Before you submit to Paper Stars Press, please make sure you understand our business model. You can read about our co-publishing agreements on our “About” page. All authors receive the same terms.
Literary works, such as novels, should be fully drafted before submission (although it is fine if they are not yet copy edited). Memoirs and other nonfiction books may be in-progress, but please have at least a few sample chapters with a realistic timetable for completion. For textbooks, a detailed proposal will suffice if you have a publishing track record. We do not publish edited books/anthologies. We are only interested in authored and coauthored books.
Please email your submission to: Mx. Shalen Lowell at shalenlowell@gmail.com
Subject line: Paper Stars Press Submission “Title of work”
In the body of the email please include:
- Your legal name and contact info (mailing address and email).
- Title of book.
- Word count for the book.
- Genre (such as novel, poetry collection, memoir, textbook).
- Intended audience (including any age restrictions).
- Submission date for copy edited manuscript (if you would like to use our freelancers who will do your typesetting and cover design for copy editing as well, that’s fine and in that case, we need to know when you will submit your manuscript without copyediting)
- When you would like the book published (season and year—e.g., Fall 2026, Spring 2027)—please bear in mind we need the copy-edited manuscript at least 4-5 months before publication and we need any blurbs that will appear in the book or on the back cover at least 3-4 months before publication.
- Short synopsis of your book (as you would find on the back cover).
- Bio that highlights your qualifications for writing the book (e.g., education, professional background, personal experiences, and if you have previous book publications, please include them along with the dates and publisher)
- Brief marketing overview of what you intend to do to promote the book (e.g., do you plan to hire a publicist, do you have a lead on any bulk sales, will you run ads, a virtual book tour).
Attached to the email please include:
- Long synopsis or proposal. For works of fiction or nonfiction, please include a complete synopsis (do not hold anything back, including the ending—we need to know about the book in detail from start to finish). For academic textbooks, please include a standard book proposal with a proposed table of contents with detailed summaries for what will be included in each chapter, as well as a list of competing books with publication and pricing info, and the market for the book (specific levels, subjects, classes).
- For all books other than textbooks, please send the first 25 pages of your manuscript. For textbooks, please send a published writing sample that is up to 25 pages.
Please use this as a checklist to make sure your submission is complete and in good order before you send it to us. We are a small press and need to minimize unnecessary emails. We will confirm receipt of your materials. We aim to get back to prospective authors within 8 weeks (usually faster). Please do not contact us to check on your submission before that time has passed. We are not able to provide feedback on rejections. Thank you! We’re excited about the possibility of working together!
Paper Stars Press 