"The proceedings of a conference held at the Africa Institute of South Africa in 2009, this is a major new collection of essays on the state of scholarly publishing in Africa, with a strong emphasis on the situation in South Africa. The conference was convened, and the papers published, in an attemp ... t to influence “policymakers and other relevant stakeholders in developing an enabling environment for scholarly publishing to thrive.” Containing a total of 26 papers – all of them, usefully, preceded by abstracts – content is arranged under seven sections: (i) The State of Research Publishing in Africa, (ii) The State of Scholarly Publishing in Africa, (iii) The Challenges of Book Distribution, (iv) The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Scholarly Publishing, (v) Alternative Publishing Models, (vi) The Politics of Peer Review in Scholarly Publishing, and (vii) Scholarly Publishing and Intellectual Property Development in Africa. While the majority of the contributors are from South Africa, other contributors include Kenyan veteran publisher Henry Chakava, James Currey of James Currey Publishers, Mary Jay, Chief Executive of the Oxford-based African Books Collective, and a number of academics from the West African region. The book is particularly strong in overviews of scholarly publishing in South Africa, covering both book and journal publishing. It offers some interesting discussions and fresh insights about alternative publishing and distribution models, with articles reporting about new initiatives and strategy approaches, and also including papers on the politics and practise of the peer review process, and on South African intellectual property rights. One or two papers, by academics from other regions of Africa, unfortunately are weak and poorly informed about the current state of scholarly publishing in Africa, for example citing literature that goes back to books and articles published in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the book can be seen as a useful companion to ‘African Scholarly Publishing Essays’, edited by Alois Mlambo, and published by African Books Collective in 2006." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2581) more

"This volume grew out of a seminar on scholarly publishing held in Arusha, Tanzania in 2002. It was originally announced for publication as The African Scholarly Writers and Publishers Handbook, as a sequel to the much acclaimed African Writers’ Handbook published by African Books Collective in 19 ... 99, but was subsequently recast primarily as a collection of essays by book practitioners and a number of African academics. The preface to the volume offers no explanation why the original handbook concept was abandoned, although the essay collection does contain a few more practical papers such as Alois Mlambo’s “Choosing a Publisher”, Mary Jay’s “The Book Publishing Process”, and Charles Bewlay’s “A Publisher’s Expectations of Academic Authors”. Also useful, published as an appendix in the book, is a reprint of CODESRIA’s Guide for Authors, a small booklet published by them in 2003 that contains a great deal of helpful guidance as well as a glossary. The collection takes stock of the current status of academic publishing on the continent. and contains a total of 25 papers, together with an index. Following two introductory essays, papers are grouped under a number of headings and sub-headings: Part 1, Perspectives: Scholars and Publishers, African-Language Publishing, Librarianship; and Part 2, Writing and Publishing; New Technologies. This essay collection offers a rich resource on many aspects of African scholarly publishing today." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2312) more

"Klaus Fiedler tells the story of the ‘Kachere Books series’ developed at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Chancellor College, University of Malawi. Fiedler believes Africa has a lot to offer for academic publishing in Africa,“forget about the handicaps and look at the oppor ... tunities”, and, despite frequent statements to the contrary, a market for academic books does exist in Africa, “and it is a market in the right place, since books on Africa are needed first of all in Africa.” He proves his point by drawing attention to the remarkable success of the Kachere series launched in 1995, supported by some statistical analysis of sales at home, elsewhere in Africa, as well as overseas through African Books Collective. The series started with a remit to publish primarily books on theology and religion in Malawi, but soon expanded to include books with more political content, and titles on Malawian culture and society. Over a hundred titles have been published (of which 33 have been reprinted) with page extents ranging from a slim 28 pages to as much as 607 pages, with initial print runs of 500-700 copies. The author says “what has been possible here may well be possible elsewhere” and urges other publishers to get started: “Complaining, though emotionally satisfying, does not achieve anything… It is better to find practical solutions." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2285) more