PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Adopt-An-Author Program – A Call For Submissions 2025

Each year, PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine sponsors the editing, proofreading, manuscript development and ultimately publication of six aspiring authors’ works, at no cost to them. Yes, for absolutely free! These are aspiring authors that we identify independently, whose works in our opinion stand out and show promise. The authors also have to be willing to be mentored further on the craft.This year, the indications are that we will increase the number to 10 writers. In March 2026, these gifted scribes will join the PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine’s annual Spoiling The Broth anthology (Volume 4) launch and workshop, where a number of industry experts will further help to hone their craft. The idea is not only to help the 10 writers to publish their books, but to also inculcate in them the skills to build a fan base, and to develop themselves into brands synonymous with literature. While there is no age limit to writers who are accepted into the program, preference would be given to:

Writers under the age of 35.

Manuscripts must be written in English

Novels

YA Fiction

Short story collection

Memoirs/autobiography

Self-help books

Only open to SADC countries

We will not accept poetry or religious manuscripts at this time.

The PUBLISH’D AFRIKA’s Adopt-An-Author Program was established in 2021, with the publication of, amongst others, Zeripah Amoni’s book, ‘I Am Also A Woman’. The project was wholly funded by Mr Success Moripa, of Moripe Group of Companies. The project gained momentum with the publication of Matumelo Mafoko’s book, ‘Through The Silent Tsunami’. Matumelo’s project was funded by PUBLISH’D AFRIKA, after a sponsor pulled out.Anathi Kom’s poetry anthology, ‘A Tree of Life’, soon followed. This was a collaboration between PUBLISH’D AFRIKA and the University of Fort Hare. Anathi has gone on to make a name for herself, also becoming a contributor to PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine’s Spoiling The Broth anthology Vol1.

In 2024, the program unearthed and published Sanelisiwe Ndlovu, author of ‘Covered In Scars’, Lazarus Kgageng with his masterpiece, ‘The Chords of a Hymn’, V.W Mayo and his YA offering titled ‘How I Got Over The Trauma of Being Cheated On’, Patrick Moabui with his poetry collection, ‘Laugh and Cry With Lastborn Vol.2’, Themba Skhosana and his thought-provoking body of work titled ‘Conversations With My Thoughts’, and last but not least, the 18 scribes who formed part of the Spoiling The Broth Anthology Volume 3.

How to get spotted by PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Magazine scouts? In this day and age, writing talent alone is not enough to guarantee success as an author. Authors now have to unashamedly market their crafts to death. You no longer just have to sell your book, but also sell yourself as a brand. Put yourself and your work out there. Get tongues wagging, be in people’s faces and hog the spotlight, in a positive way of course.Those are the people we are looking for; scribes who do not think publishing a book alone is enough. Writers who have laid the foundation and now need to be met halfway. Writers who are prepared to work equally hard for the success of their projects.

Send us a synopsis of your work (no longer than two pages, Times New Roman or Calibri 12), along with the first chapter, an author bio and a detailed marketing plan you have put together. Do you have numbers that you can show us? A fan base or following that would readily consume your work should it be published? Basically, can you show if there will be a return to the investment PUBLISH’D AFRIKA might make on you and your work?

Submissions open on 18 July 2024 and will close on 18 September 2025. Send your submissions (synopsis, one chapter, an author bio and detailed marketing plan only) to info@publishdafrika.com.

Download the PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Company profile to be acquainted with the works of the previous winners and of PUBLISH’D AFRIKA and its subsidiaries. Click on the link below to download the company profile:https://publishdafrika.com/2025/04/21/publishd-afrika-company-profile/

AWARDS GALORE AT PUBLISH’D AFRIKA

PUBLISH’D AFRIKA and its subsidiaries – PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Literary Magazine, Adopt-An-Author Program and the Short Story Competition’s Spoiling The Broth – jointly scooped two awards in the month of May, 2025. PUBLISH’D AFRIKA as a company was shortlisted for the Mpumalanga Hollywood Foundation’s Bambelela Business Awards, along with 136 companies plying their trade in the province. After a grueling three days that started off with a business seminar on Monday, 26 May, the pitching and exhibition for funding on Tuesday 27 May, and ultimately the awards on Wednesday night, 28 May, PUBLISH’D AFRIKA emerged as one of the 17 top businesses in Mpumalanga. We walked away with a R40 000 prize money to be invested towards the equipment the business needs. This was fresh on the heels of having been awarded the South Africa-Zimbabwe Excellence Award in the Creative Arts, at the Sandton Hotel in Johannesburg on Saturday, 24 May. PUBLISH’D AFRIKA’s Sukoluhle Nontokozo Mdlongwa accepted the award on behalf of company. Although we have assisted over 150 authors to publish their books since 2021, it was PUBLISH’D AFRIKA’s Adopt-An-Author Program, the online literary magazine, and the Spoiling The Broth Short Story Competition that resonated the most with the Bambelela Business Awards judges. PUBLISH’D AFRIKA continues to invest over R25 000 annually into the three initiatives in a bid to unearth and nurture writing talent across the continent. “Although we didn’t clinch the top prize of R130 000, I believe being selected as one of 17 top businesses in the province we operate in is enough recognition for the work we do,” said Thokozani Magagula, co-founder of PUBLISH’D AFRIKA. “The judges were also impressed by the fact that we are a team of two – my wife Sukoluhle and I – and that in a space of only four years, we have managed to put the company where it is today. ”In 2022, PUBLISH’D AFRIKA Online Magazine was received a R200 000 funding from the National Arts Council, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the Presidential Employment Stimulus 3. In 2024, the Spoiling The Broth and Adopt-An-Author Program received a R80 000 funding from the National Arts Council, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the Presidential Employment Stimulus 5. We also achieved an even bigger feat when the Department of Education in Gauteng recommended 12 of the books we had published, even though they later procured only six. Three of the titles we have published have also been procured by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in both Gauteng and North-West, with another order having been placed for another title this week. So far, PUBLISH’D AFRIKA’s Adopt-An-Author Program and the Spoiling The Broth have managed to unearth a total of 35 writing talents since the initiatives were launched in 2011. A total of 12 budding writers have already been discovered since the Spoiling The Broth initiative re-started this year.