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Submission guidelines

Even though this is a free service (my way of giving back to the author community who keep me in work), please don’t abuse it. Take the process seriously, just as you would a real submission to a real agent (it’s good practice). Understand that there are no guarantees that I’ll use the piece. If the site is particularly busy, or I’m particularly busy trying to earn a living, then I might not be able to review all submissions. Instead, I’ll choose submissions where I think I can demonstrate a point that hasn’t been made before, or that are very good, or that are sent in by authors who post me large bundles of banknotes.

  1. Read all the submission guidelines.
  2. This isn’t a work-shopping facility. If your work is not really ready to send to an agent, don’t waste your time or mine.
  3. Refer to point 1).
  4. Fill in all the fields on the submission form.
  5. Name: either your real name, author name, or some completely fictitious name. The process will mean more to you if it’s not completely fictitious, and if your submission is really good, a posting here is completely free publicity for your book, after all, but it’s up to you.
  6. Email address: must be a genuine email address.
  7. Title: Title of the work.
  8. Genre: Select from the drop-down box. If the exact genre isn’t there, choose the nearest, or “Other”.
  9. English version: Are you writing in US English, or British English, or another version?
  10. Blurb: 250 characters in which to describe the essence of your story. What’s the novel about?
  11. About the author: Another 250 characters in which to tell me anything about yourself or the book you feel is relevant. That might be your publishing history, or the fact that you’re a complete novice, or a particular aspect of your opening you’d like me to look at. This won’t be posted, but I might refer to things you say in it in my comments.
  12. Text: Paste the first 1000 words (to the nearest complete sentence) of your manuscript.
  13. Refer to point 1)
  14. Take a deep breath.
  15. Press send.

Recent Submissions

  • Tragic homecoming – part two
  • Superhero Dad problems
  • University life, in all its complexity
  • Fairy story
  • Crime thriller, question mark?
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