Dorchester Publishing is now accepting general submissions via email.
Authors should attach their full manuscript in a Word or .rtf document, along with a 3- to 7-page synopsis. Dorchester is currently acquiring fiction in Romance, Horror, Western and Thriller genres. For full descriptions, see the Submission Guidelines.
The body of the email should contain the material of a normal cover letter:
- contact information, including physical address and phone number (so we don’t call a Californian at 9 a.m. EST);
- word count (70,000-90,000 words);
- the genre of the novel;
- and a brief, tantalizing description of the plot.
Authors who currently have submitted via regular mail should not resend their material.
Submissions should be sent to submissions(at)dorchesterpub.com.
May 7, 2009 at 3:24 pm
This is fabulous news!
May 7, 2009 at 3:46 pm
How wonderful!
May 7, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Huzzah! The ozone layer thanks you.
May 8, 2009 at 7:31 am
Wow, I just asked about it on twitter the other day! You guys are quick!!
Off to submit!
Thanks for the wonderful news!!
~Jenn
May 12, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hi Leah,
Just wondering about this. I’ve had a hardcopy submission (partial request via a contest) that’s been there over a year. I’ve got a sick feeling that it’s lost/buried. Any chance of me sending electronically?
Thanks.
Susanne
May 15, 2009 at 3:18 pm
If you’ve already sent in a hard copy, please DO NOT resubmit electronically. We’ll be able to see that the material is with an editor and it will be sent back to you. However, you can email the address above and request a status update.
May 14, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Hi Leah,
Is there an estimated time frame for how long it will take to get a response to an electronic submission?
Thanks,
Tracy
May 15, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Our response time for email submissions is the same as hard copies – 6-8 months.
May 15, 2009 at 12:05 am
Greetings! This is good to hear. Q: would this be for fiction only, or do nonfiction works apply?
Best, K.K.
shoKKers@aol.com
May 15, 2009 at 3:20 pm
At this time, we are only acquiring romance, horror, thriller and Western fiction. Please see the Submission Guidelines at http://www.dorchesterpub.com for further details.
May 16, 2009 at 8:20 am
[...] I just saw on Leah Hultenschmidt’s blog that Dorchester Publishing is now accepting general submissions via email. Read the post here. [...]
May 18, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I love the change in policy. I just wish I hadn’t already submitted a partial – I have that fear – OMG what if my book really begins with chapter four and Leah only has the first three chapters. Worrisome sigh!
I was reading today that editors are more likely to buy your book if you have a platform -at what point in the query process would you mention to an editor you have a platform? I can think of a couple really great platforms for the book I have in the hands of Dorchester.
Lisa
May 18, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Lisa, “platform” is a term most used in nonfiction to describe why the author is an expert on the subject he or she is writing about.
It bleeds over a little in fiction if you happen to be a former secret agent writing espionage novels, as we have with Haggai Carmon, or a detective writing novels based on your actual case files, like Stacy Dittrich. For Stacy, her real-life experience and expertise has landed her on CNN’s Nancy Grace show and other TV news outlets, which is always nice promotion.
That kind of platform would be mentioned in your cover letter when you submit the proposal. For other kinds of straight marketing ideas (we could do a contest where a reader wins a trip to the island I’m writing about), it’s best to wait until the book actually sells. Because, after all, in fiction, the *writing* sells the book much more than your platform.
May 19, 2009 at 7:52 am
Leah,
Thanks for the info. The article I read was actually referring to fiction writers having a platform which is what threw me. Anyhoo, it made me think, and I’ve come up with some fun promo ideas. My book has a palmist in it. I can tell customers the type of heart line they have on their palm, they can read the book to discover what that heart line means. I have more…
September 28, 2009 at 12:13 am
Hey I have a question. Now I am in early stages of having it critqued, and doing some major rewrites. I had sent the first 3 chapters to Chris, two years or so. But since I had sent it off, I have made major changes to my MS. And I know I have made changes since I talked to Leah about it at RT. Which she told me to contact Chris Keesler, since he is the Editor I had orignally sent it to.
April 2, 2010 at 6:41 am
1st time I have visited