Submissions For Gold Dust Publishing

Anyone, regardless of identity, may submit pieces. We accept submissions from allies and other non-LGBTQIA-identifying people. We do not accept pieces that are inherently homophobic or directly act against our missions.  Fictional manuscripts depicting rape, incest, and other extreme material as romantic, or titillation devices will be automatically rejected. We will, also, not publish any content depicting graphic sexual content between minors.

What are we looking for?

Anything from an LGBTQIA author or LGBTQIA themed in the following genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult, and Middle-grade. No Erotica is being accepted at this time; though we do accept work that has erotic elements, they can’t be the focus of the story/narrative itself. We are looking for submissions that step outside the traditional formulas of the sub-genres and want stories that include all forms of diversity within our community.

 

Length Requirements for Fiction

Novels — Gold Dust Publishing prefers novel-length submissions in the range of 60,000 to 110,000 words. Please submit the first three chapters with your cover letter for consideration. Include in your cover letter if your work is a standalone novel or part of a larger series.

Novellas — Gold Dust Publishing considers novellas in the range of 30,000 to 40,000 words across the various genres mentioned above. When sending a sample from a novella, submit the first 1,000 words of the novella for consideration along with your cover letter.

 

For our LGBTQIA Non-fiction line:

Submissions should be original and relate to LGBTQ culture in some way or come from an LGBTQIA author. 

There are no length requirements or restrictions on Non-fiction. Some pieces are one page; others are dozens. Your work may be considered for one of our compilation books.

Accepted Non-fiction genres:​​

  • Academic papers, theses, anecdotes, creative non-fiction, Narrative Non-fiction, memoirs, and more 

  • Poetry​ (including traditional poetry, free verse, prose poetry, and more)

  • Art (including drawings, sketches, and digital art) 

  • If you wish to remain anonymous, please indicate this in the body of your email. You can update or change this decision at any time before publication.  

General Submission Guidelines

Unsolicited submissions should be sent to the email - submissions@golddustpublishing.com with a cover letter and the requested sample, sized in the format indicated below.

*Should your work be accepted by another publisher during the 30-to-180-day period of your manuscript’s consideration, we would appreciate you letting us know.

Please format your work in Standard Manuscript Format, which is:

  •       MSWord documents ONLY (.doc and .docx format). The Manuscript should be submitted as an attached file, not embedded in the email.

  •        12pt. Times New Roman Font

  •        1-inch Margins

  •        Double-Space between lines

  •        DO NOT INDENT MANUALLY

  •        Number your pages in the UPPER-RIGHTHAND CORNER starting on the SECOND PAGE

  •        CHAPTERS must start on a NEW PAGE.

  •        COVER PAGE - including a short bio, complete publishing history, if any, your legal name, pen names, preferred pronouns, email, address, a working phone number, and a brief synopsis and genre of the novel.

Finally, please wait 180 days for our first response to your submission before following up with us. We will request more of your work or send a rejection during that time. While we would love to provide feedback to everyone, we are unable to send a personal rejection with each submission.

To-do List before Sending Submissions

1.     Read and follow the submission guidelines.

2.     Review in MSWord Spellcheck and Grammar check before sending.

3.     Reduce/eliminate Copula Spiders (eight or more copula on a page). While some copulas are necessary, many copula spiders indicate too much exposition or passive language. See the link here for more details: http://www.magicalwords.net/melissa-gilbert/friday-fundamentals-copula-spiders/. Further reading is also available here: http://www.erinpenn.com/2017/11/editing-rant-not-to-be/.

4.     Run an Amazon search (in the book section) on the proposed title of the manuscript. If you get more than 100 hits, consider renaming it before sending.

 

If you were asked by an editor to send in a submission (i.e., a solicited submission – for example, during a panel at a convention), please use the above guidelines. Remember to send it to the email the editor provided. Unsolicited manuscripts go through the website.

Agented Submissions

Agented submissions are not being accepted at this time.