Whistling Shade Press - Submissions
Welcome to Whistling Shade Press
Whistling Shade now has a book division, Whistling Shade Press.
We publish novels, short story collections and poetry. Our
first titles appeared in 2008, and we plan on publishing
4-6 books per year in trade paperback.
Our book publisher is Joel Van Valin.
Our fiction editors are Sten Johnson and Michael Ramberg. Our poetry editor
is Dylan Garcia-Wahl.
Open for Submissions
Whistling Shade Press is currently open to submissions of book-length manuscripts.
But wait - we will only consider manuscripts for authors previously
published in Whistling Shade. We do not think this will be an insurmountable
obstacle for interested writers. Being published in the journal will allow you to become better
acquainted with the Shade ... and then you can decide whether we
would be a good publisher for your book.
What we can do for your book
If we do publish your book we will:
- Provide editing. We have an experienced staff that will make sure the
book is ready for the great world.
- Provide cover art, an ISBN, and all that good stuff.
- Pay 20% royalties on net sales of your book.
- Place the book in stores in the Twin Cities and surrounding area.
- List the book with on-line sellers (Amazon etc.) and distributors (Ingram etc.).
- Send the book out for reviews.
- Coordinate readings and signings.
- And of course advertise the book in Whistling Shade.
How to submit a manuscript
If you have had work published in Whistling Shade you can
submit a manuscript by e-mailing it to editor at whistlingshade.com
(substitute @ for "at"). The manuscript should be in a Word, RTF, text or FrameMaker format.
Please provide a cover letter, word count, and a short summary of the work.
You need not send a synopsis. Send the entire manuscript.
Other questions
Are you a vanity publisher?
No. We are a royalty-paying small press.
Do you charge reading fees for manuscripts?
Hell no.
I write only novels, so I have nothing to submit to the journal.
Would you still consider my novel?
Come on. Any novelist worth their salt can write a good story or
at least a review.
What genre are you looking for in fiction?
We are mainly interested in mainstream literary novels. Novels that
incorporate elements from genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, historical, mystery)
will certainly be considered. Don't send us anything based on StarTrek.
Not that you would ... but it seems all publisher submission pages have that StarTrek caveat.
What about poetry?
We enjoy many different styles of poetry, from free verse and surrealistic riffs to
lyrical meter and rhyme pieces. The important thing is that your poems are passionate,
exciting, original.
What word length are you looking for?
For fiction, 50k words on up. Most novels are between 90k and 100k words.
For a poetry collection, between thirty and seventy pages in standard format
(each poem beginning on a different page).
Other questions
If you have other questions about Whistling Shade Press, please address them
to Joel Van Valin (admin at whistlingshade.com)
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