What counts as the North of England when it comes to submissions eligibility?
As long as you live in Cheshire, Cumbria, County Durham, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, or Yorkshire, it doesn’t matter where you were born or how long you’ve lived there. This includes students studying in the North. Your submitted work doesn’t need to be set in the North, or engage with what it is to be Northern.
Can I send you my novel?
We don’t currently accept novel-length work, as we are focussing on collected short fiction and novellas. Additionally, please only send us work during our submissions periods. You can find out whether or not we’re open here.
How many stories can I send to your anthology call-out?
For our anthologies, please send us one story per call-out. If you’re torn on what piece to submit, our blog often has advice on what we’re looking for.
Can I send you something under/over the word limit?
We won’t turn away a submission that’s a few words under or over the limit, but otherwise please do follow our word count guidelines as closely as possible.
Do you publish poetry?
As we specialise in fiction, we don’t consider poetry submissions.
Do you accept entries from people born in the North of England, but not currently living there?
At the moment we’re just working with writers living in the North. This is a practical decision to help us meet the conditions of regional funding, ensure writers can easily access launch events, and keep eligibility clear and straightforward.
Why do you limit submissions to the North of England?
As a micropress we have limited resources to read submissions, so focusing on one region helps us manage our workload, as well as building the context about who we are and what we do.
We also want to support writers living in the North of England, who have fewer opportunities in getting their work published.
We may expand the writers we work with across the UK as we grow, but we always want Northern writers to be part of the mix of what we publish.
Will you work with writers from further afield in the future?
For now, this is a maybe. We can’t make any commitment at the moment.
What counts as ‘AI assisted writing’ when it comes to being ineligible?
We specifically mean large language model (LLM) or machine learning programmes branded as AI or generative AI. This doesn’t include simple functions like spellcheck, and you don’t need to disclose using spell checkers to us.
Examples of ineligible use include using chatbots or programmes like Grammarly to generate ideas or writing prompts, produce feedback on your writing, revise your work, or write sections for you.
What rights do you ask for when you publish my writing?
You always retain copyright of your own writing. When we publish one of your short stories in an anthology, we’ll ask for first publication rights. This means that, subject to agreement, we’ll be the first place the story is published. You’ll also have to wait to publish it anywhere else until a period of time passes after the publication date (e.g. six months).
Please note that full details will be agreed through a contract when an offer of publication is extended, and terms may vary from the above. This also doesn’t apply to short story collections and novellas which have a different contractual agreement.
Are you looking for submissions readers?
We’re not currently looking for readers, but thanks for your interest! If we do in the future, this will be advertised via our newsletter and bluesky.
