WRITE BLOODY  OPEN SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND PROCESS:

SUBMISSION DATES ARE March 1-20, 2012 only.
This year we are accepting manuscripts of poetry
and manuscripts on how to write or build communities of writers,
books of writing prompts
and writing reference books.

We do not take manuscript submissions at any other time.

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES THOROUGHLY.

We often select four to twelve authors a year. Some are via the open submission process.

We will not have an open submission every year.

We will ONLY accept submissions during the WB Open Submission period.

SUMMARY
Read below for submission guidelines. If you give all your blood and intensity to your writing, if you feel your writing can move people, then we might be the publishing house for you. Current submission dates for new manuscripts will only be accepted:  YOU MUST READ this entire page. Submit 3 poems max, up to 5 pages in a 10 point font. (font types are listed below) For the reference books, submit as many pieces will fit into 10 pages. There is a two round selection process. Those advancing to the final round will need to submit  a full manuscript of 40 poems or for reference 120-190, 6 x 9 pages. Out of those 20-30 finalists, four to twelve authors will be selected to join our family. Keep reading below.

NOTE: if you are one of the 20 or so finalists, this year we are trying a new feature. If you make it to the finals, you will have one month to create a youtube video of you performing one poem of your own work. We will upload links to them all in our contest page. Your youtube video will count for 20% of your acceptance vote, based off of youtube likes. The other portion of your vote comes from our 12 editors that are looking for powerful page poetry and books on writing poetry. You do not need a youtube video to submit to the first round, only if you are accepted to the finals.

Note 2: You must tour if you are part of our family. At least 20 readings a year. We are now also a booking agency and look forward to your submissions and touring. You must also assemble a quality website if you are selected.

Contact us with questions, we’d love to hear your input. Do not submit early. Good luck. Remember, do not submit your work early before the submission period. Keep reading below.

FOR ROUND ONE

• Within our guidelines, fit three of your best poems within 5 pages. Font size 10, Times New Roman, Garamond or Helvetica. We are not accepting short stories at this time.We are accepting 10 pages of a reference book too.
• Submit them with a cover letter, which can be pasted in a special cover letter box when you click on the submishmash link above.
• The top 20-30 submitters out of hundreds make it to the finals.
• The submissions are read by 12 editors, not just Captain Brown.
• If you make it to the next round you will need 40 quality poems or 30 pages and a youtube video of you reading one poem or a selection from your reference manuscript. It can have creative license and does not have to be just a live performance.

FOR ROUND TWO

• Those 20 or so finalists submit a full manuscript of 40 poems or their reference sample.
• 4 to 12 are chosen to join the family
• Make sure your manuscript and submission are formatted correctly, see below.

Here’s the important stuff…

1. You must purchase a book from the WB online store or amazon before submitting. Please include your amazon transaction ID from this purchase in your cover letter.  If you purchased a book in the past please purchase one again.  This helps us pay for editor costs.

2. FILE FORMAT

Submissions must be in .doc, docx or .pdf format. No other file formats will be accepted.  NOT, txt, rtf, wps, or anything else. You’d be surprised how many submissions are not read because we cannot open them.

THIS IS IMPORTANT. Name your file in the following manner–

EXAMPLE FILE NAME: Your name, your possible title and file type. 40% of people last year skipped this step.

“derrickbrown.chicagostories.doc”

Send. One. File. The cover letter should not be included in this file.  Submit your cover letter by pasting it where the submission manager asks for it.

3. WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COVER PAGE

YOU DO NOT NEED TO WRITE ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT WE REQUIRE BELOW. OVERWRITING IT WILL NOT HELP YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY WAY. SORRY IF THAT SOUNDS MEAN, BUT WE HAVE SEEN SOME WEIRD STUFF.

 

Include this:

Poems Included: (Italicized and separated by a semicolon, i.e. Poem #1; Untitled #7; I Rule The School; Yes, I Am Awesome; Write Bloody Is Pretty Sweet)

Pen Name or Stage Name:
Submission Date:

E-mail Address:

Mailing Address:
Phone Number:
Personal Website or Networking site address (If applicable, you will need one)

Amazon Transaction ID from your Write Bloody online store book purchase.

THEN, IN 200 WORDS OR LESS, EXPLAIN WHY YOU FEEL YOU WOULD FIT INTO THE WRITE BLOODY FAMILY OF AUTHORS

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Those advancing to Round 2 for reference books or poetry will be announced and then posted only on our homepage. We will not contact each author. You must check out our website for finalists.Even the date for finalists being announced will be announced on our homepage.

WRITE BLOODY AUTHOR REQUIREMENTS

All authors published by WB must be able to tour. (Must have either car, cycle, bus, train or plane access). All we ask is that you perform 20 shows/readings the year your book is released. 6-12 per year after. We can help with booking. You plan the tour. You get paid from book sales and buy them off us at wholesale. The money goes right into the authors pocket. You also get roylaties on books we sell. Choose your own tour. Do just the west coast. Do Europe. Do Florida. It’s your call. We also ask that you utilize your web presence to help promote your new book. We can even help you with that. At WB, marketing is a team endeavor. You can not be the flaky artist. Our authors deserve to be read and work hard to make that happen. You must have a quality website by the time your book is released. You must promote.

SUBMISSION FEE
It is standard in the industry to pay a submission fee, but not with us. Purchase any book from the WB store and include the amazon transaction ID number in your cover letter submission. You must purchase a new book even if you’ve purchased books in the past. This helps with our reader costs. You get a feel for what we are after and we get to pay our editors. We feel like everyone should have a good feel for our books and where we are headed so there’s no better way to support your possible future family than by learning about them right in your hands. Once again, if you bought a book earlier from a touring author, please purchase another book so we can pay our sweet editors.

WHERE TO SUBMIT
Any and all author submissions should use the link at the top of this page only during the proper submission period. Please understand that nothing else will be accepted at any other time. You may purchase your books as early as Feb 1, 2012

 

CONTENT AND GRAMMAR GUIDELINES

Unless you are submitting a very specific theme or conceptual book idea (where poem order is imperative), put your best poem first, and so on. A bad starting poem will make reading the second poem less intriguing. Variety is not only the spice of soup, but it will help to show us you mean business and aren’t a one-trick-pony-writer. You do not have to send 3 long poems. Read some of our new books. Get a feel for what we look for.

We are looking for books that read amazing on the page. We welcome authors, artists of all sexes, genders, nationalities and races. Our editors will not know any of those things so dazzle them with your page poetry or fiction. And remember, nothing in publishing is totally fair, but we try our best.

Before submission, please be sure to check all of your grammar, punctuation and spelling. Are all of your theirs, theres and they’res in proper order? Do you mean your or you’re? Poor grammar makes any submission less readable. Mistakes happen, just try to correct them before sending them to us to decipher. We are also a bit bored by all lower case poems.

DO NOT ADD IMAGES OF ANY SORT TO YOUR SUBMISSION.

Images and author photos are not necessary in the First Round of submissions. DO NOT SEND IMAGES OF ANY SORT IN WITH YOUR SUBMISSION.

 

THANKS AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU, FANTSMA-WRITER!

FAQ’s for Write Bloody Press

How do your authors get from manuscript to marketplace?

Our promotions techniques are always evolving. We ask our authors to tour. All of them. We also do our part and push to get your book in all major bookstores as well as online distribution channels. We use 16 channels. We are distributed globally through the premier indie book distribution company, SCB distributors.

Can a new author be their own proofreader?

Fresh eyes change everything. You need a proofreader and editor. We provide that.

Designer?

Your book cover needs to match the mood of the interior book block.

Our catalog has a feel and it has been pretty successful. You are a constant partner in the design phase. We hire the designer with your input. It must look like our family of design though. We guide this. If you are one of our selected authors, you get one chance to make changes you like and then we go to press. We do have final say on cover look, with your input taken into consideration.

Can I get a WB book made by you if I’m not one of your authors?

No. We are a publishing company, not a vanity press.  We offer our authors the best royalty rates and tour book rates.

How will WB get my book into retailers’ systems?

We take care of that. You just hit the road (we have a booking department) and supply a spec sheet to us with pertinent tour info once your book comes out. We can help with your tour but you are the commander. Our books can be ordered through barnes and noble, amazon and all physical bookstores. They can order books in each store if you tour their locations, but we recommend touring coffee shops, colleges, theaters and living rooms. We are in various small book stores in America and Europe. We have a printer in the UK for our authors touring overseas so you don’t have to carry all your books over the pond.

How can people buy a WB book once it’s been printed?

Our store, Indie bookstores, major bookstores, online marketplaces. Marketing to these takes about 4 months. You can find us in quimby’s, powells, spoonbill, fingerprints and much more. Amazon too.

Our company was born from one author seeking ways to publish amazing authors he found while travelling, without all the gouging and hassles of the typical publishing world.

After years of trial and error, Write Bloody takes all this experience and is ready to share it with those authors who are ready to do their part to work as a team to get the book noticed. We are a small staff, but we are crafty.

Can I skip getting an ISBN?

No.

What is an LCCN?

The purpose of a Library of Congress Card Number (LCCN) is to make sure libraries know how to properly categorize and shelve your book. Most Libraries use the category type which is issued at time of printing by Write Bloody.

How do I get a copyright?

Once it is printed and listed you are good to go. You could do a poor man’s copyright and just mail yourself the manuscript as a back up. For the most legitimate copyright

Go to copyright.gov. The cost is 45.00.

How many books do I buy when I tour?

We think it is good to start out with low costs. Pretend you will sell about ten books per show if you aren’t famous. Order from us for your tours from 50 to 1000, increments of 50. We do give discounts at 200 and then 500, but we don’t recommend new authors printing too many books. Just print 100 off the bat, see how they sell, then order some more from us. Easy.

Are your books quality, as in good spine and such?

Yes. We also insist that all our books be made in America. Pride! We also participate in the eco libris program to plant trees for books printed. As far as book quality, we looked for a ton of things like against the grain binding, bad lamination, crooked spine, missing pages, low contrast covers. We had to do a lot of searching to partner with an amazing printer that is fast and reliable. Our covers don’t warp from typical handling or room humidity. Put them side by side with any other small printer and you will see that ours are the best. Even the cover stock and paper quality are better than most presses. We can do hardback and softcover. Hardback if an author has a large following already.

How do I get my book out there?

Define your goals and your audience:

• Are there similar or competing books available?

• What will make someone take notice of my book?

• How many books do I want to sell?

• Why will people want to read my book?

• Who are these people?

• How can people buy my book?

• How do I get my book into bookstores?

• How do I get my book more press on the Internet (such as Amazon.com)?

• How important are book reviews? How do I get them?

How do I get an amazing website for my book without going broke?

Even if you are not a Write Bloody author, you can have a website with that Write Bloody look. Email Write Bloody for a quote.

We can get authors items such as bookmarks, shirts, buttons and posters for low prices for anyone. Our authors get first priority. Book services are only for our authors. We can help our authors get an EPK going for cheap so booking shows is easier too.

Good luck.