We want stories of the magic in everyday life and the everyday life in worlds of magic. The magic of dragons soaring through the sky, of a witch tending to her plants deep in the forest depths, or a goblin thief risking everything for freedom and friendship. The magic of living on your own for the first time, drinking coffee at a cafe in Paris, or swimming with sharks above a vibrant reef. The magic of sitting behind the controls of a ship and finally touching the stars, of dancing beneath streetlights in the middle of a thunderstorm, or of reading a book curled under your favorite quilt while the rain drops on the window, sipping cocoa with a scalded tongue. The magic of a lifelong friendship, sisterhood, and family bonds. The magic of life.
starwhale books publishing house manuscript submissions
-submission guidelines-
- currently closed to unsolicited submissions -
what we accept:
We accept manuscripts of any length, including novellas, novels, and epic stories. (If your piece is flash fiction, consider submitting to our online magazine flashes of magic.)
While we have a soft spot for fantasy, sci-fi, and other genre fiction, we accept stories of any genre, subgenre, or hybrid forms (including the occasional creative nonfiction). We're more interested in the feeling of the story, rather than the label it falls under. Read the paragraph at the top of the page for the types of stories we're looking for. You can also take a look at what we've previously published to get a sense for if you're story will find a home here.
what we don't accept:
We do not accept pieces with excessive violence, horror, or sexual content. While we do believe darkness is a part of life, and should be a part of stories, we are primarily looking for stories with themes of hope, love, friendship, and happy endings.
We aren't really interested in spy, thriller, or horror genres (though we are willing to be proven wrong).
We also aren't a good home for poetry (though again, we are willing to be proven wrong.)
manuscript formatting:
Please format your manuscript according to industry standards. (If you're not sure how to do this, here's a great blog post that outlines it in detail here.)
Please make sure you include your name and contact info on the title page.
Your piece must be completed before you submit to us. Also, please keep in mind that while we do provide editing for our books, the more polished they are when you submit, the better your chances of acceptance will be.
to submit:
Send us the first five chapters (or roughly 10,000 words) of your manuscript as a .doc or .docx attachment to this email address: editor@starwhalebooks.com (Please don't paste it in the body of the email.)
The subject of the email should read Last Name_Title of Manuscript (example Jones_The Mysterious Crow).
In the body of the email include a cover letter introducing yourself in a short bio. Include your legal name (and pen name, if used), phone number, address, and email for contact purposes (you can also mention your website, and any social media platforms you're active on.)
Include a short summary of your project as a whole in your cover letter (between 300-500 words or roughly a page) detailing the characters, main plot, themes, and ending. (Also let us know the total word-count of the project).
Indicate if this is a simultaneous submission (if you have submitted it to other presses, publishers, or agents), and please let us know right away if it is accepted elsewhere. (And congrats!)
We try to respond as promptly as possible, though it could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on our level of submissions. We can promise that you will always get a response, even if we decide to pass.
We are a hybrid publishing house, which means that we are a mix of self-publishing and traditional publishing. We will work closely with our authors throughout all levels of the publishing process, from story editing, manuscript design, cover design, creating promotional materials, and marketing campaigns to help bring your story to the world.
If your manuscript is accepted, we will work with you to publish simultaneous hardback, paperback and ebook editions to online and retail stores (Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Walmart, iBooks, etc) as well as libraries (both in physical and digital databases.)
We share royalties earned with our authors 60/40, in the authors' favor.
Because we are not a large publishing house, we are not able to provide royalty advances to our authors. While we cannot guarantee levels of book sales, we can guarantee that we will advocate for the stories we publish with as much dedication, attention to detail, and passion as your books deserve.
According to our publishing agreement, the author will grant Starwhale Books non-exclusive first, world English print and digital rights to publish their work in digital, print, audio, and other formats. The copyrights of all intellectual and creative work remains under the author's control.
Once your manuscript is accepted and both parties have signed our contract, our Managing Editor will contact you to discuss editing, layout, cover design as well as to plan out a marketing timeline and a print and distribution date.
As the author, you will be involved in every design decision we make in the creation of your book. This is your story, we're just helping you publish it.
To learn more about our publishing process, visit the page for our authors.