Submissions


Here’s a bit more information on what to expect from our submissions:

What are we looking for?
We’re currently considering both non-fiction and fiction with a literary bent, as well as poetry (collections only) and playscripts. Generally speaking we’re not looking for science-fiction, romance or crime – but if you feel your work is literary and only partially defined by one of these categories, please feel free to send it our way. If you’re submitting a playscript please indicate any performance plans.

A note on AI
We do not accept submissions written by (either entirely or with the help of) Large Language Models (LLMs, ‘AI’), on legal, ethical and practical grounds. Such programmes operate by ingesting others’ work (at present for no fee or license, and without the copyright holders’ permission, so in contravention to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which governs copyright in the UK*); and by nature these programmes are not capable of imagination or originality, which we think is key to good writing, and they are known to ‘hallucinate’, which we believe makes them unreliable in non-fiction writing. We consider the use of LLM output as akin to plagiarism, so please do not submit any work made this way. (NB: we would distinguish between ‘output’ and ‘information’ – we know it is becoming increasingly common to use LLMs like ChatGPT in place of a search engine, and some find answers to be quicker and more comprehensive; while users should be aware that this racks up a much larger carbon footprint, and so there is another ethical consideration here, we do not exempt works where writers use LLMs in place of Google, so long as it is used for information purposes only, and no ‘output’ words are then used in the text itself.)

What is our submissions process?
In order to spare a few trees, we do ask that all submissions are sent via Query Manager, rather than by post. Query Manager has the added benefit of allowing you to check in on your submissions, so you don’t need to worry that you’ve been forgotten about.

Please click here to submit.

NB: We’re often asked what we want you to submit – we don’t mind if it’s the first chapter of a novel or the last, and our initial query submission is set to ten sample pages rather than a chapter to allow for other genres (poetry).

Will we get back to you? When will we get back to you?
No one wants to be ghosted. You’ve taken the time to get in touch with us, so we will take the time to get back to you.

We have a very open submissions process, which can mean that we occasionally have a huge influx in submissions and take a while to get back to you – and we’re a small team, so please be patient while we read! We try to reply to queries within a fortnight, and submissions within ten weeks, but can sometimes take longer. If you log into QueryTracker you can view the status of your submission – but if technology has beaten you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
 

Submit

* We’re writing in July 2024: at present the industry’s stance is these LLMs are infringing copyright; several high-profile legal cases are in process around the world, and the case is being made for retroactive collective licensing.