Fiction and poetry submissions

Submissions for fiction and poetry are currently CLOSED.

Guidelines for fiction and poetry

We are looking for prose fiction and poetry of any length in most genres and styles. Our only criterion is quality, which we admit is entirely subjective. Please check the kinds of books we do not publish before making your submission.

What to send

• A short description, synopsis or outline of your work (up to 300 words). 
• The total word count of your manuscript.
• Any preliminary sections such as prefaces, prologues and introductions.
• The complete table of contents (even if your chapters just have numbers).
• Prose: The first 3–4 sections or the first 50 pages of your manuscript, whichever is longer.
• Poetry: A representative sample of your poetry.

All fiction and poetry submissions should be sent in hard copy. Print-outs should have good margins, but you can save some trees and postage costs by printing with single line spacing and on both sides of the paper (duplex).

Please don't send us your only copy, as submissions will not be returned.

What not to send

We will be assessing your work solely on your writing, so please do not send us your cv, life history or your back story. If we are sufficiently engaged and intrigued by your work, we will ask you to tell us about yourself.

Where to send your submission

Please send your submission to:

Lacuna Publishing
PO Box 428
Armidale NSW 2350
Australia

Initial response times

We respond to all submissions that meet the above guidelines. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will not be acknowledged.

Initial responses are currently taking 4–6 weeks. If you haven't heard from us after 8 weeks please contact us to check whether we received your submission.

Follow up response times

If we like your sample, we will contact you to request your full manuscript and more information. It takes longer to make a complete assessment, and response times will vary widely, from a few weeks to six months or more. Please don't contact us to check on our progress – if a requested manuscript doesn't surface within a few weeks we will contact you. 

If you find another publisher while waiting to hear from us, please let us know.