Not Your Mother's Book
Story Submission Guidelines
Updated 2/17/12
This new anthology will be a collection of personal non-fiction stories written by individuals 18 years and older. We are looking for humorous and inspiring stories and if they have an edge and are different, even better. No death/dying or sad stories here. The Not Your Mother’s Book (NYMB) series will be targeted at adults and, as such, language and situations can be PG-13 or TV-14; anything that is broadcast on network television is fair game for this series.
Submission Guidelines
1. Your story must be a true account of something that has happened to you or someone you know. It must be written in the first person. Be sure to read the “Do’s and Don’ts” page for helpful writing tips. They are also included on the sidebar on the story submission page.
2. The contributor (you) must be 18 years or older.
3. Your story must be between 500 words and 2,500 words.
4. Do not submit your story more than once. However, you are allowed to submit more than one story per title if you have several different stories to share. ALSO, you are welcome to submit the same story to different titles. As an example, your story about having a dog while in college might work in both "On Dogs" and "On College."
5. Please do not submit anonymous stories or stories written under pennames or false names. We will consider a small number of as-told-to stories (example: story by John Doe as told to Jane Doe). Note: Jane Doe is the author and the name to be used when completing the submission form.
6. Keep a copy of the story you submit to us for your personal records.
7. We will accept stories that have been previously published if you now have the rights that will allow us to reprint it. We will require proof of those rights (generally a copy of your publishing contract or release will suffice).
8. You retain the copyright to your submission. Should your story be selected for publication, Publishing Syndicate will ask for non-exclusive rights, to include, but not limited to, publication of submission in all formats and use of the submission for marketing and promotional campaigns. This means you can sell or publish your story in sections or its entirety, including any edits Publishing Syndicate makes. You will receive legal documents to sign that will further explain these rights.
9. If your story is accepted for publication, you must sign a permission release form. All individuals referenced in your story must also sign a release form, and it will be your responsibility to obtain those signatures. Tentative acceptance of your story is dependent on these forms being completed. Should a story subject not be available to sign a release, we will evaluate the requirement on a case-by-case basis.
10. We do not accept full book manuscripts. They will be deleted.
11. We do not accept poetry submissions at this time. They will be deleted.
12. We are not including cartoons in the NYMB series, but will consider photos as long as they are relevant to the story. Please indicate at the end of your submitted story if you have photographs. Should we select to use a photo(s), a photo release form will be provided to the contributor for execution by photographer. Also, those in the photo may be required to complete a like form. Should the photo subject not be available to sign a release, we will evaluate the photo release requirement on a case-by-case basis.
13. Epilogue: each contributor will receive a short epilogue right after his/her story. The length of the epilogue is dependent on page space and will be determined and written by the book’s creator and/or editor, with the assistance of the contributor, once page space has been ascertained.
Story submission process: All stories must come through our electronic submission form. We will not accept any mailed or e-mailed submissions. And please do not send e-mails asking if your story has been accepted for publication; we will not respond. Know that the story evaluation process typically will take six to nine months. However, if we are interested in considering your story, you will receive an e-mail notification directly from us. From that point, we will set up a line of communication with you which may include helping you edit your story to clarify your message or make your story stronger. Keep in mind that your story will still be under consideration, not accepted for publication.
Consideration/Compensation: As a contributor to titles in the Not Your Mother’s Book series, you will receive one copy of the book in which your story appears, and a share of royalties. For one year following publication, you will collect a small percent of the royalties paid to the co-creators. Split among 60-plus contributors, the amount will likely not total more than $50-$100 per contributor. It could be more; it could be less. Don't expect to get rich, but do expect to have fun and promote yourself and your writing!
Option: instead of the above, you can choose to take a total of ten (10) copies of the book in which your story appears. You will not receive a royalty.
No need to decide right now: you can make that decision when we notify you that your story is under serious consideration and you sign a release form.
Additional goodies for all published contributors:
A) Purchase books in which their story(ies) appear at 50-percent off the cover price.
B) Each published contributor will receive a sample press kit to replicate for use in promoting his- or herself in the media.
Deadline: Open until we get enough workable stories to fill a title.
Thank you and good luck!
.gif){kind=small}