Submissions
FAQs

If you like my book, will you publish it?

Maybe, maybe not. Publishing is a business after all, so we have to keep an eye on what the market will bear. Your book might be great, but we may not be the right fit for it at this time.

Will you tell me how to make my book better?

We can’t guarantee any feedback on your book. Proper critique and editing both take time and we remain committed to paying decent wages for quality work. As such, we cannot spend much time on unsolicited manuscripts.

If you want a quote on professional feedback, please contact our sister company Three Ocean Media at publishing@threeoceanmedia.com.

Why do you ask about my plans for marketing and goals for my book?

Because that matters. A lot. An author’s approach to their book and to getting it out there is core to how we would approach it. We don’t believe in crowbarring very different books into a one-size-fits-all model. What you’re willing to do and how realistic you are tell us how much work we would be taking on to publish your book.

What can I do to get you interested in my book?

Presentation matters. Show us you’ve done the work. Minimal errors, facts checked, showing us you’ve got an understanding of the market for your book — these all make a difference.

In the end, though, it comes down to the writing. We want to hear voices that are not just unique, but authentic. If the book reads like you’re trying to sound like someone you aren’t, that’s a problem. If it’s filled with dry exposition, that’s a problem. We expect that submissions will need more work, but we need to see that the author is capable of holding up their end of the bargain.

My book was already self-published. Is that a problem?

No. While an existing edition of your book being out there and competing with one we’d put out is an issue we’ll have to address, if the book is of high quality and hasn’t found its audience, we’d be willing to see what we can do to make the difference. Your experience having already published could be an asset, as well — be sure to tell us about that.

I have everything done for my book. All you have to do is put it out.

It’s not that simple. We have our own editorial standards and quality concerns, which apply to every part of the process. We would have to look at the specifics of your production to date to say whether it’s a help or a hindrance to our process.

How should my submission be formatted?

Any mainstream program such as Word or LibreOffice is acceptable. If you’re using something else, please specify in your initial query. Whatever program you’ve chosen is right if it works for your process, but each presents its own issues.

In any case, just send the initial query without any files, first.

I typed the whole book on my Remington. Can I send you that?

Are you trying to make us cry?

Seriously, start with an email and let us know. For the right book, we may well take on the extra work.

Do you have a style guide I should follow?

No. Nor will we ever.

English doesn’t have rules, after all, it has conventions. Different authors use different conventions, with their style either guiding their choices or being the result of them. We don’t want to force your text through a template that might not be suited to it. We develop individual style guides for each author as part of our editorial process.

That said, consistency is key. Spell it ‘grey’ or ‘gray’, but don’t bounce between the two. If you don’t use the Oxford comma, sticking it in here and there to compensate for a complex sentence can suggest a different meaning than what you intend. Readers pick up your style in reading your book and, when you deviate from it…. If your text is consistent, that helps tell us you didn’t just hammer it out and send it off. It shows that you’ve put in the time cleaning it up.

You have to have some preferences.

Well, okay, we like the Oxford comma (a.k.a. the serial comma or the Harvard comma). But we’re willing to publish books that don’t use it.

What if my grammar and spelling isn’t the best?

Cleaning that up is part of the process, but within reason. If your meaning isn’t clear, that becomes a problem. Hopefully, you’ve gotten feedback from other writers or a professional editor and have a good sense that your meaning is coming across in the text.

To that point, everyone’s mom and best friends like their books, so don’t trust their opinions.

You’ll regret not publishing my book!

Really? You have no idea how many regrets we have. We’ll file it with the others.