Submissions
Suspended
Submissions and
solicitations for submissions are presently
suspended. We are NOT
considering new authors for publication at
this time.
See our requirements
below and check back later to determine when
our Submission Status changes (at which time
we will post our submissions e-mail address).
Overarching
Principles
The Lighthouse Press, Inc. is a small, independent
publishing company. We determine the prospective demand
for the titles we accept and arrange our "plan of
attack" around that determination.
This
is not a cavalier undertaking upon our part. For the very
few titles we actually accept, promotion of those titles
is not a simple matter. We are "David"
competing in a global marketplace dominated by a number
of "Goliaths." We look for good, already
well-crafted, edited and grammatically correct
book-length manuscripts of literary merit that appeal to
firm, intended audiences.
If
you are not interested in quality work and merely want to
see your name in print, then approach someone else. We
are interested in committed authors who view their craft
not merely as a job, but as an occupation. We expect
attention to detail and professionalism beginning with
the manuscript and ending with the book as well as the
resulting image of the author who penned it.
Needs:
What We Are Looking For
We average four to ten new titles per year and publish
all genres of fiction and nonfiction. While we consider
all topics we do not accept pornography or works of
extreme physical violence. Period. Erotica as a small
portion of the overall work is acceptable on a
case-by-case basis, and at the sole discretion of the
publisher.
How
to Submit
We only accept solicited manuscripts. To garner our
solicitation you must adhere exactly to the following
guidelines and advice.
1. First
and foremost: Be familiar with our requirements and
advice.
2. When
we announce that we are, "accepting
submissions," that is the time to solicit our
interest. When we announce that
submissions are, "suspended," that is NOT the
time to solicit our interest. Not too many things are
more likely to spoil your chances than soliciting us
when we are not accepting submissions.
3. We do
review unagented work, but do not accept unsolicited
manuscripts.
4. Unsolicited
submissions are disposed of without ever being
reviewed or opened.
5. Send a
letter of inquiry via e-mail or in the alternative,
U.S. postal mail.
6. If
inquiring via U.S. postal mail you must
correspond to our mailing address only
and must
include a valid e-mail address. Our response and 75%
of our correspondence is funneled through electronic
mail.
7. Any
material sent via U.S. postal mail at any time
whatsoever must have postage in the proper amount or
it is refused by way of delivery not being accepted.
8. Any
material sent via U.S. postal mail will not be
returned regardless of the inclusion of SASE. The
acceptance or rejection of your submission will be
delivered to you via e-mail.
9. Your
query letter, preferably sent via e-mail or U.S.
postal mail to our mailing address, must contain the
following elements, and no less than these elements:
a) A
cover letter (or "message").
b) The
equivalent of at least a one-page
synopsis/outline of your manuscript.
c) An
estimated word count of your manuscript.
d) A
brief bio ("brief" being a page or
less)
e) 10
pages from your manuscript
f)
A list of your published
work/credits, if any.
g) A
description of your manuscript's intended
audience.
10. If
inquiring via e-mail attachments should be either
Microsoft Word or Adobe pdf files.
11. Whether
your inquiry is via E-mail or US postal mail to our
maiing address, you will be notified via E-mail that
your submission has been received. After a review of
your inquiry we will respond via E-mail that we are
interested or not interested. If we are not
interested we will explain why. Unless othwise
indicated, our decision is final. Our response time
generally ranges from two weeks to one month.
If
We Solicit Your Manuscript
If we solicit your manuscript then
submit it by adhering exactly to the following guidelines
and advice:
1. Submit
your manuscript as an attached e-mail document. We
also accept non-returnable data disk via U.S. postal
mail to our mailing address.
2. Be
prepared to supply a hard copy of your manuscript in
the event we follow-up with a request for it.
3. We
accept submissions in the electronic formats of
Microsoft Word or Adobe Page Maker. If you have saved
your manuscript in another format (such as Word
Perfect, for example) create a backup of your file
and then use Microsoft Word to convert and clean up
conversion errors before submitting your file to us.
As outlined in the advice herein below, you must
submit an excellent "electronic manuscript"
so be sure to clean up any and all conversion errors.
Our
Response
Currently, we respond to manuscript submissions within
one to three months. If we reject your manuscript we will
respond via e-mail that we are not interested and explain
why. As noted hereinabove, unless we indicate otherwise
our decision is final.
If
we accept your manuscript for publication we will discuss
any changes or alterations we desire in your manuscript.
Your manuscript will not have been accepted unless it met
the standards as set forth in the Advice section
herein below. That being the case, the only changes in
your manuscript that we might seek would relate to minor,
yet crucial, plot issues (especially in regard to
fiction). After creative/editorial issues are resolved
you will be asked to sign our Author Contract.
Our
Preparation of your Manuscript For Publication
Once creative, content and editorial issues are resolved,
the next step in publication is the generation of a
galley proof.
Publishing
Your Work
The finished book and time schedule in which it is
completed will depend upon a number of factors, including
our initial decision regarding the format in which to
print your book. Generally, the vast majority of our
titles are Mass Market Trade publications, but we also
consider hardback editions.
Terms
We absorb the entire cost of publishing and marketing the
books we accept. We ask only that the author cooperate
and actively assist in marketing his/her book.
We
pay royalties of 10% of list price on short run
printings, 12% of list price on the first 5000 copies
sold on long run printings and then 15% of list price on
those same long run printings when sales surpass 5000
copies. No advances at this time. We provide Author's
copies at 60% off list.
Advice
Manuscript pages should be double spaced with one inch
margins all around.
We
expect clean manuscripts indicating the author has
proofed and self-edited before submitting. We work
collaboratively with our authors to achieve a marketable
title. In order to help us accomplish that, you must
submit superior workmanship to begin with. Take the
utmost care to present an impeccable manuscript that
attends to grammar, spelling, punctuation, accent marks
and other diacritical marks wherever appropriate. We want
involving literature, of course, but too many times
inattention to the mechanics is indicative of problems
that we are not here to fix. We are not here to teach you
the craft of writing, grammar, spelling, punctuation,
proof reading or any of the other items mentioned
hereinabove. If upon reading your manuscript it is
obvious that is what you need, you have wasted your time
and ours. We will certainly work with creative
differences and we will certainly edit your manuscript,
but we do not abide shoddy work. We have found that the
best and most professional writers are those who write
what they love and love to write.
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