If you’re an aspiring author with fiction you would like to submit, please read this Prospectus for authors.

Unfortunately we must decline to read unsolicited manuscripts; our reasons are discussed here. You are asked to contact us first to discuss your work.

Who we are

Manifold Press is a small e-publishing venture based in the UK and will mainly be handling male-male fiction set in either the present, the historical past, or an alternative version of either. We will also consider female-female fiction with these settings, but this is not our principal area of interest or expertise.

What we’re looking for

We are looking for plot and/or romance, either love stories between same-sex partners or stories in different genres – mystery, adventure, etc. – in which the main protagonists just happen to be gay. Your story need not (indeed should not) be wall-to-wall sex and there is no minimum sex scene requirement.

While we do not rule out science fiction, fantasy or future-based stories they are genres we know less about and we will therefore be more cautious in considering them.

Please note that we are not interested in receiving fiction submissions that feature any of the following:

• BDSM, scat, golden showers, bloodplay, necrophilia, bestiality, incest of any description, sex with or between under-age participants, or any story which in our opinion condones rape or homophobia.

For our purposes, the age of consent will be 18.

The ideal word count for long form is 45,000-70,000 words, but we are happy to consider single-author anthologies which total a similar amount – although they should have a unifying theme. You will be given a proper contract for each piece of work we accept; you will assign the copyright to us for a period of two years from the date of publication with an option to renew for a further year; you will receive royalties on your sales which will be paid on a quarterly basis. The rate of the royalties will be confirmed with you before you are offered a contract.

How to submit your work

First of all, please contact us (via eaditter@manifoldpress.co.uk) to tell us something about yourself and your work.  We would prefer it if you did not attempt to submit your work until it’s actually finished – we hate to get all excited about a book which may never be completed!  Also, please let us know if you’re submitting to more than one publisher; it may help us to prioritise our reading assignments.

Copyright on your story remains your own until the contract between us is signed. You can submit work to us with confidence, and if we find we are unable to use it we undertake not to retain any copies in our files.

What happens next?

Your work will be scrutinised by an editor and you may be asked to make minor changes. In most instances we would expect to discuss this before any contracts were signed, in case you would prefer to withdraw the story. Our publications will be checked by a professional proof-reader on whose judgement we rely. Our aim is to produce your work to the highest possible standard and we will be very grateful for your co-operation in this.

If your story has previously appeared on the Internet we will ask you to withdraw it before publication with Manifold Press. This is to avoid the accusations of plagiarism which sometimes arise when a story appears in more than one form and is particularly important if you are ‘filing the numbers off’ your own fan-fiction. Rewritten fan-fiction should be significantly different from any previously published version; please make us aware of any other versions of your story which may be in circulation.

You will be asked to declare that the story you submit to us is your own work. If this turns out not to be the case our relationship with you will be ended and we will remove your title from sale immediately. Please do not put us in this very unpleasant position.

We will also ask you to supply us with a postal address where you can be reached throughout the term of the contract. This can be a friend or relative’s address if your own plans are uncertain, but it must be a reliable means of reaching you with the minimum possible delay. This is in addition to a reliable e-mail address.

Lead-time from acceptance of your story to publication will vary according to our workload but it will never be less than three months. We will discuss this with you on a case-by-case basis.

If there is anything we have not mentioned or which you would like clarified, please do not hesitate to ask us about it.