Manuscript submissions

Manawaker Studio is currently open to manuscript submissions. Please read the following carefully before sending a manuscript.

Manawaker Studio is a publisher of speculative fiction projects, including prose, poetry, graphic novels, and tabletop games.

Manawaker is not a typical publisher. We’re more like a quirky micro-press that embraced Print-on-Demand. Our focus is on putting out beautiful, misfit projects. We put a lot of care into each one, but they mostly find their audiences through community and conventions, rather than traditional marketing channels.

Manawaker is a human-only publisher. No submissions may contain any material which was created by a generative algorithm or AI.

Overview:

We are looking for unconventional manuscripts that tell speculative stories in the queer, neurodivergent, and/or geek-culture spheres. Manawaker values inclusive and forward thinking works that demonstrate hope and kindness, even if in a hopeless or unkind world.

Details:

Medium:

Do send:
  • Speculative poetry books. Poetry can be classic, loose, freeform, or experimental. The manuscript can be one long poems or a sequence of thematically connected poems. The total length should be chap-book or longer.
  • Graphic novels and other sequential art projects. An ideal sequential art submission is a finished manuscript of at least 50 pages, or a collection of shorter works (on the same theme or setting) that add up to at least 50 pages.
  • Tabletop games. This includes TTRPG books and card games. We publish games that tell strong stories with mechanics that encourage interesting decision-making.
  • Non-linear works. This includes choosable-path stories of any kind; books which require audience participation to finish the story. Any non-linear works must be designed in such a way that they can be printed as a paper book.
  • Experimental works. We love to see stories told in unfamiliar ways.
Do not send:
  • Linear prose. Manawaker is not accepting novel or novella or short story manuscripts at this time. If you have a flash fiction story to share, please read the guidelines for Flash Fiction Podcast. For drabbles, go to 100 Word Project.

Genre:

“Speculative” is a broad term and we use it intentionally. However, we do not publish horror or erotica. A work with some horrible or erotic elements is okay, but if you would describe it primarily in one of those two categories we probably don’t want to see it.

Content:

Please yes:
  • Robots with inner lives
  • Detailed magic systems
  • Mecha pilots
  • Dubious Prophesies
  • Space exploration
  • Queer characters
  • Neurodivergent characters
  • Chosen families
  • ‘Geek’ culture
Hard sells:
  • Monster romance
  • Love triangle
  • Child or animal death
  • Zombies (or any other recognizable classic movie monster)
Please no:
  • Body horror
  • Depictions of genitals
  • Unexamined hatred
  • Rape

Note that while we are not a YA publisher, we wish to remain accessible to teens. If you would be uncomfortable handing the book to a 13 year old due to the ‘maturity’ of the content, then we are unlikely to want it.

Theme:

Please more:
  • Hope
  • Kindness
  • Queerness
  • Inclusiveness
  • Familial support
  • Destiny
  • Memory
  • Exploration

Submitting:

Send the finished manuscript to submissions@manawaker.com. If it’s too big for an e-mail, just send a sample at first, don’t send it via a third-party service.

Include a brief cover letter (a couple paragraphs at most) in which you include:

  • A description of the project.
  • Why you are passionate about the manuscript.
  • How you feel this project fits with Manawaker Studio’s catalog.
  • If/where Generative AI was used in creating the manuscript.
  • If you’ve contributed to a Manawaker project in the past, remind us about it.

If you are not the sole creator, include evidence that the you have the right to submit on behalf of the other creator(s).

Simultaneous submissions are fine; please notify us immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

We aim to give an initial response (rejection or hold) within days, but response times can be as long as a few months.

If the manuscript is accepted, the author will be expected to enter into a contract with Manawaker Studio. A template for the contract sits here