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Instruction to Authors

SLWS supports writers of Sierra Leonean origin and other nationals whose books have a Sierra Leonean context. 

Authors are still not required to pay fees to be published. They therefore must ensure that they submit manuscripts based on our quality requirements, specifications and guidelines.

All books must be copyedited and evidence of that must be submitted.

Technical books must undergo peer-review. SLWS must receive at least two positive reviews of the submitted manuscript before proceeding to the next stage. 

Please ensure that you adhere strictly to the following instructions. It will save you and us a lot of time, as well as money.

If we receive a manuscript that requires a lot of work, it will either be returned or you will be asked to pay for something you can easily do yourself.

Authors must handle most of the following things before submitting manuscripts to us: 

  • There are different types of books, hence we have provided different templates for you to use. Please determine your type of book and select the appropriate template to download and use.
  • The templates include all the margins necessary to produce a book. Please do not tamper with the settings of the templates. Simply select all your text, copy, open the appropriate SLWS template, select the dummy text it has, and paste yours. Most times our margins are kept. If your pasted text maintains your margins, please try again. If in doubt, please contact publisher@slwritersseries.org, copy oasankoh@gmail.com.

 Submitting a Book Proposal and a Manuscript to SLWS

  • Authors are encouraged to kindly ask colleagues and friends to read and comment on their manuscripts including the book proposal before submitting any documents to SLWS. Your book proposal is very important. A poorly written book proposal may cause an excellent book manuscript to be rejected.
    1. Any project must submit a book proposal.
    2. The book proposal will be reviewed by the Publisher who may contact appropriate member(s) of the editorial advisory board, as necessary. If a full manuscript is already available, it is important to attach it to the book proposal to speed up the review process.
    3. Non-fictional manuscripts such as textbooks and all academic work will undergo peer-review. The authors will be obliged to revise the work based on comments provided by the reviewers and give evidence of how the comments have been addressed. This rigorous review process is intended to ensure that SLWS technical books maintain international academic standards.

  • In order to reduce cost of production, SLWS requires a carefully typeset manuscript to be submitted. This should be done AFTER the review and editing processes. Templates are therefore provided below. SLWS will charge for typesetting of technical, scientific texts if the author cannot submit a typeset manuscript.

    • For NOVELS, please download this template. Our novels have dimension 5.2"x8".
    • For SHORT STORIES and COLLECTION OF POEMS please download this template. These collections have dimension 5.5"x8.5".
    • For PHD DISSERTATIONS, RESEARCH TEXTS, MEMOIRS, (AUTO)BIOGRAPHIES, please download this template. These books have dimension 6"x9".
    • For all other books and if you require a different format, please contact the SLWS Publisher for guidance.
  • Generally, please avoid empty lines and pages, unless very necessary. The cost of printing a book is determined largely by the number of pages it has. A 120-page book will cost much less to print than a 200-page book. Think about it!
  • You can end up with fewer pages by selecting a larger book format and a smaller font size. Some people like thicker books with many pages, but they are expensive to print. Please decide what you want.
  • We repeat: Our novels are of dimension 5.2"x8" or 5"x7.7". If you are comfortable with a larger format, say, 5.5"x8.5" or 6"x9", please let the publisher know. We advise that you go to a library or take a look at books you have, choose a book that you like, see how it feels in your hands, and select that format. We can produce your book to your liking. After all, you must like your own book. However, there may be cost implications.
  • We recommend font type GARAMOND or TIMES and SIZE 12, single line-spacing. That looks very good and readable. Options are size 11, 1.5 line spacing. However, some authors like garamond size 13, but it will increase the pages of your book and make it more expensive to produce. Think about that.
  • It is extremely important that you avoid what many call "careless errors". They are called this way because you have the opportunity to avoid them. Give your manuscript to friends and colleagues to read before you submit to the publisher. It is even better to look for an expert of the language in which you have written. Otherwise pay a professional copyeditor to review your book and fix any errors. SLWS can identify someone to assist you for a fee. We can reject your manuscript if we discover any of these "careless errors".