Submissions & Permissions
SUBMISSIONS
Please note: Submissions are currently closed.
At Matthew James Publishing (an imprint of Andrews UK) we are dedicated to championing new talent and underrepresented voices in the publishing industry. Whilst our smaller size makes it more difficult for us to compete with the largest publishers, our dedication to you and your work is unparalleled.
Our process is all about collaboration; working with an author to ensure that their book matches their vision whilst preparing it for release to readers and bookshops. Should your manuscript submission be successful we will do everything in our power to ensure it reaches readers across the UK and, thanks to Andrews UK’s global reach, the rest of the world.
Our focus is now on greatness from small beginnings — growing our reach alongside our authors whilst continuing to provide a high-quality, collaborative, publishing experience to everyone that we work with. By focusing on what we do best, we’ll do the best by our talented partners and their work.
Whilst this means we only publish a small selection of books per year, we’re given the time to ensure that the quality is high, that the marketing is good, and that each new title is as good as it can be.
What are we looking for?
We are open to any and all submissions for adult fiction and non-fiction. Our goal is to publish a wide variety of work from exciting new talent. However, at times we may have a specific focus in line with our current interests and the market in general.
At the moment we are really interested in action packed thrillers and exciting adult adventures.
Our criteria for General Fiction
- A character that readers want to root for
- A strong sense of place
- Great dialogue that feels realistic
- Working class stories
- A unique setting or scenario
- A familiar location or cultural backdrop
- A diverse cast of characters
Submission Requirements
Your submission should be emailed to us in a Word or PDF file. No physical manuscripts will be accepted. Returns of physical manuscripts are not guaranteed. Please only submit one manuscript per email.
Please include the following alongside your manuscript:
Query Letter
This includes:
- Full author contact information (address, email, telephone number)
- A short author biography (1 A4 page max)
- Title and word count of manuscript
- A short (2-3 pages) synopsis, including the ending
- A short outline (200 words max) on further books planned in the series (if applicable)
Full Synopsis
A full synopsis of the book including key characters and their arcs, key themes, details of significant plot points, and the ending (500-1000 words approx). Please include the manuscript’s full word count and any details of work(s) referenced.
Complete Manuscript
A complete manuscript of the proposed title. Please include a cover page including the title, author’s name, contact details, and full word count, and a header and footer with the book’s title and the author’s name on each page.
Complete manuscript should be provided by email in Word or PDF format.
Please send all submissions to submissions@matthewjamespublishing.com
Please allow 8 – 12 weeks for a response.
If you do not receive a response within 12 weeks it is unlikely that we will be taking on your title. We would love to get back to everyone but that is just not possible. We also reserve the right to send your submission through to the other AUK imprints should we feel that your work would be better placed on those imprints, but we will let you know before we do this.
PERMISSIONS
We do not gather permissions for third party materials. It is the author’s responsibility to gather all necessary permission for material that falls outside the remit of ‘fair dealing’ or ‘fair use’. For information on the interpretation of fair dealing in UK law, please consult the Society of Authors website. Quotations of any length from poems, letters, lyrics and recipes, artwork and images [including photographs] maps and line drawings all require written permission. Copies of permissions granted must be submitted to us before we will consider publication.
If you have any ideas, or specific images in mind for the cover of your book, or any internal pages then please note that a high proportion of images found on internet searches are unlicensed and cannot be used. If you bring your own images to be used in the work we will need proof of ownership.
We require high-resolution images, licensed for commercial use (as opposed to editorial use), with model releases where appropriate. If you do not have your own images, your best bet is to gather material from stock photo websites such as iStock, Shutterstock, Corbis and Getty images, checking that the licence is correct. If you are not sure what images you want to use then it is best to just leave a description of the image whcih we can discuss during the design process.
If you are an author looking to quote something out of one of our titles for your own work, then please contact us via email, either to submissions or general enquiries providing all details of the permission you require and we will get in touch.