It was the story of a dominee in the Dutch Reformed Church who loses his faith not through sin, but through scholarship. He reads Spinoza. He reads Beyers Naudé. He begins to see the Bible as a beautiful, terrifying human document. The plot was simple: the dominee must decide whether to tell his congregation the truth and destroy their faith, or to lie and save his own livelihood.
Tafelberg accepts unsolicited manuscripts, but only via email. They do accept physical copies. To submit, you must provide: tafelberg uitgewers manuskrip voorleggings
They use a streamlined online submission portal hosted by NB Publishers. This is often preferred over email or postal mail, as it ensures all necessary details—like a synopsis and table of contents—are captured upfront. It was the story of a dominee in
Voorleggings word gestuur na manuskrip@nb.co.za of redaksie@tafelberg.co.za (kyk na die jongste opdaterings; ouer bronne noem tafelberg@nb.co.za ). He begins to see the Bible as a
Tafelberg is a prestigious but selective publisher. Unsolicited full manuscripts are rejected unread. A well-written query with a strong synopsis and sample chapters, plus patience, is the only viable path for unagented authors writing in Afrikaans.
And then there was It arrived in a plain manila envelope, no return address. The title page simply said: “Die Bekeerde” (The Converted) . The author’s name was listed only as “’n Leser” (A Reader) .