Tigress Press is currently closed for submissions. This is a temporary situation caused by fast growth beyond our capacity. We are restructuring the company to accommodate the changes. Watch this site for an announcement of opening time for submissions.

We have been encouraged by the quality of the submissions we received in our first two years, and it was with great regret that we had to reject some simply because of growing pains.

Once we open our doors again to new manuscripts, here are the general guidelines:

We review all manuscripts. If we like your work and it fits our guidelines, you'll work one on one with an experienced editor to craft your manuscript into a book.

Send a query letter and the entire manuscript. We prefer electronic submissions. We'll send you a return e-mail to let you know we've received your book.

IMPORTANT: Because we want you to be able to market your book, you MUST include a marketing plan. We've found we have to set hard and fast rules for this aspect of submissions. Small presses and publishers have to work hard to get books into the hands of the public; show us you're committed to the same goal.

If you can't comply with this requirement, please don't submit. If a marketing plan is not included, your manuscript will not be read.

All authors we accept must be prepared to promote and market their own books. To some extent, we will help you prepare your materials and provide advice. We will list you on our website; with Baker & Taylor, a book wholesaler; and with Amazon.com. The rest is up to you.

Tigress Press, like many small publishers and even some large ones, does not have the financial or administrative resources to market authors other than what's stated above. No one knows your book better than you. If you believe in it, you will do everything it takes to get the word out.

We are working with some of our established authors to provide some articles dealing with the successful steps they've taken to promote and market their work. Stay tuned for this new addition to our site.

We expect manuscripts to be in proper format. If you don't know what proper format is, now is a good opportunity to learn more about your craft. Do the research.

Check your grammar, punctuation, and style. That's your job; it's part of knowing the craft of writing. If you've got a terrific story or book idea, and you have concerns about whether it is marketable, check with someone BEFORE you submit it to us. If you know the manuscript needs work, and you're willing to invest in your success, consider submitting first to an editing service.

Because of the large number of manuscripts we receive, we have lengthened our turnaround time to no earlier than three months. Fortunately for us, we've received some excellent fiction, but we're literally up to our noses in manuscripts. We always acknowledge receipt of manuscripts, but we may not give you an answer for three months or more. Also, we are well into our 2006 schedule; if you're not comfortable with that, we encourage you to try another publisher.

Also, once you're on the publication schedule, be prepared to wait at least six months before your book is produced. There are a series of steps we must perform before your book makes it into printed form. If you're accepted, be prepared to be patient. You'll work one on one with an expert editor during the process. Our goal is to produce quality books. Like any other art, that takes time. Be prepared to be patient.

See our new article on the Resources page for more about submitting your book.