Submissions Temporarily Closed

We thought you liked to keep submissions open?

We do usually like to keep submissions open but we've chosen to close them from 18 Nov 2018 for a few months.

But why?

There are a couple of reasons. One is that we're in the middle of overhauling this website and replacing it with a new one and a whole new submission process and we need to create a buffer where submissions don't cross over. Another is that we currently aren't considering any more Dostoyevsky Wannabe Originals, Experimentals or Xes because we have a full publication schedule until around 2020 and a backlog of submissions. It seemed fairer to all of you and to us for us to take a wee break.

I submitted a manuscript before 18th November 2019, what about me?

We have a backlog on submissions and all manuscripts submitted before that date will be looked at but we can't say when any of these will be accepted for now. The books could not happen until mid-2020 anyway so we are not in any rush to get through the backlog for that reason. The thing with us is we already publish infinitely more books per year than most independent presses so as much as we would like to get through that backlog more quickly, it's unlikely that we will be able to do that. We will understand if you need to withdraw your submission in this period but if you're willing to wait for us then we will get to your manuscript at some point next year and there's every chance we will like and want to go ahead with some of them. The choice is yours.

When our submission process opens up again we will be looking to streamline our process to allow it to remain as open as it has always been previously.

What if a guest-editor has asked me to submit to an anthology?

DO NOT WORRY BECAUSE THAT IS TOTALLY FINE. Submissions for all of our solicited anthologies are in the hands of our guest-editors for those anthologies.

When Submissions Re-Open

Submission Guidelines

To make a submission to Dostoyevsky Wannabe you will need to download and complete the following form and send it along with your submitted manuscript:

DW Single Author Submissions Form.

Formatting

It doesn’t matter how you book is formatted in the first instance. That is worked out after during the delivery of manuscript stage if we accept your submission.

Royalties

For single-authored books, you can keep all of your royalties (Option 1) or you can donate them to the Dostoyevsky Wannabe cause (Option 2). Either way, for all Option 2 books, and we also recommend this for Option 1 books (but it’s your decision), we like to price the finished books as near to the cost price as makes sense so royalties don’t tend to amount to much either way unless you’re already some amazing bestseller (and if that happens it’s best to remove the book from us and run off as quickly as you can to a publisher who will pay you lots of money).

Copyright

You retain control over your own copyright and you can pull the book from sale at Dostoyevsky Wannabe at any time. Please make sure to read our small-print because it’s not that small:
https://www.dostoyevskywannabe.com/small-print

Can you enter into correspondence about a manuscript ahead of submission?

In the past our submission policies have been kind of informal and loose but we're afraid we simply don't have the time to work that way anymore and we have to set out a more strict process. It becomes impossible to keep track of lots of side-conversations and it's also unfair to people who are following the submissions process as set out.