OPEN QUERY SUBMISSIONS: Novels
Our open period for unagented query submissions for novels is in March and September. You may only submit queries for novels during these months. Nonfiction and poetry queries will not be read if they are submitted in this form. Nonfiction queries open in April and October.
About us:
Hub City Press is a small press, publishing six to eight titles per year including books of literary fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, regional nonfiction, nature, and art. Focused on finding and spotlighting extraordinary new and unsung writers from the American South, our curated list champions authors who represent the many people of this region and books that don’t fit neatly into the commercial or academic publishing landscape.
In general, our publication schedule operates at least 12-18 months in advance of release.
When submitting your query, please have ready:
- A one-page query letter about your novel, including: the title, genre, length, description of the work, author background and publication history, any credentials that particularly qualify you to write your book (if you have access to special markets or promotional opportunities for your book, we’d like to know about them as well), and;
- Your full manuscript (.doc and .docx preferred). Please note incomplete manuscripts will be automatically rejected.
- Your biographical information and a list of writers you know who might be willing to support your book.
We are looking for:
Well-crafted works by new and established authors with an emphasis on the Southern experience and a strong sense of place. We prefer queried projects to be completed. We will expect to read completed manuscripts, and we rarely accept unfinished work.
We are committed to publishing and supporting lesser-heard Southern voices, including Black and Indigenous people, queer and trans people, immigrants, people with disabilities, as well as people from ethnic, cultural, and religious groups who have been oppressed and underrepresented by the publishing industry.
Hub City publishes writers living in or from the South. What's the South? A complicated issue, to say the least, but the short answer for our purposes: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. We're interested in boundaries, borders, and in-betweens, but your manuscript needs to be primarily focused on the American South.
We are not looking for:
Submissions in the following categories: books for young people (YA, middle grade, or children's), romance, science fiction, mystery, how-to books, horror/paranormal or specific-religion inspirational books. We do not publish novels in series. Please do not send us a query if your book has already been self-published, even only as an eBook.
We can no longer accept queries for poetry collections or short story collections during our open submission period. Please wait to submit in these genres through our New Southern Voices Poetry Prize (open every other spring) and C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize (open every other fall). If you are a South Carolina fiction writer, we hope you’ll consider submitting your novel to the South Carolina Novel Prize (open every other spring via the South Carolina Arts Commission).
What to expect from us once you have submitted:
Due to the size of our staff and the volume of queries we receive, we are unable to respond to every query. We will be in touch with you if we have interest in your work. If you have not heard back within six months of your query or your manuscript submission if we have asked for it, assume your manuscript was not a good fit for us. If we pass on your project and you go on to make revisions, the best way to tell us about it again is to re-submit your project in a new query period.