Submission guidelines
What we look for, and how to send it
A short guide to preparing your submission. None of this is meant to scare you: we have published writers whose margins were wrong. But a tidy manuscript makes a tired editor kinder.
The list
What we are looking for
- 01
Voice
A first page that sounds like nobody else. We would rather read something rough and alive than smooth and familiar.
- 02
Place
Stories rooted somewhere, especially the north: Kaduna, Kano, Zaria, Jos, Sokoto, the towns between.
- 03
Range
Literary fiction, crime, essays, memoir, poetry and picture books. We do not publish textbooks or religious instruction.
- 04
Finish
Fiction should be complete and revised. Non-fiction can come as a proposal with two sample chapters.
Practical
Formatting your pages
| Font | 12 point, a plain serif |
|---|---|
| Spacing | Double spaced |
| Margins | 2.5 cm all round |
| Pages | Numbered, with your title in the header |
| Length | First 50 pages, ending at a chapter break |
| File | Word, PDF or ODT |
If your book is a picture book, send the full text and up to five sample illustrations if you are also the illustrator. If you are a writer only, send the text alone: we pair writers with illustrators ourselves.
Poets should send twenty poems, with a contents page and a note on which poems have appeared elsewhere.
The synopsis, demystified
A synopsis is not a blurb. It tells us the whole story in order, in the present tense, including the ending. One page is ideal, two at most. Name the main characters in capitals the first time they appear.
We read the synopsis after your pages, to see whether the story keeps the promise of the opening. A brave ending in a synopsis has rescued many a slow first chapter.
Gently
Please do not
- Pay anyone who promises to get you published by us
- Send the whole manuscript before we ask
- Send by post: we only read digital submissions
- Follow up before twelve weeks: we will reply
- Send the same book twice after a no, unless it is rewritten
Questions
Questions writers and readers ask
Can I write in Hausa?
Yes. We publish in Hausa and English, and occasionally both side by side. Send a short English summary with Hausa submissions.
What about young adult?
Yes, if it is ambitious and written for readers aged 14 and up.
Do you give feedback on every submission?
Every reply includes a few lines on why. Full written feedback is available through our separate editorial services.
Ready when you are
The form saves your draft as you go, so you can finish later.