Traditional Publishing Query Submission FAQ and Specifications:

FAQ’s - Please read through these diligently before submitting:

• You must be 18+ years old to submit

• Please submit the entire manuscript. We are looking for a query letter (which should include your name, address, phone, social media, and email), a synopsis of what you are submitting, and the full manuscript. 

• We do not publish children's books

• Please include your name, address, contact information, social media, and websites in the header of your manuscript

• We DO NOT accept previously published work for our traditional publishing opportunity. (Works previously published by Quillkeepers Press through our anthology opportunities will be considered on a case-by-case basis)

• We DO NOT accept children's books or (younger) YA manuscripts 

• We DO NOT accept co-author collections

• We only accept work in English 

• Please indicate what type of work you are submitting in the subject line of your email. (I.E., Love poetry, mystery novels, romance novellas, etc.)

• We will contact you about developments via the email to which you sent your query and sample submission from

• Our traditional publishing opportunities are paid as a percentage of royalties from sales. Payable 3 months from the last day of the month from the point of sale. This policy allows time for returns/exchanges/refunds unless otherwise stated in the contract

• If selected, you will receive a standard industry contract 

• If you need to withdraw your submission, please notify us as soon as possible by email

• Contributor or Publisher may withdraw the offer of publication at any time before the ISBN is purchased.

• Edit your work before submitting it. We don't expect it to be perfect, but we expect it to be professional and reflect you as a creative.

• We accept .doc, .docx, and PDF. 

• Please use a 12pt, sans serif font, standard size print paper (8.5x11), and 1.5 or double spaced.  

Some genres and themes we tend to shy away from are YA, children's, and some romance. We also steer clear of any themes of toxic negativity, toxic positivity, abuse, racism, bigotry, xenophobia, or any other discrimination against another person's sexual orientation, class, or religion.  

We are specifically interested in thriller, suspense, horror, dark fantasy, and sci-fi for our 2026-2027 lineup.

We will not accept full-length poetry submissions for our 2024-2025 lineup. Please check out the chapbook submissions page for chapbook-length poetry submissions.

Where to submit:

• Send your complete manuscript to quillkeepersubs@gmail.com 

We look forward to hearing from you!!!