submissions

Beginning April 16, 2012, all submissions must be posted on the Submittable (Submishmash) website.  We will no longer consider submissions by email.

The current goal of The Habit of Rainy Nights Press is to release two or three new print books per year, and up to a half-dozen ebooks. For print books, our submission window is January 1 through May 31st for publication in the following calendar year. We make publication announcements in late summer or early fall. Elohi Gadugi Digital accepts genre ebook submissions year around. Successful ebooks will subsequently be published in a trade paperback edition. For those who have shorter works, consider submitting them to our new online magazine, Elohi Gadugi Journal, which debuts in June, 2012. The Best of Elohi Gadugi Journal will be published annually as a paperback.

We are a very small micro-press and market our books through Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Powells.com, and other internet sources. We do limited bookstore marketing in the Pacific Northwest. So that we can afford to publish as many fresh talents as possible, we use print-on-demand technology from Lightning Source, Inc., but –please note– we are not a subsidy or vanity press–you don’t pay us to publish your book. Your book must meet our literary standards, and will be made available in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. Our authors are expected to sell their own books with our encouragement and support. This is the reality of modern publishing, and it is our goal to guide less-experienced writers in this fundamental process.

We provide our authors with generous royalties and maximum control over their finished work (it’s your work, after all).

Our emphasis is on unknown or under-appreciated authors whose work has depth and social importance. Nonfiction proposals, in particular, must address important issues of our day. In addition to promoting emerging writers, we also encourage works from under-represented voices: immigrants, persons of color, and Native American voices, in particular. We are interested in narrative in both fiction and poetry. Fiction should be strong on both character and narrative. You may be experimental, but not at the expense of telling a story.

The Habit of Rainy Nights Press is interested in the following literary quality submissions:

• all submissions must be literary quality and highly polished (that usually means an editor),
• general fiction (genre fiction, see Elohi Gadugi Books, below),
• poetry
• narrative nonfiction
• other non-fiction which may potentially impact important social issues (completed manuscripts only)
• native american fiction, poetry and non-fiction
• submit here (submittable)

Because we are a small press with volunteer editors, we ask that your manuscript be very polished, if not professionally edited. In the rare case of a “diamond in the rough,” we may be inclined to take on some major editing tasks, but we simply do not have the resources to farm out this work. We are extremely picky about this. Polish it up.

We cannot pay advances, and the only author compensation beyond royalties –20%-25% on gross income– will be in author copies. In exceptional cases, we may provide a small advertising budget beyond our standard promotion. Book sales will depend upon the willingness of the author to sell his or her own work. Even the big publishers generally require this, unless you are a superstar.

Standard Digital compensation is 70% on gross income (about 50% of retail).

Terms are negotiable, and we accept maximum input from all of our authors on all aspects of publication.

We are accepting manuscripts for The Habit of Rainy Nights Press between January 1st and May 31st. Publishing decisions will be made over the summer and announced in the early fall.

Elohi Gadugi Digital / Elohi Gadugi Books imprint accepts polished manuscript which meets the following criteria:

• longer works of high quality genre fiction or non-fiction for ebook-first publication may be submitted to Elohi Gadugi Books / Digital year around
• all submissions must be high quality and highly polished (that usually means an editor)
• general or genre fiction manuscripts should be 15,000 to 150,000 words (no romance, erotica, Christian, New Age, vampires, zombies, or superheroes)
• narrative non-fiction from 15,000 to 100,000 words
• poetry manuscripts of 80 – 120 pages
• nonfiction work must deal with an important social, cultural or political issue (nonfiction manuscripts must be completed—we don’t accept unfinished proposals)
• cover letter, synopsis, and complete manuscripts should be in rtf (rich text file) or MS Word format
• include a synopsis (for fiction) or outline (non-fiction), a bio, any qualification on your subject, and tell us about your author platform and how you will prepare for marketing your book
• Elohi Gadugi imprints are e-first. That means we will publish them as an ebook, and if they are successful, we will then subsequently publish them as trade paperback. Only works of 40,000 to 110,000 words will be considered for subsequent print publication
• submit here (Submittable)

General Queries

Please see our editors page and address your queries accordingly.
All submissions should now made online at Submishmash.com.

Submissions to Elohi Gadugi Digital (ebooks) are accepted year around. Ebooks with exceptional sales may be made available in print format also, and should be submitted to Submishmash.com.

General queries: editors (at) rainynightspress (dot) org

** We are currently not actively seeking poetry chapbooks.