Allen & Unwin - Media Release

Good news for aspiring authors!

ALLEN & UNWIN are looking for new manuscripts for children and young adults.

Following on the success of The Friday Pitch, Allen & Unwin’s innovative submission process for new and emerging writers, from February 1^st Australia’s largest independent publishing company is widening the reach of the service to include manuscripts for children and young adults.

The Friday Pitch was established by Allen & Unwin in 2006 as a way of finding talented first-time commercial-fiction authors. The idea was to sample as much work as possible from an array of authors by setting a day aside per week to look at emailed submissions of a synopsis and first chapter. To make best use of Allen & Unwin's publishing and commissioning resources, the proviso was that if the author didn’t receive a response by the following Thursday then they could assume Allen & Unwin wouldn’t be pursuing their work. Now after expanding into commercial non-fiction and the success of writers such as Lisa Heidke, Fleur McDonald and international bestseller Helen Brown, the Friday Pitch is broadening its reach yet again.

‘We know how difficult it can be for new writers to get their work in front of publishers, and with children's and YA books being such a significant part of our publishing program we're delighted to be able to extend our Friday Pitch service to authors writing for this audience. We look forward to discovering some talented new voices and finding some wonderful original stories for children and teenagers,’ says Liz Bray, Allen & Unwin’s Children's Books Director. The Friday Pitch opens to new and emerging writers of work for children and young adults from February 1^st 2012.

All details on www.allenandunwin.com

Penguin Group (Australia)

The Monthly Catch

The General Publishing team at Penguin Group (Australia) is keen and excited to read new work from Australian authors, and as such we’ve developed the Monthly Catch. For the first week of every month, we throw our doors open to unsolicited manuscripts. In this time period (the 1^st to the 7^th of every month), please send through submissions based on the guidelines at www.penguin.com.au/getting-published

We are only accepting submissions electronically – all hardcopy submissions will be recycled. And we are only accepting submissions in the first week of every month; anything that comes through outside of this time will not be considered.

When you send through your submission, you’ll receive an automatic email acknowledging receipt. All manuscripts are carefully read and assessed, but we can only respond to those who are successful. If we do not contact you within three months of submission, please assume that we have decided not to pursue your manuscript. No further correspondence will be entered into.

We are not currently considering poetry, educational textbooks or plays/scripts. We are only looking for books intended for an adult audience, children and young adults.

Attach your manuscript and a short synopsis (of no more than 300 words) as separate Word documents and send via email to .

In the subject line of your email, please state the title of your book, whether your book is fiction or non-fiction, and then genre (eg Heiress in Love: Fiction/Romance or The Address Book: Non-Fiction/Memoir).

Please include in the body of your email the following information:

• Title.
• Brief summary (two or three sentences).
• Brief author bio (two or three sentences).
• Any previous publishing history and/or any writing awards you’ve received.
• Where would your book sit in the marketplace – i.e. what books would you see as comparison titles to yours, what authors are similar to you, who is the intended audience for your book, etc.
• Has this proposal been sent to other publishers?
• Have you previously submitted this, or a similar, proposal to Penguin? If so, please give details.

Visit their website for more details www.penguin.com.au/getting-published.

Pan Macmillan Australia

Manuscript Monday

Welcome to Manuscript Monday, a new initiative which is part of Pan Macmillan Australia's manuscript submission process. If you’ve ever dreamed of getting published, and have a story you’d like to pitch, here’s your chance to have it read by a publisher. No more navigating the slush pile! Every Monday we will accept submissions between 10am and 4pm that are sent electronically and comply with the guidelines set out below.

What we are looking for:

Commercial fiction – women’s fiction, thriller, crime, historical, humour, paranormal, fantasy; a story can have romantic elements but romance will not be assessed

Literary fiction and non-fiction – novels, short stories, and narrative non-fiction only

Children’s books and young adult – junior and middle grade fiction, young adult fiction; we are not accepting picture book submissions

Commercial non-fiction – history, memoir, mind body spirit, travel, health, diet, biography

Please familiarise yourself with what we publish at www.panmacmillan.com.au. We do not publish scripts, plays, poetry, or romance and will not assess them. Academic submissions are not accepted during Manuscript Monday. Please see www.macmillan.com.au for submission guidelines for academic publications to Macmillan Education.

Aspiring author?

Hachette Australia is ready for your manuscript.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Hachette Australia is one of Australia’s largest publishers and is always looking for the opportunity to publish great stories. We are pleased to welcome email submissions from fiction, non-fiction and children’s writers. (We cannot accept poetry, self-help, screenplays or academic submissions.)

WHAT TO DO

Email the first chapter or first 50 pages of your work to

Include the following with your submission:

• A synopsis (approximately 300 words);
• a brief biography, including any previous publishing history, writing experience or awards;
• a brief covering letter stating the genre or category you are writing to, your intended audience, authors you believe are similar to you; and your contact details (postal address, phone number, email address).
• If your work is non-fiction, please also supply a detailed chapter outline.

Note: Only emailed Word documents (no PDFs) will be read and no hard copy submissions will be accepted. Hard copy submissions will not be returned.

New Frontier Publishing - Manuscript Submissions

Submission Guidelines

New Frontier currently accepts unsolicited manuscripts. We receive a number of submissions, but are only able to publish a select a few. We do read all submissions we receive as we know that there are gems waiting for us. It usually takes us about four months to respond to submissions.

Before you send anything please look through our list and read some of our books. That way, you can come to understand the books we love. We encourage you to purchase one of our submission packs which includes samples of our published works.

Five handy hints:

1. Write a covering letter telling us about the manuscript you are submitting, about you and include details of any previously published work. Include any relevant illustrations (no originals).
2. Let us know if you have purchased our submissions pack.
3. If you email your submission you will receive an automated message acknowledging receipt of your manuscript.
4. If you send a hardcopy, please include a return stamped envelope if you would like the manuscript returned.
5. If your manuscript is unsuccessful you will only hear back from us via return of your hardcopy. You will not hear back from us for email submissions.

How Many Words?

Picture Books
Maximum word length 600 words

Junior Fiction

For beginner readers, aged 5-8, word length 5,000-10,000
For confident readers, aged 7-10, word length 10,000-30,000
For middle readers, aged 11-14, word length 30,000-55,000

Your Manuscript's Destination:

For hardcopy submissions:
The Editor
New Frontier Publishing
Suite 3, Level 2
18 Aquatic Drive, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 2086

TEL: (02) 9453 1531
FAX: (02) 9975 2531

Alternatively you can email to:

We look forward to reading your manuscript.

Manuscript Submissions

Children's Submission Guidelines

If you would like your manuscript to be considered by the Children's Department at Random House Australia, please take a couple of minutes to read these important guidelines.

Who we are

The Children's Department at Random House Australia publishes quality books for young people under two imprints, Random House Australia and Woolshed Press. Together the two lists have the depth and vision needed to provide something special for all young readers.

If you would like more information about the titles we publish, please visit a bookshop or browse www.randomhouse.com.au/kids or www.randomhouse.com.au/teens.

At this time, we are NOT considering:

• Picture Books
• Short Stories
• Poetry
• Educational books (text books)

How to submit a children's manuscript

If you have a completed children's manuscript that you feel will engage and excite young readers and fit our list, the first step is to send a query email to:

What is a query email?

A query email is a brief (one-page) overview of you and your manuscript. A good query is clearly targeted to our list, conveys the subject matter and tone of your manuscript, and demonstrates your professionalism as well as your control over written language.

In the subject line of the email, include your name and the title of your manuscript.

In the body of the email, include:

• your name
• your contact details
• a one-paragraph synopsis of your manuscript
• the target audience of your manuscript (e.g. for children or teenagers aged 5-7, 7-9, 9-12, 12+ or 14+)
• any previous writing credits (if applicable)
• the word count of your manuscript
• whether or not your manuscript is intended to be a standalone title or the first in a series
• a sample of up to 250 words of your story, copied into the body of your email.

Do NOT include the entire manuscript in your email.

Do NOT mail your manuscript to us unless we request it, as it will be returned unread. (Alternatively, it will be securely recycled if insufficient return postage is enclosed).

Our Children's Team will consider your query and reply by email. We aim to respond to email queries within a month.

If we are interested in reading more we will request the full manuscript to be sent via email. See below for preferred manuscript format and our consideration process.

ONLY if you do not have access to email, you may post a query with details as above to:

The Children's Submissions Editor
Random House Australia
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060

Working Title Press MANUSCRIPT & ILLUSTRATION GUIDELINES

Working Title Press accepts unsolicited manuscripts for picture book texts only during the months of February to October.

Manuscripts and illustration portfolios must be submitted as hard copies, and accompanied by an SAE for return response.
Do not send original manuscripts or artwork - copies only.

The average turnaround of manuscripts is between 6-12 weeks, depending on the current workload.

Working Title Press does not acknowledge receipt of manuscripts.

No manuscripts or portfolios will be considered between the months of November to January. Emailed submissions will not be accepted.

Visit the Working Title Press website for more information: www.workingtitlepress.com.au/contact.

Windy Hollow Books Submission Guidelines

Windy Hollow Books publishes books for children. We accept unsolicited non-fiction and fiction manuscripts in hard copy only. Sample of artwork is accepted on cd.
When sending information please include a stamped self addressed envelope if you wish to have your material returned to you.

Please do not send original material. Windy Hollow Books bears no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material received.

Allow 2 - 6 months for a response from us. Due to the amount of manuscripts received we cannot provide detailed feedback if we decide your submission is not suitable for our list.
If your manuscript is accepted for publication we will contact you.

Please send submissions to:
The commissioning editor
Windy Hollow Books
PO Box 265
East Kew Victoria 3102
Australia

Visit the Windy Hollow Books website for more information:
www.windyhollowbooks.com.au/pages/information