MENU:
SUBMITTING YOUR WORK TO US
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QUICK GUIDE:
1. DO read and take note of ALL our publishing policies and requirements. All the information you need is on our web site.
2. DO read our guidelines carefully, and try to meet them.
3. DON'T send queries to us if you have NOT researched our site, or have ignored our policies and/or guidelines.
4. DON'T be surprised if we don't bother to respond to queries that show you haven't bothered to find out about us. We're too busy dealing with those writers who have checked to see we're a fit.
5. DON'T query us if you are looking for high-powered, highly-driven publishers. We are too busy enjoying our work to be willing to become wage slaves. Please read about us and find out why good publisher-author relationships are more important to us than spreadsheets, in the long run. We are not a "quick fix" to make you rich and famous; we are realistic about our abilities and desires.
6. DON'T query us if you are expecting a quick turnaround of your manuscript into a book. First, it takes time to settle things and get your final draft to us. After that, count on roughly 4-6 months minimum to publication (longer for illustrated books). We are not a "quick fix". Good wine takes time to bring to perfection, especially with new writers.
We know that there is a lot of information on our pages, but we have good reasons for asking you to take the time to read it all. BEFORE YOU MAKE A SUBMISSION, PLEASE READ: "About Us", "How It Works" and "Professional Presentation"
No, really. We mean it. For your sake and ours. We really get narked by submissions from writers who clearly haven't bothered to target correctly - and if you catch us at a bad moment, we may even be abrupt with you in response. Be kind to both of us; make sure we are the right publisher for your book before you send a query, and nobody gets hurt. ;-)
Submissions should be made to Jo Holloway. She is female. She is married. Pet hates (and any budding writer who has studied the industry at all knows these little basics): Queries that arrive without either an email address or stamped self-addressed envelope included, or require a signature, or don't have enough postage on them. She reeeallllly hates those little things. If you don't hear back from Jo, you probably made one of those mistakes. :-)
All our readers far prefer hard copy submissions, by post (snail mail), because [a] they are less strain on our eyes, so we read them for longer periods at a time, and [b] we can go through them anywhere any time (in car on way to meetings, morning coffee in bed, etc) and therefore they get seen to faster than files on our computer. However, we also take submissions by email because we understand that it's not always possible or sensible for people in the far corners of the world to post heavy parcels. (Note however that if our first reading is positive, we may then request a hard copy for further progression.) Please do read the submission guidelines below for layout of manuscripts; there are good reasons for the wide margins and double spacing, etc!
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are interested in book-length manuscript submissions. We accept most genres: fiction and non-fiction, and Christian inspirational works. Remember that although we produce secular books as well as Christian works, our standards for secular works will still be guided by our Christian leanings. Don't send us magic, demons, witches, aliens, and the like. See below for more.
What we particularly like: We have a soft spot for travel, sailing, adventure, historical novels, romance, inspirational romance, women's fiction, mainstream and literary fiction, crime/detective, courage and overcoming, gift books and coffee-table books. We enjoy wit and humour, entertainment, upliftment. Sunpenny promotes beauty and excellence in publishing. Books do not have to be Christian in either topic or nature, but they do have to keep to acceptable value standards.
Children's & Teenage: We are only looking for very specific children's and teens manuscripts at this time. We are not looking at stories for small children, or children under about 12 at least! We will look at mid-teen and young adult book-length manuscripts that are strongly and well written (e.g. we love Mary Finn's Anila's
Journey
Poetry: Not usually. If you have enough poems to make up a decent sized book, and they fit into our guidelines, then we will look at it if it suits our style. We are not looking at poetry that won't stand as a complete book by one author - we don't do non-competition anthologies of several authors' poems, or short stories. Poetry should be uplifting, not depressive, please.
Short stories and articles No. We will be creating an anthology of the best entries from our writing competitions, but apart from that we don't do anthologies of short stories. We also do not produce magazines, so please don't send articles and short stories as normal submissions.
Science Fiction: Hmmmm. Generally we don't like science fiction; however, we may look at "intelligent" sci-fi - plausible futuristic stories about real life situations. Please, no weird adventure fantasies - triffids and the like, general silliness, aliens, or games-type wild fantasy "I have the power!" stuff.
What we won't even consider: Although we publish secular books as well as Christian, there are things we don't want sent in. Unless it is suitably within an overall context of "overcoming", we do not accept depressive/dark or self-contemplative styles, 'black comedy', racism, gratuitous sex or violence or foul language, or anything else that does not conform to good mainstream family values (and we get to be the judge!) ... our taste also does not run to the gothic or paranormal - vampires, werewolves, ghosts, supernatural spirits, and the like, or horror generally; nor do we enjoy gross, crass or crude, no matter how witty. If it's seedy or seamy, don't even try. And if you have a book that expounds theories/ religions such as The Big Bang, Evolution and suchlike - please don't waste your time sending it to a Christian-based publisher like ourselves. :-)
IMPORTANT: We reserve the right to decide for ourselves what we find offensive. If you submit material that is other than we have stated as acceptable above, we will not read it and will not respond to it (or, if you catch us on a bad day, we may respond acidly!). You are entitled to your beliefs; we are entitled to ours. :-)
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
- Please send a QUERY first - either via the email as below, or in a normal letter by mail. If you do not know how to create a professional-looking query, please find out - this is the most elementary of lessons a writer should learn before submitting to a publisher. Your query is your first contact and the first impression you make on the publisher; it will demonstrate immediately how seriously you take your own work. A proper query is important! - In brief, your query information MUST INCLUDE: (1) Your Full Names and address, (2) a short description of your project (usually one paragraph) - a roundup of the story and indication of genre and target audience, (3) short bio about yourself, (4) anything else you may consider relevant, and (5) the synopsis - usually about a page in length, sometimes two, single-spaced.
- Please do NOT send your manuscript (or sample chapters) until we ask for it! We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. In other words, please contact us first and then wait for us to request your manuscript before sending (this is as much to save you time and money, as to save us time). When you do send, please give a clear reminder that we requested it.
- Please send everything by ordinary post. Please do NOT send anything to us by any way that means we have to sign for it. We are not always here. We live 12 or more miles from the Post Office, which is in Norwich city, and we don't go into Norwich more than once in two weeks. If we miss a parcel, we will probably NOT make the journey to collect it.
- Don't send us your first draft! Please make sure before you send that you have edited and re-edited and polished your work; that it is professionally presented (double spaced, with margins of at least 1" all round, in a standard 12pt serif type face, and that the spelling and grammar are the best you can make them). You wouldn't attend a job interview with a sloppy attitude or demonstrating that you don't know anything about the job you're applying for, would you? If you want us to care, please make an effort to show us you care. If we open a work and find it sloppy in any way, it indicates to us that the author is sloppy too - and we wouldn't work with sloppy authors. We want authors we can love!
- We do not accept handwritten manuscripts. We can, however, arrange for them to be typed up for you, if you are not able to arrange it yourself - for a cost, of course. Please note in your query email if your manuscript is handwritten.
- We far prefer hard copy submissions, by post (snail mail), but we will also take submissions by email because we understand that it's not always possible or sensible for people in the far corners of the world to post heavy parcels. Note however that if our first reading is positive, we may then request a hard copy for further progression.
- Also note that if we contract you for your book, we will ask for a digital copy (i.e. the file on your computer) to be sent to us, for further progression. This can be done either by email or on CD/DVD.
- We cannot be held responsible for the postal service. If your manuscript doesn't arrive, or gets lost, sticky or broken, or the camel kneels on it or the llama spits on it (though we will do our best to avoid all of these eventualities!), we cannot replace it - so be sure NOT to send your only copy!
- We will only return manuscripts that arrive with a properly stamped (for UK postage), self addressed return envelope. Please don't ask us to fund the postage for return of your work. Please don't ask us to send it and promise you'll forward the costs later. Been there, done that, got bitten. We don't do it any more. Any manuscripts without an SAE, if rejected, will be recycled.
- NO STAPLES please! Not on your envelopes, not on your pages. They are tough, they hurt, they injure, they tear. Paper clips are fine. Envelopes etc: please don't go mad and create a package we can't open without a machete or several pairs of scissors!
Our Reading Policy:
We do not charge a reading fee. We do read everything that is sent to us if we've asked for it, but only up to the point where we decide whether or not it's right for us. This might mean that we read the whole manuscript, or it could mean that we read only the first few pages if it's obvious that it's not within our scope of interest, for whatever reason (eg if it's littered with profanities, foul language, sex, ridiculous statements, or anything we've listed above as a no-no ... or if it's just plain badly written).
Multiple submissions:
Multiple submissions are fine, but please let us know your work is also with someone else - or at least let us know if it's accepted by someone else, so that we can pull it out of the Reading pile before spending unnecessary time on it? - Our thanks.
Rejections:
In any publishing company, far far far more manuscripts are rejected than are accepted. Please know that our decisions are not personal; we are looking for something that sparks us as individuals, and that would suit the flavour of our company. Our decisions are based on the material itself striking a chord in us that makes it stand out from the rest - and yes, this means it's very personal and dependent on our own tastes, but it's still not about you yourself! We take
books that
light us up; that we click with; that we absolutely love enough to spend huge amounts of time and money getting right, and then marketing. Your book may be 95% of the way, but we have to have that extra 5% before we'll take it on. And no, not even 99% will cut it. :-)
This may mean we pass up on the next world blockbuster - but that's fine if it wasn't our taste. Reader and editorial decisions are based not only on the expertise or brilliance of a story, but also on our own likes and dislikes, insights and knowledge, in addition to their professional eye and assessment of the work as it falls within our own remit. We may love a story but reject it for other reasons! But remember: We don't know who you are; we don't know what you look like. We promise - if we reject the manuscript, it's not you we're rejecting! Don't take it personally; persist in sending it to other publishers. "Thornbirds" was refused something like 39 times before it hit the right person's desk. Don't give up just because we don't take it!
What we'll tell you:
Due to the number of submissions we receive, we often cannot give you an assessment of your manuscript if we are rejecting it. Depending on time, we may give you an indication of where we feel any problems may lie, but it won't be in detail. We can do a professional assessment/ critique if you wish, but we will need to charge for that as it involves a fair amount of time. If you are concerned about your manuscript, we suggest you find a reputable, qualified manuscript analyst and pay them
for a full critique - be careful, there are a lot of fly-by-nights out there! (Note: we do not link to or recommend people because you might think we're conning you or getting a share. Beware publishers or agents who insist you use one or other editor or critic; they're quite probably - though not always - leading you up the garden path and raking a profit.) Also note that if we have rejected your manuscript but give you good feedback on it and liked it generally, we might be willing to undertake
helping you to self-publish; we do turn down manuscripts for financial reasons if we can't fit them into our program due to our budget constraints.
MAKING YOUR SUBMISSION:
The address for postal deliveries (please don't send "to-be-signed-for" mail! and please ensure you have ENOUGH POSTAGE on your package!) :
Mrs J Holloway
Sunpenny Publishing
Church Cottage North
Ferry Road
Carleton St. Peter
Norfolk NR14 7BD
United Kingdom
QUERY EMAILS - PLEASE CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW, which will open your email program with a new email form. You will have to type in the address below (apologies; this is a necessary anti-spam measure).
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