Like many small publishing houses (and large ones too), we often receive unsolicited submissions that we’d love to see in print but which we just don’t have the capacity to support.
We specialise in books that tell the story of an act or the history of a venue in the words of fans – our ‘people’s histories’ – so if your book doesn’t fit into that description we’re probably not the right home for your book and are very likely to say no to any submission you make. Plus, we have a full programme of scheduled publications for 2025, a draft programme for 2026 and are already looking at titles for 2027.
If your proposal does fit with what we do, then by all means send us a submission. If that’s the case we’ll want to know:
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- about you: a short note about your writing career to date, eg. what (if anything) have you published before;
- your book: the title, a sample chapter, the contents page, whether it will include illustrations, etc. And, most importantly, the ‘blurb’. Why would Spenwood Books be interested? Who’s going to buy your book?
- what’s your marketing plan for the book? What will you do to make sure that your book sells in an increasingly crowded marketplace? Are you going to do press and radio? Social media? Are you available for book tours? All these things will help you (and us) sell your book;
If your book doesn’t fit with what we do, here’s my advice on getting published:
- Finish the book. I’ve been sent many proposals, outlines with a sample chapter and chapter headings, etc. but the finished book has never materialised (and it took me 40 years to finish my first book, so I understand that this isn’t easy).
- Think about self publishing. There are options available (lulu.com, KPD and ingramspark.com) and you’ll get to keep 100 per cent of the revenue for yourself. Of course, you’ll have to do all the marketing, etc., but that’s the case if you’re published by a small independent publisher. And big publishing companies do keep tabs on what self-published titles are performing well. The 50 Shades of Grey series by EL James started out as a self-published title.
- Put together a marketing plan for the book. (The same advice as I’d give you if you were publishing through Spenwood.) What will you do to make sure that your book sells in an increasingly crowded marketplace? Are you going to do press and radio? Social media? Are you available for book tours? All these things will help you sell your book. Your publisher (if you have one) will want to know all these things.
If your book idea does fit under the ‘people’s history’ banner, we’d love to hear more details from you at richard@spenwoodbooks.com
Please note that if you send us a submission and it isn’t something we’re interested in, it may be some time before we are able to reply.