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Introduction:

BeWrite Books was founded in 2002 by the same staff members who still hold their positions in:

Editorial: Neil Marr. Hugh McCracken. Sam Smith
Administration: Alex Marr.
Technical & Design: Tony Szmuk.

Since launch, BeWrite Books has brought over 100 exclusive new titles to publication in paperback and with covering eBook digital versions. The team works closely - mostly by email and telephone - with authors all over the world, in both UK and US Standard English, to now publish an average of a dozen new titles a year.

The onus is strongly upon what has come to be known as 'literary fiction', a still rather loosely defined genre in its own right, where the remarkable style and quality of writing often overrides other genre identification. However, the company will still consider work of outstanding merit in several more specifically defined fields.

It must be stressed that BeWrite Books is a small, independent operation, run on a tight budget and relying upon the print-on-demand production process. Sales are largely made through major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AbeBooks, etc. Although, through the major international distribution services, all our titles can be ordered at brick-and-mortar book shops anywhere in the world, we do not routinely stock the shelves of high street bookstores. Some traditional stores do stock and sell BB titles and arrangements are often made with other in-town retailers - especially those local to an author - but, generally, the per-item print cost of our books means that, whilst they are competitive in cover price with the mass-produced product, the traditional sale-or-return agreement with bigger publishers is difficult for us to fulfil, and that's not an attractive deal to high street retailers whose profits, and sometimes very survival, depends upon being able to demand full credit for unsold stock.

It must also be stressed that, although BeWrite Books pays standard industry royalties, it is not in a position to offer authors a royalty advance.

BeWrite Books is a tiny independent publishing house in an industry dominated by rightly prestigious, well-known giants. It does not pretend to compete with these major houses and their ability to mass-produce and gain prominent bookshop display, or with their large marketing and promotional budgets. We do not yet even contend with those smaller independent houses using short-run production whose names have justly become admired through the consistent quality of their publications, often in specialised fields. Authors submitting work to us can expect a high level of in-house professional commitment, but not, realistically, to achieve best-seller status, big contract prestige, or instant fame and a high level of income.

So please do carefully weigh up the pros and cons of a small independent, operating on mainly internet marketing and PoD print production, before submission. And assure yourself (and, by implication of submission, us) that you have exhausted possibilities in the publishing mainstream before making an approach.

We will honestly answer questions, of course, but we must assume than an author submitting to BeWrite Books knows his/her way around the internet, has done at least some homework, and that his/her eyes are fully open to our undeniable limitations in some areas. If you're at all unsure, you would be doing yourself and BB a favour, before continuing, by seeking the advice of an independent source: a publishing professional, a reputable literary agent, a published author or, at the very least, someone who has some insider knowledge of the industry and who will understand what BeWrite Books can and cannot offer.

If you choose to submit work to BeWrite Books, we'd appreciate your following the guidelines below. All submissions will be immediately acknowledged and professionally dealt with as soon as possible. The company apologises in advance that, because of the heavy work load on such a small team, it is often unable to provide detailed explanations as to why an initial proposal must be declined.

Agency representation is welcomed, but not necessary. A sample copy of our draft author contract will be sent on request.

Please read everything below before submitting to BeWrite Books.

BeWrite Books invites submissions from established authors and from so far unpublished writers.

We will not accept:

• Works in Progress. Please only send synopsis and samples from completed manuscripts.
• Works of under 50,000 or over 130,000 (approx) words.
• Books for children or of exclusive appeal to young adults under the age of eighteen.
• Erotica or works of pornographic or a gratuitously violent nature.
• Heavily romance driven books, lad- or chick-lit.
• Works expressing extremist racial, political or religious views. Also no books of a religiously 'inspirational' nature, please.
• Non-fiction, including autobiographies and biographies.
• Stage or screen plays.
• Fan fiction.
• Short story collections.
• Quest and sorcery fantasy.
• 'Space opera' Science Fiction.

We can also accept no 'land mail' submissions of synopses, sample chapters or manuscripts in hard copy. All submissions must be in electronic format (Word or RTF). In the first instance, we will not consider more than one submission per author on first contact, nor will we accept novels intended as part of a series that do not stand alone as complete stories in their own right. We would, in fact, prefer not to be presented with 'series' proposals by authors who have not yet published a first book with us.

By submitting to BeWrite Books, the author is specifying that a work is not currently under serious consideration by any other publisher or agent.

And we ask you to read our submissions system and guidelines section (below)

Please do not submit unless you are satisfied with what we can and cannot offer an accepted author.

Also see our privacy statement.

Novel Submissions System and Guidelines:

1. Please fill in the submission form, linked at the foot of this message, and attach the following:
   • synopsis
   • first chapter or first 1,000 words of your manuscript
   • another 1,000 words chosen from within the book
   • Synopsis and sample chapters must be submitted in a single word file and titled: BOOK TITLE-AUTHOR'S NAME.

NOTE: A synopsis must not be confused with the 'blurb' on the back of a paperback or jacket of a hardback, which is intended to grab the attention of a potential reader. Our acquisition editors don't want to be teased or kept in suspense; they need to know the whole story from start to finish ... and they need it in a nut shell.

The synopsis for BeWrite Books should be a maximum of 1,000 words and should lightly sketch the characters and their motivations, and highlights of the story including the ending. Unlike the novel itself, the synopsis should tell and not show.

Submissions that do not include a synopsis will be deleted unread.

Please read and follow the basic BeWrite Books manuscript layout requirements described below and adjust your ms accordingly, even on submission of sample words.

Unless by invitation, please do not query us on the same book proposal if we have declined your initial submission.

How to Lay Out Manuscripts for BeWrite Books

1. All copy including title, sub titles, author byline and text must be in Times New Roman. Unless for special effect (and clearly noted in brackets within the manuscript) only italics should be used for special emphasis, etc. Words in all capitals and/or bold font should be avoided wherever possible. Headers, footers, and page numbers should not be used.
2. The author's name (or pen name with true name in brackets) must follow the title in synopsis, sample writings and any invited full manuscript. Each item of an author's work must be defined as complete with the words 'The End' to avoid inadvertent missing lines.
3. Manuscripts must not be 'justified'. Words (lines of poetry, songs, quotes, etc) intended to be 'centred' should be marked for such treatment in brackets in a note to the editor but kept, like all other text in the original ms, to the left margin.
4. The first word of the opening paragraph of a chapter, chapter section or short story or short story section should be kept tight to the left-hand margin.
5. The first word of following paragraphs must be consistently indented (choose whether to use either six spaces or 0.25cms - but please be consistent).
6. There must be no line breaks between paragraphs (i.e. no blank line between paragraphs). Between sections within a chapter, there should be two line breaks (i.e. two blank lines between the end of one section and start of the next).
7. Spelling may be in US or UK English Standard. But it must be consistent throughout the ms. Please be as sure as possible of spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Any potential BeWrite Books author should be willing to work with the edit facilities provided in the Microsoft Word editing programme: the 'insert comment' and 'tracked-changes' systems.

When you are satisfied that your submission is properly prepared for presentation, please follow the link below to fill in our submissions-details form and to submit your synopsis and writing samples.

For Poets

BeWrite Books invites poetry submissions from both established and unpublished poets. We are looking for original, high quality work that presents an unusual perspective. Although all forms and styles of poetry are welcome, we typically discourage work that relies heavily on abstract concepts such as love, death or depression.

Much like the fiction department, we also do not accept:

• Works in progress: only samples from completed manuscripts are accepted.
• Manuscripts for children
• Erotica or works of a pornographic or gratuitously violent nature.
• Works expressing extremist racial, political or religious views.
• Manuscripts in paper form.
• Works in languages other than English.
• Manuscripts previously published in print.
• More than one submission per person.

BeWrite Books has previously published works by Tony Lewis-Jones, A. Gregory Frankson, Heather Grace Stewart, Kathryn McLoughlin Collins, and John G. Hall. BeWrite aims to publish two to three poetry collections per year, depending on the number and quality of submitted manuscripts. Typically, the process of full print publication can take four to six months per book. Submissions are welcome year-round. Editor will respond in up to 3 months.

A poet should have a minimum of 80 poems in their collection (which roughly equates to one poem fitting on an A4 page, for those poets who write longer poems) when they submit to BeWrite Books.

How to Submit:

Failure to comply with the following requirements could result in your work being rejected unread.

• Fill in the submission form and attach no more than ten poems from your completed manuscript. All proposals must be submitted using the BeWrite Books submission form; do not directly email any member of the BeWrite editorial team with a submission. No hard copy or work in any other electronic format will be accepted. The only formats we can accept are MS Word or RTF.

• Do not send the entire manuscript.

• Author's name (or pen name with true name in brackets) must follow the title in the submission document.

• Please also include a brief biography, including previous publications and writing experience.

• All submissions are strongly requested to adhere to the following format; 10-to-12-point type only, preferably in Arial or Times New Roman; black ink; no bolds, underlined words or phrases, and no pictures or illustrations included.

• Spelling may be in US or UK English standard, but must be consistent throughout.

• Be as correct as possible with grammar and spelling; we do not expect perfection, only genuine effort. Proof-read your copy thoroughly several times before submission; if possible, also have it proof-read by a non-partisan reader (friends and family can not always remain objective).

By submitting to BeWrite Books, the poet is specifying that a work is not currently on offer to any other publisher or agent. Please also see our privacy statement.

All electronic books supplied in Adobeï™Acrobat™format. 
Refunds will be given at the discretion of the Company Management. 
Copyright © 2002 BeWrite Books. All rights reserved. 
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