Questions & Answers

Yes. If your manuscript meets our editorial standards and is publication ready, we publish it at no cost to you. There are no submission fees, no mandatory service purchases, and no upfront costs of any kind.

Our sustainability comes from optional services, not from charging authors to publish. The two are structurally separate.

Hybrid publishing combines the professional standards of traditional publishing — editorial review, production quality, global distribution — with the author-centered model of independent publishing. Authors retain full rights and royalties. We provide the infrastructure. No vanity press dynamics. No exploitation.

Through optional professional services — editing, ghostwriting, cover design, formatting, audiobook production, marketing, and the Author Portal. Authors choose what they need. Nothing is mandatory.

Our publishing decisions are never influenced by whether an author has purchased services. Editorial acceptance is based solely on manuscript quality.

A vanity press charges authors to publish regardless of quality. Manuscripts are accepted based on payment, not standards. Sankofa accepts manuscripts based on editorial review alone — no payment involved.

We also do not seize rights, impose royalty splits, or charge recurring fees for continued publication. The model is structurally different at every level.

Self-publishing places the entire production burden on the author — editing, design, formatting, distribution setup, metadata, ISBN registration, and marketing. Sankofa handles all of this under one publishing agreement. You write. We build the infrastructure around your work.

Up to 45 days from the date of confirmed receipt. We acknowledge all submissions within five business days. If you have not received acknowledgment within that window, contact us directly.

Full Acceptance — The manuscript meets our standards and proceeds to agreement and production immediately.

Conditional Acceptance — The manuscript shows strong potential but requires specified revisions before publication can proceed.

Rejection — The manuscript does not meet our current standards. Rejection does not prohibit resubmission after revision.

You may submit, but unedited manuscripts are unlikely to meet our standards. We recommend using our Publishing Readiness Assessment or editorial services before submitting if you are uncertain about your manuscript's readiness. Submitting an unready manuscript does not advance your position.

Yes, with full disclosure. AI-assisted content must be declared at submission. Failure to disclose may result in rejection or termination of a publishing agreement if discovered after acceptance. We do not prohibit AI assistance — we require transparency about it.

Previously self-published work may be considered on a case-by-case basis, particularly if the work has been substantially revised or if you are seeking to transition from self-published to formally distributed. Contact us before submitting to discuss your specific situation.

No. Selecting the PRA does not influence the editorial decision. It provides a structured professional evaluation that improves manuscript readiness. If you purchase the PRA at the time of submission and your manuscript is not accepted, you receive a 100% refund.

Yes. 100%. Sankofa Publishers does not acquire copyright. You own your work before, during, and after publication. We receive only limited non-exclusive publishing and distribution permission through a formal agreement.

Royalties are 100% of net revenue. Net revenue is gross retail sales minus retailer fees, distribution fees, per-unit printing costs (for print-on-demand), and payment processing fees.

The remainder is your royalty. All of it. Sankofa does not take a percentage of your earnings.

Standard Reporting (Free): Manual royalty payments every six months with a full breakdown of units sold, fees deducted, and net earnings.

Author Portal ($49/month): Real-time dashboard, automated direct bank deposits, downloadable reports, and detailed analytics.

Yes. A 30-day written notice is required to allow for proper distribution withdrawal and record management per industry standards. After the notice period, your title is removed from all distribution channels and all rights revert fully to you.

Pricing is determined collaboratively. We provide strategic pricing recommendations designed to protect your profitability and maintain market competitiveness. Final pricing decisions are made with your involvement and agreement — not unilaterally imposed.

No. Services are entirely optional. If your manuscript meets our standards without any additional support, we publish it. We never require service purchases as a condition of publication or as a condition of editorial review.

Only indirectly — in that a better-prepared manuscript has a stronger chance of meeting our standards. Service purchases do not influence the editorial decision itself. A manuscript that does not meet our standards will be rejected regardless of what services were purchased.

All ghostwriting engagements are protected by a strict non-disclosure agreement. Sankofa will never disclose, reference, or claim any involvement in the production of your manuscript. The published work carries your name only. The NDA is mutual and permanent.

Yes. All designed assets — cover files, interior layout files, and any other production materials created for your manuscript — belong to you. We deliver all source files upon project completion. You may use them with any publisher or platform.

Sankofa's primary focus is African and diasporic narrative. Authors do not need to be African or of African descent to submit — but the work must engage meaningfully and responsibly with African or diasporic subject matter, history, analysis, or culture. We do not publish work that approaches these subjects from a colonial or extractive perspective.

We have a cultural position — not a partisan political agenda. We believe in narrative sovereignty, author ownership, and the dignity of African and diasporic intellectual life. We publish across a wide range of perspectives within that framework. We do not align with political parties or ideological extremism of any kind.

Sankofa's publishing scope is cultural, analytical, literary, and historical. Faith-based doctrinal content falls outside that scope. This is a question of focus — not a judgment on faith. Our founder has a pastoral background and deep respect for spiritual life. The press simply is not the right infrastructure for devotional or doctrinal publishing.

No. Sankofa is pro-African. Those are not the same thing. We do not publish work rooted in hatred toward any group. Disciplined love of African identity does not require hostility toward anyone else. We are reconstructive — not reactionary.