Manuscript call
We are currently looking for previously unpublished novel or novella manuscripts. We're looking, in particular, for books that question boundaries (physical, emotional, metaphysical, meta-emotional—you get the gist). Dazzle us with your version(s) of truth!
To get an idea of what we love, please check out our four novel/novellas currently at Split/Lip Press: Colleen Burner's novella Sister Golden Calf, Anurag Andra's novella Submarine, Emily Thomas Mani's novella The Church of Wrestling and Mila Jaroniec's novel Plastic Vodka Bottle Sleepover. We'd love it if you'd add a copy to your submission, and we'll happily throw in free shipping as a thanks!
Historically under-represented perspectives are WELCOME and ENCOURAGED and HIGHLY SOUGHT—we want to help bring your voice to the world!
Our press mission
We publish boundary-breaking fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid books, lifting the transition boards that prevent fluidity and smashing those we cannot pry up. We love work that questions the concept of truth, and work that reinterprets what we think we know. We prize experimentation (physical, emotional, metaphysical, meta-emotional); we welcome the unanswerable. We want to see the dark and the light side of the moon—or we want to see it obliterated. If your book is a wedge in a crack, Split/Lip Press is the hammer helping you split the wall apart.
Submissions period info
The submission reading fee helps cover our costs as a press, and our novel/novella reading team will be splitting 25% of the submission fees collected during this reading period as compensation for their hard work. But we don't want a fee to keep us from finding the best work out there. If you can't afford the reading fee, please send an email to splitlipthepress@gmail.com before submitting to receive a manuscript fee waiver, no questions asked.
We hope to find the next novel or novella addition to our press catalog during this reading period! That said, our press mission is paramount, and if we are unable to acquire a book from this period that fits, the remainder of the proceeds from this period's reading fees (after paying the readers) will be applied toward submission fee waivers for the next novel/novella reading period.
All books published at Split/Lip Press have been discovered during our open reading periods—we do not solicit manuscripts and do not accept manuscripts sent outside of our reading periods. Every author has the same opportunity to join us! However, Split/Lip Press does not tolerate manuscripts celebrating racist, homophobic, or misogynistic perspectives, and will discard such manuscripts unread. We believe in breaking boundaries at Split/Lip, but we will not assist agendas of hate.
Basic formatting details
TNR 12 (or similar), double-spaced (unless you are specifically using special formatting—which we'd love to see), and PLEASE remove your name from the manuscript and file name—our readers want to review your manuscripts without names attached. There is a box on the submission form where, if you choose, you may indicate any information about positionality which may be helpful for the readers to know.
Please note that while we love and welcome work which includes images/diagrams/etc, we are unable to reproduce color images and all images would need to appear in black-and-white within a 6" x 9" printed book, so please keep that in mind when submitting.
Hugs + thanks
We work closely with our authors on all elements of their book, from design to promotion. We are engaged in the literary community, and as writers ourselves, we know how important it is to have a book that you love that is supported by a press that loves you. We'd love for you to be part of the Split/Lip Press family.
Simultaneous submissions are obviously welcome. Our reading process is a process and we move quickly and efficiently, but we also don't interrupt it prematurely. So if another publisher snags you first, we just ask that you withdraw your submission (and congrats to you!).
We intend to reply to all submissions by November 15, 2024, so please do not query about the status of your manuscript before that date. If you haven't seen anything from us by 11/15/24, check your status in Submittable and double-check your email spam filter because Submittable's messages sometimes get stuck there—we will definitely respond!
Thank you for considering Split/Lip Press as the home for your book!