Submissions
Linen Press is looking for beautifully written manuscripts which are relevant to women’s lives and which surprise us with their style and content.
We welcome submissions from established and emergent writers, writers from minority groups, and those who write in English as a second language. We publish literary fiction, top end contemporary fiction, memoir, biography, short stories and poetry. Non-fiction that is relevant to women’s lives and experiences will also be considered. We are building a list of international authors.
Linen Press fills the niche left by the big publishers who fill the chain stores with celebrity memoirs and blockbusters. We publish three or four books a year to the highest possible standard. We are a hands-on publisher, working closely with our authors, and we practise what we preach.
We do not publish children’s books, romantic fiction, science fiction, horror, chick lit or illustrated stories. Please don’t send any submissions in these genres because they will not be read.
We are happy to receive unsolicited submissions as long as they fit the ethos of the Linen Press. If you have not heard from us within eight weeks, please assume that we have decided not to take your submission further. Regrettably, we do not have the time to respond individually to each of you because of the sheer volume of submissions received.
If you do not receive a response, please do not be downhearted. We have to feel incredibly passionate about a submission from the moment we start reading in order to take it on. This makes it a very personal decision, and one which might well differ from other agents.
Submission guidelines
¶ Send in your submission using the form below. We ask for a short writing CV, a synopsis and the first 2,500 words or the first two or three chapters of your completed manuscript.
We ask you to buy one book from Linen Press, partly to contribute a small amount to the woman-hours of reading many submissions, partly so that you are familiar with our list. The purchase is included in the form.
¶ Put the title of your work in all files.
¶ The brief synopsis is really important. We don’t want to know the plot but we do want to know what kind of book you are sending in. Tell us what makes your writing unique and why your book is relevant to women?
Submissions process
Before you submit your manuscript we’d like you to buy a book from us. This helps us, as a small, indie press, to keep funding new authors and expand our reach. Here’s how to go through the submissions process:
STEP ONE: Read the guidelines above.
STEP TWO: Complete the form below, then go to step 3.
STEP THREE: Choose one of our books from the submissions page and go through the checkout process.
STEP FOUR: Once you’ve completed checkout you will be given the chance to upload your writing CV, synopsis, and first 1000 words of your manuscript.
STEP FIVE: If we like what we read, we’ll be back in touch to ask for more chapters. After reading those, we’ll send you a critique and a decision about moving forward to contract. If you haven’t heard from us within a month, unfortunately this means that your submission has been unsuccessful and we won’t be asking for more chapters. We wish you luck placing it elsewhere.
STEP TWO
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