Where to query this week (09.04.24)
Query help hotline, 5 indie presses, & 5 literary agents every week.
Welcome to Sub Club’s Where to query this week! This weekly report features:
5 indie presses looking for collections or novels (free)
5 featured literary agents looking for books across genres (paid)
Paid subscribers will also get access to a spreadsheet download of all opportunities with the information beautifully and easily laid out!
Each indie press featured is open for submissions at the time we share them. Info includes all details on fees, payment, and submission guidelines.
Our five featured agents will include:
Where they work and what they’re looking for
Recently represented authors
Details on how to query
Favorite books/authors where we could find them
Please Note: We do our best to ensure that our data and details are correct; however, both presses and agents can often not update their portals or update them at random. For this reason, please make sure to double and triple-check on your own end prior to making any submissions. Also, please check for eligibility requirements before submitting.
This week from our Query Hotline:
[This may sound like a problematic query question, but please understand I mean it sincerely and without judgment] I am an older white male writing historical fiction. During my very extensive research on agents here in the US, I noticed a troubling (for me at least!) trend. I would say that 90% of agents who represent historical fiction are female. So far so good. But when I dug deeply into who they represent, I found that they range from 85-100% female authors. I appreciate that approximately 80% of the reading pubic is female, but it sounds like a pretty uphill climb to get an agent in this genre. Comments or thoughts appreciated.
» : Agents want to represent authors whose work they are excited about. If your work does that for an agent, I don’t think your gender will be a negative factor. It's an uphill climb for everyone to get an agent, no matter their genre or gender, so I would say keep querying and let your work speak for itself!
Everyone says you should write the novel you want to read, but they also say it needs to be marketable and have a broad appeal. I've written something I'm proud of, but it feels very niche to me, and because the protagonist is multiply marginalized, I'm worried it'll be seen as a tough sell because it won't be "relatable" to enough people. Is there anything I can do to increase my chances of getting an agent in spite of those potential marketing challenges? And do I need to think about making the story sound more universally appealing when I'm querying, or should that not be a concern at this stage? Any tips or encouraging thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!
» : I’m curious if you have been told by beta readers that your book doesn’t have broad appeal or if you are making that assessment yourself. Even if your character is “multiply marginalized” I’m going to bet that there is a lot to be related to as far as their humanness, their emotions, the ways they see the world, etc. That is what readers connect with most.
With that being said, do your research when it comes to writing a good query letter. I recommend listing to The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast, where they break down listener-submitted query letters and give tips on how to make them better.
The amount of resources and advice they provide is life-changing! Also, once you figure out what genre you are going to query your book as, read jacket copies of other books in that genre. Find books similar to yours that have marginalized characters and see how the marketing language works. If you have passion and drive for your book, you can absolutely find an agent who is excited to work with you.
For now, I would encourage you to write the best query letter you can to show that there absolutely is a place for your book in the marketplace.
I have written a young adult fantasy novel that has 5 first person POV characters. I know that sounds awful, but I really think it works, and the people I've shown it to have liked it and don't think the narrator switching is a problem. How do I write a query letter for this book that won't repel agents? Especially since either the synopsis or the first x number of pages will make it obvious.
» : My instinct is to say that query letters are meant to sell your book to an agent, so in this situation, I'd encourage the author to just enthusiastically describe their book and believe in it. At the end of the day, a query letter is really akin to a sales pitch...and you, the author, have to believe in the product you're selling. If the author thinks it works, and if they want to query it as-is, then that's what they have to do. If the plot is compelling, if the writing is strong, and if it feels like a good fit for an agent and they think they can sell it, then it wouldn't be the first "out there" book to get picked up. This is Jane Friedman's quick tip sheet for successful query letters.
» » If want to ask a question in our Query Hotline, fill out the form here with any questions you might have about querying, whether that’s around agents, indie presses, book contests, formatting, genres, or if you just need someone to tell you you’re doing just fine. (Submit your question here) « «
5 Indie Presses Recently Opened for Unsolicited Subs
Longleaf Press (Deadline: Nov 1)
Longleaf Press publishes poetry and prose of exceptional literary merit by both established and emerging authors.
Fee: $27 | Payment: $1000 + 25 author copies | Judge: Editors
Please submit an original manuscript in English of at least 50 pages.
After the submission deadline, manuscripts will be divided among the Longleaf Press editors, who will select approximately 20 semi-finalist manuscripts. Roger Weingarten will then select the winning manuscript. We will announce the winner by March 15, 2025. The winner will be notified by e-mail or telephone.
Hub City Press (Deadline: Sep 15)
Founded in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1995, Hub City Press is the South’s premier independent literary press. Focused on finding and spotlighting extraordinary new and unsung writers from the American South, our curated list champions diverse authors and books that don’t fit into the commercial publishing landscape. Hub City is interested in books with a strong sense of place and is committed to introducing a diverse roster of lesser-heard Southern voices.
Fee: FREE | Pay: Standard Royalties
When submitting your query, please have ready:
A one-page query letter about your novel, including: the title, genre, length, description of the work, author background and publication history, any credentials that particularly qualify you to write your book (if you have access to special markets or promotional opportunities for your book, we’d like to know about them as well), and;
Your full manuscript (.doc and .docx preferred). Please note incomplete manuscripts will be automatically rejected.
Your biographical information and a list of writers you know who might be willing to support your book. (This is optional information that helps us know where your manuscript might fight in the publishing marketplace.)
FC2 (Deadline: Nov 1)
A small, independent, not-for-profit press, FC2’s mission is to publish books of high quality and exceptional ambition whose style, subject matter, or form push the limits of American publishing and reshape literary culture.
Fee: $25 | Pay: $15,000 | Judge: K-Ming Chang, Steven Dunn, Katie Jean Shinkle
The manuscript must be unpublished. Shorter works that have previously appeared in magazines or anthologies may be included in collections, provided that the collection as a whole is unpublished.
The manuscript must be anonymous. The author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. The title page should contain the title of the manuscript only.
Please include a cover letter, including a brief biography, your name and contact information, and the ISBNs of three previously published books of fiction, in the space allotted on the submission form. This cover letter will not be shared with the screeners or judge.
Autumn House Press (Deadline: Nov 15)
Autumn House Press is a nationally renowned nonprofit publisher based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whose mission is to publish and promote poetry and other fine literature. The press believes literature is an affirmation of the deep and elemental range of our human experience, and our need for it is crucial now more than ever. Autumn House is committed to championing debut, emerging, and established authors and to continuing to support our authors throughout their careers.
Fee: $30 | Pay: $2000 | Judge: K-Ming Chang
Must be the author’s first full-length fiction book (previous publications of chapbooks and full-length books in other genres are fine)
The winners will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $1,000 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
All finalists will be considered for publication
Submissions should be approximately 100 – 200 pages
Bateau Press publishes the winner of the annual Boom Chapbook Contest. Their chapbooks are of the highest quality, well-designed, letterpress covers, hand stitched, and detail-oriented. They also publish graphic novels and other things that strike their fancy under their new INSTRUCTION MANUAL series. They look for manuscripts that are strong based solely on the work itself—no themes, games, niches, or elaborate construction structures. Just good writing. They are also an environmental conscious publisher.
Fee: $14 | Pay: $250 + 25 copies
Between 20 -30 pages of poetry, prose, comics, art, insanity, hybrids, rants, joy, etc.
Please remove any identifying information from the manuscript. Previously published work OK as long as the whole collection has not been published (even self published) before.
5 Literary Agents Open to Queries
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