Call for Submissions – General Manuscripts

Dear writers,

Our second round of submissions for 2021 is approaching.

This time we’ll be accepting submissions in any of the existing The Emma Press series.  The window will be open from 27th September through till 3rd October.

We’ll keep sharing tips, prompts, and updates on submissions windows through our newsletter, so make sure to sign up for that!

Additionally, we’ll be hosting an Instagram Live for any questions about submissions, as well as a Twitter writeathon day, like we did last time! 

Instagram Q&A: Wednesday 15th September, 2pm

Twitter Writeathon: Wednesday 22nd September – updates all day!

Twitter Q&A: Wednesday 22nd September, 2pm.

If you want to get a better idea of what we look for in submissions (recommended!), then we’d advise checking out our curated The Emma Press Bundles. They are a good indication of the sort of work we are looking for. We have a Prose Bundle, an Art Squares Bundle, a Poetry Bundle, and a Children’s Poetry Bundle.

Thank you for trusting us with your submissions! We can’t wait to read your work. We will keep you updated on our review progress via our newsletters.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

We’d like to see a proposal and a sample for each submission, or else a proposal and full manuscript if you have it.

Your proposal document should tell us: 

• What your book is/what you are trying to do with it/what themes you explore in it
• Who you think would enjoy reading it/who it would really speak to
• Why you think it would be a good fit for The Emma Press
• What are your expectations for publication – what do you hope will happen if you have this published?
• How you would help us publicise your book

POETRY PAMPHLETS

Please send us a proposal and a sample of at least 10 pages of poems, or the full manuscript if you have it ready. 

• If submitting a sample: We’d recommend you include your most striking pieces, which give a good flavour of the pamphlet as a whole.
• If submitting a full manuscript: Bear in mind that our pamphlets contain a maximum of 23 pages of poetry, with a maximum of 30 lines on each page (this is without linebreaks/stanza breaks, i.e. if your poem is just one block of text). Do put some thought into the order you put your poems in, but don’t agonise over it – nothing is set in stone.

PROSE PAMPHLETS:

Please send us a proposal and sample pages (or the full manuscript if you have it). 

• Advice for submitting a sample: Include at least three stories/essays/chapters, which should give us a flavour of the pamphlet as a whole. 
• Advice for submitting your full manuscript: Our prose pamphlets contain around 15-20,000 words. 

CHILDREN’S POETRY (aimed at children no younger than 8 years old):

Please send us a proposal and a sample of at least 10 pages of poems, or the full manuscript if you have it ready. 

• Advice for submitting a sample: Don’t feel restricted to the ordering you have in mind – we’d recommend you include your most striking poems, which give a good flavour of the pamphlet as a whole. 
• Advice for submitting your full manuscript: Bear in mind that our children’s poetry collections contain around 35-45 poems. 

CHILDREN’S FICTION (aimed at children no younger than 8 years old):

Please send us a proposal and sample chapters (or the full manuscript if you have it).

• Advice for submitting a sample: Include at least five chapters or stories, which should give us a flavour of the book as a whole. 
• Advice for submitting your full manuscript: Our children’s fiction books contain around 24,000 words.

For more info on the submission process head to our Calls for Submissions page 🙂