Without new work and new writers coming through, Unthank Books believes that the industry will stagnate. It seems logical to say this but the logic somehow seems to have escaped the larger houses. We don’t assume that an author’s first novel is his ‘magnum opus’ or his ‘bestseller’. We do think that promise can be shown in a first novel, hopefully can be seen and published by us and the author encouraged to write on toward his ‘meisterwerk’. If we decide after reading not to publish your novel we do offer reasoning and feedback as to why we felt this was not possible. If your query or submission remains unanswered then you are entirely safe to assume that it is because we are not interested – pressure of workload prevents us from replying simply to explain this.
We are essentially interested in innovative and important literary fiction – something we feel we have not read enough of in recent years given the state of mainstream lists. We have read an awful lot of genre fiction between us, for both personal and professional purposes, and for this reason have decided we don’t want to publish it at the moment. This means that unless exceptional circumstances or quality apply, we are not publishing horror, westerns, science-fiction, crime and mysteries, police procedurals, fantasy, supernatural, spiritual fiction, chick/mum/lad-lit etc. We do clearly reserve the right to change our minds on this of course if we are bowled over by something which arguably falls into one of these categories. We are open to ‘thrillers’ of a literary bent, but not those which are technologically focused, adventure and action driven, or environmental/apocalypse commentaries.
With the help of the note above, please send suitable samples (cover letter, synopsis and 50 pages by hard copy, double-spaced, single-sided, consecutively page-numbered) with a SAE to: Unthank Submissions, PO BOX 3506, Norwich, NR7 7QP
Again, we are mostly interested in non-fiction that has some literary merit, however that may be defined. We mean that it offers something thoughtful, useful or new about its subject, or has something special and innovative about the way it is written.
Our doors are open to works about people, places and ideas.
With the help of the note above, please send suitable samples (cover letter, proposal, and 50 page sample by hard copy, double-spaced, single-sided, consecutively page-numbered) with a SAE to: Unthank Submissions, PO BOX 3506, Norwich, NR7 7QP. We are sorry but we cannot consider works of non-fiction that are as yet incomplete. If we like your sample we will want to read the rest straight away and consider it for publication.
The UNTHOLOGY series aims to showcase the work of new or established writers and can include short stories (up to 8,000 words long), reportage, essays or novel extracts from anywhere in the world. UNTHOLOGY is concerned with stories about how we live now, with the vivid, the cult or the strange, but is not concerned with mainstream genre fiction or poetry.
The series began with UNTHOLOGY No.1 in December 2010. UNTHOLOGY No.2 was published in November 2011 and launched at the inaugural UNLIT FESTIVAL. (see the Bookshop page for details)
We will be accepting submissions of shorter form prose which fit the criteria above for UNTHOLOGY No.3 From November 1st 2011 to May 1st 2012. Potential contributors are advised to have a look at the first two UNTHOLOGIES before submitting. If you would like to be notified by email when work can be submitted please join our free mailing list.
We can only consider hard copies, formatted in Times New Roman and double-spaced, which should be sent by post to Unthank Submissions (Unthology), PO BOX 3506, Norwich, NR7 7QP. Please also make sure to include both a SAE and personal contact details.
We are also open to other works, maybe screenplays or graphic novels. Do enquire by email if unsure.