Publishing a book in Cameroon in 2026.

1. The three ways to publish

Before talking paper and covers, decide who carries the project: who pays, who decides, and who receives the sales revenue.

Indaprint works in the last two cases as a production provider, and for publishing houses that outsource their layout to us. We take no rights in the books we make.

2. Preparing the manuscript

A manuscript ready for layout is finished, read by people other than you, and corrected. Every correction made after layout costs more and can shift pages.

• Finish before production. A chapter added midway changes the page count, so the spine, so the cover.
• Get three readers. At least one who doesn't know you.
• Hire a professional copy-editor. Spelling and grammar, but also typography: quotation marks, capitals, consistent names and dates.
• Deliver a clean file. One Word document, no decorative formatting, clearly marked headings, and photos supplied separately in high resolution.

3. Layout

Layout turns a Word file into a book. It's what lets readers get through three hundred pages without fatigue, or makes them give up at chapter two. It's done in professional software like InDesign, not a word processor.

Benchmarks for a well-set novel

• Format: 13 × 20 cm or 14 × 21 cm (roughly 5 × 8 in).
• Body text: 10.5 to 12 points, depending on the typeface.
• Line length: 60 to 70 characters, the most readable range.
• Margins: wider on the binding side, so text doesn't vanish into the fold.
• Justified text with hyphenation, no rivers and no widows or orphans.

The pages before the text

A book opens with front matter: half-title, title page, copyright page on the back, then optionally dedication, contents and foreword. The copyright page carries the details that identify the book: publisher, ISBN, legal deposit year, printer's name.

4. The cover

People judge a book by its cover, in a bookshop and on WhatsApp, where it's first seen as a thumbnail a few centimetres wide. It must stay legible at small sizes.

• Front: title, author name, and one strong idea. Avoid recognisable stock images.
• Back: an 800 to 1,200-character blurb, a short bio, the price and the ISBN barcode.
• Spine: title and author. Its width depends on page count and paper: roughly 1 mm per 20 pages on 80 g bulky paper, to be confirmed by the printer.

5. ISBN

The ISBN is the international number identifying each edition of a book. It's required for listing in bookshops, libraries and with distributors. A new edition, a paperback or an e-book each need their own ISBN.

In Cameroon, the Ministry of Arts and Culture is the national agency for issuing ISBNs. In February 2026, several publishers had been unable to obtain new numbers for months because the country's access to the international platform was blocked; the minister said a solution was "being finalised". Before setting your release date, check with the ministry that allocations have resumed.

Cameroon Tribune, 2 février 2026 · News du Cameroun, 24 février 2026

6. Legal deposit

Legal deposit is mandatory. It's governed by Law No. 2000/05 of 17 April 2000 and Decree No. 2001/957/PM of 1 November 2001. It means handing six copies of each publication to the National Library, with a declaration in two copies, no later than the day the book is made available to the public. Digital publications follow the same rules.

Include these six copies in your print run. In practice a deposit after release is tolerated, but it's best handled as soon as the boxes arrive.

Alliance internationale des éditeurs indépendants, politiques publiques du livre au Cameroun

7. Printing

Two techniques coexist, and the right choice depends mostly on the print run.

In every case, insist on a proof that you review and sign before printing, then a check copy before the full run. It's the only way to avoid a typo printed three hundred times.

8. Budget

A self-published book's budget breaks into four items. You control the first by writing; the other three are quoted.

Books are VAT-exempt in Cameroon, in print and digital.

9. Selling your book

• The book signing. That's often where the first few dozen copies sell. Plan it like an event: venue, invitation, poster, stock on site.
• Bookshops. Turn up with the book, a clear price and an ISBN. Terms are negotiated shop by shop.
• The diaspora. Plan an e-book and a way to ship copies abroad.
• Mobile payment. Mobile Money and Orange Money make direct sales easy, online and on WhatsApp.
• The e-book. A well-made EPUB costs little to produce alongside the print edition.

10. Copyright and publisher licensing

Your copyright is protected by Law No. 2000/011 of 19 December 2000, which recognises the author's moral and economic rights. When self-publishing, you keep them in full. With a publisher, read carefully what you assign and for how long.

Since Decree No. 2026/00644/PM of 25 March 2026, working as a publisher requires a licence. For general publishing, published reports mention a 300,000 FCFA application fee, holding ISBN codes, a tax compliance certificate, registered staff including at least two trained specialists, offices and a warehouse. Existing houses have twelve months to comply. These reports don't specify the case of an author occasionally publishing their own book: check with the Ministry of Arts and Culture before setting up a publishing entity.

L'Ivre du Livre · Cameroon Tribune · This guide informs; it is not legal advice.