounds like you, share a passage with purpose, and make it easy to discover the book.
Your presence helps carry the work forward. In consultation, we can discuss how your author biography, photographs and public conversations fit the book’s agreed launch and marketing plan.
Discuss your author journey
University of South AfricaAFRICAN WORKS · AN ENDURING RECORD
A book can carry
a wider conversation.
Ssali’s catalogue brings lived experience, literature and scholarship into conversation, including works published in collaboration with UNISA Press.
UNISA Press traces its beginnings to 1956. Its history of documenting and sharing African scholarship places publishing within a larger responsibility: preserving knowledge and making it available beyond the moment of its creation.
For an author, a carefully published book can become a lasting point of reference for talks, teaching, professional conversations and future research. Appropriate scholarly collaboration can connect a work with academic readers and institutions; the value rests on the quality of the work and the publishing arrangements for that particular title.
Institutional collaboration is considered for relevant projects. Each institution has its own selection and review process; a Ssali publishing enquiry does not imply UNISA acceptance or endorsement.
MANY GENRES · MANY GENERATIONS
There is more than
one kind of story.
Memoir and autobiography. Fiction and poetry. History, law, policy and academic research. Faith, wellbeing, business and personal reflection. Books speak to different needs at different stages of life.
01 / YOUNG READERS
First discoveries.
Children’s and young adult projects need an age-conscious approach to language, themes, illustration and reading level.
02 / ADULT READERS
Lives and possibilities.
Stories, ideas and practical insight that meet readers in their curiosity, experience and imagination.
03 / SCHOLARLY READERS
Knowledge in dialogue.
Specialist work shaped by evidence, references and the expectations of its discipline.
Tell us your genre and intended readership. We will discuss the fit and editorial requirements for your particular project.
BEFORE THE FIRST PAGE
The name they remember.
The face they recognise.
A promise to the reader.
A strong title carries the essence of the work and suits its audience. It should be memorable, easy to say and clear about the reading experience. A subtitle can give nonfiction its subject and purpose.
Test it aloud. Check how it sits beside comparable books. Ask what a reader expects before they open the first page—and whether your manuscript fulfils that promise.
The face of your campaign.
Your cover introduces the book on shelves, in online listings, on launch invitations and across social media. Its imagery, typography and colour should communicate genre, emotion and quality at a glance.
It needs to work as a small screen image and as a printed object. A considered cover gives the campaign a visual identity readers can recognise wherever they encounter the book.
FEATURE · AI IN THE LITERARY WORLD
Use the tool.
Keep your voice.
AI can help you explore an outline, question a draft or organise a writing schedule. Your lived experience, interpretation and creative decisions remain the heart of the work.
Read the Authors Guild’s AI guideFurther reading from an independent authors’ organisation.
Verify what you use.
Check facts, quotations and references against reliable original sources. Review suggestions for bias and for how they represent African people, histories and languages.
Protect the manuscript.
Review a tool’s privacy and training settings before sharing unpublished writing, personal information or material entrusted to you by others.
Be transparent.
Discuss substantive AI use with your editor, keep a record of how you used it, and follow the requirements of your publishing agreement. Never present fabricated interviews, research or references as real.
Make the final judgment.
Evaluate every suggestion in your own words and context. Human authorship, editorial accountability and respect for other creators should guide the finished book.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
You do not need
all the answers.
Begin with your story.
Introduce yourself, share a short description of the book, its genre and intended readers, and tell us whether you have an idea, a work in progress or a completed manuscript.
Write to our partnership deskPrefer email? Introduce your book