A little over a year ago, we launched our Lost/Found, our new imprint dedicated to republishing beloved books from small presses that have ceased production. We were unbelievably fortunate to publish Brooke Shaffner's Country of Under as our first-ever L/F title!
Now, we are BACK with our first open call for additions to the Lost/Found catalog! That's right! Do you have a previously published prose book in need of a new home? Does your book dismantle boundaries and force us to reconsider what we think we know? Does your book push the limits of experimentation and dive into the unknown?
If so, we'd love to consider your book for republication under our Lost/Found imprint! We want to see the dark and the light side of the moon—or we want to see it obliterated. Since 2014, SLP has been honored to publish innovative and culturally relevant books. And with the recent addition of our Lost/Found imprint, we would be honored to give your book a new home and thrilled to welcome you into the SLP family.
We don't just want to republish your book -- we want to reintroduce it to the world, with a twist! A hallmark of the Lost/Found imprint is our out-of-the-box foreword pairings. Whether it's your sixth-grade English teacher, the barista who made your latte every Saturday during the months you spent writing, or your relative who bought 30 copies and gave them out as holiday gifts (we love supportive friends/family!), we'll be working with you to find someone who'll write an introduction to celebrate the republication of your book.
On to the nitty-gritty!
- For our Lost/Found imprint, we are looking for previously published fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid books that fit our mission and are currently out of print. If you're looking for a home for a new or unpublished manuscript, please submit during the appropriate reading period. (View our annual schedule here.)
- While we welcome experimentation in every sense of the word, we do not consider poetry; we are a prose-only press. Additionally, we are not able to consider self-published books.
- Potential authors must hold all rights to their manuscript and must have formally terminated the contract with their original publisher to be considered.
- This open call will remain open until we reach our submission cap or until we've taken on as many titles as we can sustainably republish.
- We want to take our time reviewing your books with the attention and care they deserve, so no need to query about the status of your submission. We'll be certain to inform you when we've made our decision. In the meantime, feel free to submit your book elsewhere for republication and let us know if it's found a home with another press.
To be considered for the Lost/Found imprint, please include the following in your submission:
1. the files for your published book (.doc or .docx preferred, but a .pdf is fine as well)
2. proof of your contract termination/confirmation that you hold all rights to your book
3. any relevant information about the press where your work was originally published
Please understand that we need this information up-front in order to sustainably run the imprint and avoid potential miscommunication down the road.
Because we're committed to compensating readers and editors for their work, we're charging a small submission fee for this open call, immediately redeemable toward free shipping on any SLP book. If our reading fee is prohibitive, please email splitlipthepress@gmail.com to receive a manuscript fee waiver, no questions asked.
At Split/Lip, we know firsthand how much labor and love goes into the process of writing and publishing books. The Lost/Found imprint is Split/Lip's small way of giving beloved books a second life and celebrating the legacy of the press who first published them, while offering new generations of readers the chance to discover (and rediscover) old stories. The Split/Lip team sincerely appreciates the resilience of every author who's committed to sharing their stories with the world, and we can't wait to read your work!
We're looking for a Novel/Novella Editor at Split/Lip Press!
The novel/novella editor will work with a team of genre-specific readers for the SLP novel/novella reading period, reading and voting on every manuscript received during the submissions period, looking for novels or novellas that fit the Split/Lip Press mission. The editor is responsible for reading all reader comments and evaluating the manuscripts to decide on the top books they and their team would like to suggest for publication by the press. The novel/novella editor will meet with the editorial team to review, discuss, and select a manuscript, and the N/N editor will work directly with the author on edits.
We're looking for a novel/novella editor who is familiar with the SLP aesthetic and is excited about helping our mission to publish and promote boundary-breaking prose books; who has an eye toward increasing equity and reducing disparities in publishing; and as always, applicants with historically under-represented perspectives are sought, welcomed, and specifically encouraged to apply.
The ideal novel/novella editor acknowledges the differences between reading flash fiction/short story collections as compared to the necessary sustained-and-building-action in novel/novella manuscripts, has experience working with a literary team, and ideally is working on/has written novels or novellas of their own. The ability to meet deadlines is absolutely necessary, as is a familiarity with the small press landscape.
The Split/Lip Press Mission:
Split/Lip Press is dedicated to publishing 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.
The novel/novella editor’s primary workload consists of reading applications/onboarding any new readers, managing your team and reading submissions during the reading period, collating a roster of 4-5 top selections to bring to the editorial team, participating in the final editorial team meeting to decide, and working with the author/selected manuscript on edits. SLP also holds quarterly all-team meetings via Zoom.
We are looking for someone who will be with us for multiple cycles, so if you're just looking to get your feet wet in the small press world, this is likely not the position for you.
We are an independent small press and our compensation is, unfortunately, commensurate with our size. Our novel/novella editor will receive an honorarium for their editorial work ($300) and 50% off all SLP books, but we'll also hook you up with a complimentary full SLP library (incl. all the SLP books you don't already own) to welcome you onto the team!
Please let us know how you see your experience and interest in publishing and editing novels and novellas fitting with SLP!
Manuscript call
We are currently looking for short story or flash fiction full-length book manuscripts (combinations of flash and longer short stories in the manuscript are welcome as well). Individually published pieces within the manuscript are absolutely fine (and expected!) but the book should not have been published as a book before. We won't define "full-length" (our only hard limit is the lower end: minimum of 100pg), but 150-250 pages tends to be the sweet spot. If your book is shorter than 100pg, keep our Multigenre/Chapbook reading period in mind!
We're looking for manuscripts 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 current short story/flash fiction offerings:
- Show Me Where the Hurt Is by Hayden Casey
- Midwatch by Jillian Danback-McGhan
- Phantom Advances by Mary Lynn Reed
- My Share of the Body by Devon Capizzi
- 48 Blitz by Brett Biebel
- This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love. by Jennifer Wortman
- Hungry People by Tasha Coryell
- Felt in the Jaw by Kristen Arnett
- The Hook and the Haymaker and I Am the Oil of the Engine of the World, both by Jared Yates Sexton
We'd love it if you'd add a copy of any (/all) of our books to your submission, and we'll happily throw in free shipping (to US/Canada only) 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.
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
Times New Roman 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—we want to review your manuscripts without names attached. We also request that you submit your manuscript in both PDF and .docx formats, if possible, to help our readers review your books best. 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 indicate any trigger warnings in this space as well.
Please note that while we love and welcome work which includes images/diagrams/etc, all images may 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 editing to design to promotion. We are engaged in the literary community and as writers ourselves, we know how important it is to have your book supported by a press that cares about more than the bottom line. 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 June 15, 2026, so please do not query about the status of your manuscript before that date. If you haven't seen anything from us by 6/15/26, 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.
PS: The reading fee helps cover our costs as a press, and our SS/FF reading team splits 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.