1. Dictionaries

Oxford has been making dictionaries for Southern Africa since 1978. Using unique research conducted with teachers and learners, we strive to make dictionaries that answer needs innovatively and effectively. We publish Dictionaries and Thesauruses for schools, higher education and adult usage. Our range includes monolingual, bilingual and illustrated options.

2. Schools (core learning and teaching materials, and resources)

The Schools Department at OUPSA focuses on publishing school textbooks for Grade R to Grade 12, in line with the South African CAPS curriculum, and other supporting educational resources. Our literature for the younger grades (Grades 1–7) is usually in the form of readers that accompany and support our core language series. We do not publish outside of the CAPS curriculum and do not publish children’s picture books, story books, nursery rhymes, or any other type of fiction or non-fiction outside of the CAPS curriculum.

3. Schools Prescribed Literature Department

We publish fiction that is suitable for teenagers and that has the potential to be prescribed as a setwork for Grades 8-12 in secondary schools in Southern Africa.

• We publish in all of South Africa’s official languages.
• The language level, characters, themes and plot should be appropriate for literary analysis and study within the school classroom.
• The main character of the novel should ideally be of school-going age, so that the learners can see themselves in the story, and the themes should appeal and be relevant to teenagers.
• Usually we would be looking for manuscripts between 30,000-60,000 words long.
• In terms of poetry and short stories, we only publish multiple-author anthologies that are suited to the South African school curriculum.

We do not publish single-author poetry and/or short story collections, science-fiction/fantasy-type novels, biographies, autobiographies, spiritual, motivational, self-help, coffee table books, recipe books, teach-yourself-how-to books, travel or religious novels.

4. Higher Education (textbooks for tertiary studies)

Oxford University Press publishes quality-assured higher education textbooks in the fields of business, accounting, auditing, economics, law, social sciences and teacher education. The relationships we build with our authors are of great importance to us. We strive to continually meet the changing needs of students and lecturers and achieve this by seeking out innovative authors who are experts in their respective fields. The publishing journey begins with an in-depth author workshop where all aspects of the proposed manuscript are discussed and planned. We work closely to provide continued support and guidance throughout the writing, editing and production process.

See general publishing information under the TVET section to learn more.

5. TVET (Technical and Vocational Education Training textbooks)

The Oxford Succeed In series is developed to support TVET students and lecturers, and links theory to industry, building skills while meeting the requirements of the current syllabus in an accessible way. The Succeed In series provides NATED and NCV students with the theoretical knowledge required to write their exams, and the practical application to enter the workplace confidently. Our TVET publishing programme is closely linked to submissions called for by the DHET, and you are welcome to leave your details on the form below, indicating your field of expertise so that we can build a database of authors in the event of a submission being announced.

Our general publishing information

Please read our general publishing information before submitting your proposal

• If you have self-published and would like to explore distribution opportunities for your work, then The Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) should be able to provide you with information on distribution options in South Africa. You can contact PASA on (021) 762 9083 or via their website: at http://www.publishsa.co.za/
• PASA will also be able to answer most questions on publishing and the different publishing houses in South Africa.
• We do not offer editorial services such as proofreading, editing, typesetting and translation to the public.
• We do not have a printing facility, so we cannot print anything for you.
• If you would like to find a literary agent, you can consult The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook.
• We receive so many manuscripts that our publishing team is unable to meet in person with potential authors to discuss possible publications before submitting the work. We therefore kindly ask that you follow our guidelines below for submitting your work. If your work matches our publishing plan, we will then make contact with you to discuss matters further.
• OUPSA cannot assist in recommending or providing ghost writers so if you would like to get in touch with someone to help you write a book, we can suggest contacting The Professional Editors’ Group (www.editors.org.za) or the South African Freelancers Association (www.safrea.co.za). These organisations should be able to put you in touch with a freelance writer.
• We publish primarily for Southern African students. If the main audience for your book is in another part of the world outside of Africa, please send your proposal directly to the relevant Oxford office, which you can find by going to www.oup.com.

In order for us to evaluate a book or proposal effectively, it is helpful for us to receive additional information about the book and about you! This information enables us to reach a decision on whether or not to publish. When you are planning your book proposal, here are things you should consider:

• First and most importantly, who is your audience? Be as specific as possible.
• Is your book suitable for print or is it an ebook? Does it require any online components?
• Why will these people choose to buy your book specifically? What is the unique selling proposition?
• Who is your competition? In other words, what other books are there on this subject, and particularly, in the South African market?
• Think about how many people will buy your book. As far as possible, you should know how large your market is.
• Where will they buy your book?
• Finally, will people continue to buy your book for several years? The most successful books do not go out of date quickly.

 
We do not publish scholarly texts, monographs, research, journal articles, theses, self-help or trade books.