How to Submit Your Manuscript to a Publisher

How to submit

We have all found exciting new talent through the unsolicited submissions and are keen to continue doing so. We want to hear from you and look forward to reading your work.

We are no longer accepting paper submissions. Instead, we’d like you to submit online, by filling in the form that you can click to at the bottom of this page. You can always chose to email at lab@quignog.com directly, but filling the form is preferred.

The form will ask you for your contact details and for some information about your submission (for example, what genre it falls into, whether it’s finished or a work in progress). It will then ask you to insert a covering letter (maximum 500 words) and a synopsis of the work (maximum 1,500 words). You can either type these directly into the form, or copy and paste them from elsewhere.

And, finally, the form will ask you to upload a word file containing your submission (.doc or .docx – please do not upload a pdf).

If you don’t hear back from us within 6 weeks of sending your submission, please email us at lab@quignog.com, and if other agents or publishers have requested to read the full manuscript or made you an offer of representation please do let us know.

What to put in a covering letter

We’d like to know what kind of book you’re writing – what genre and market you think it fits into, and two or three lines about the story (keep this brief, we don’t need a full synopsis in your letter). We’d also like to know whether you have any writing experience – have you been on a creative writing course, have you been published before (including short stories, online and in magazines), have you ever self-published? And we’d like to know a little bit about you – a little bit about your job and your interests, perhaps, or anything else you think is interesting.

What to put in a synopsis

We don’t need (or really want) to know every twist and turn of your plot before we actually read it – a synopsis should simply expand on the few lines from your covering letter to give us a better sense of plot and characters, and an idea of where the story is going. Definitely don’t feel as though you have to use up all of the 1,500 word maximum.

How to format submissions

And, finally, the form will ask you to upload a word file containing your submission. Please send us a maximum of 10,000 words. Please double space your manuscript, and make the text (at least) 12pt, preferably Times New Roman font. (And again, please make the file .doc or .docx – not a pdf.)

 
An author is always at sea when it comes to submissions. Publisher guidelines seldom help! Here you go –

  1. Is your book complete?
  2. Are the chapters indexed and page numbered?
  3. Use standard fonts and word processing programmes. Most people have access to MS Word.
  4. The book should be thoroughly edited by you. This means taking a good break and returning to it at least once before submitting it. Refer to our editing guide on self-editing your book. It is also a good idea to run it by honest readers before you edit it one last time.
  5. The book must be proof-read by you and your trusted batch of friends.
  6. Once the manuscript is ready, work on the add-ons. Write the synopses. Notice synopses, not synopsis. What’s the story of your book in two lines? In one page? And if someone asks for it, what’s the detailed story in under ten pages? Condensing your own story is not just important for pitching, but also as an introspective exercise – do you even have a story? It is an incredible idea to create the synopsis somewhere in middle of writing the book. It gives you structure and allays your doubts.
  7. Write you bio. Crisp. In third person. Fact based. Pertinent to your writing. Is there something unique about you? If not, don’t invent. Let your writing speak for your.
  8. Work on the book’s title. Run it by your target audience. Do they find it compelling? Do you?
  9. Here is the last and the most important part. Emailing the manuscript.
    1. Subject: Manuscript Submission titled by
    2. Write a personalized mail to the publisher, beginning with your two-line synopsis. Mention the, word count, genre, etc. If there are any fun facts associated to the book, do mention those. Anything to hook the publisher’s attention. Lastly, dedicate a small paragraph explaining why you prefer this publisher in particular.
    3. Now separately attach the FIRST three chapters, one page synopsis and your bio. If you have a marketing plan, attach that too.
  10. Send emails to each publisher separately. Isn’t that a no-brainer?