Sapphire Books always welcomes high-quality unsolicited manuscripts by lesbian authors.

Our staff reviews every manuscript individually. Our in-depth process allows a variety of viewpoints for evaluation of the manuscript. The Publisher has the final say in the selection.

We are interested in manuscripts where the main characters are lesbians. The story should be engaging, new and fresh. Right now, we are seeking specifically: romance, mystery/intrigue with romantic elements and young adult.

We are currently NOT seeking: poetry or short stories (unless an anthology call is currently active.)

A confirmation email is sent within 48 hours of receiving a manuscript. Please query us if you do not receive one.

We consider a submission of a project to be an offer from the author to enter negotiations for a contract. That means that the person submitting owns the rights to the story they are submitting, and that it is free and clear of other contractual issues.

We do not accept submissions that have been submitted to multiple publishers.

We do not provide critiques in our emails if you are rejected.

Our average time to decision regarding publication is about 8 to 11 weeks.

Reprints will be considered only with proof of termination of the pre-publishing contract.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Novel manuscript must be a minimum of 50,000 words. If your manuscript falls below this limit, do not submit.

Please submit your manuscript electronically in the following format: Microsoft Word ® .doc or .rtf, with the entire document in one file. The manuscript should be your best work, and as error-free as possible. Sapphire Books prefers stories with a HEA ending, or at least a happy for now ending, but will consider all well written stories.

Please include a cover letter in body of email containing:

1. E-mail, with the title of your manuscript followed by the author’s name as the subject line. The body of the e-mail can be blank.

2. Cover Letter, in a single Word-compatible document, as an attachment (some mail programs call it an "enclosure"). Your cover letter should include:

• Short bio, your legal name, complete publishing history, if any, and all pen names in use;

• Your complete contact information, including e-mail and a telephone number where it is acceptable to leave a message about your submission;

• Tell us why lesbians would like your book.

3. Synopsis, in a single, Word-compatible document as an attachment. This document should include:

• Story summary, including how the story ends, of no more than 750 words;

• Word count. (Please note, we are interested in stories at least 50,000 words or more in length, since this is the length most common for novels.)

Formatting:

• 1 inch margins on all sides, 12 point Times New Roman

• Single space, indent paragraphs, and do not skip lines between paragraphs (no html formatting)

• Triple space scene breaks with # or *** centered in middle line

• Author's name on each page, upper left corner in the header of the document

• Number pages at the bottom of the page in the footer

• Paragraph indent .5

*A hard page break should be between each chapters.

Submit the Entire Manuscript to: submissions@sapphirebooks.com