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Brick Mantel Books Pen & Publish

Brick Mantel Books is dedicated to publishing works of literary excellence by new and established authors.

We seek literary fiction that is character-driven, engaging, provocative, lyrical, and artistic, as well as out-of-the-ordinary work that fits our mission. We also publish contemporary, innovative poetry that pushes boundaries. In short, we publish work we have a deep connection to.

When submissions are open, we accept full-length novels (between 40,000 and 120,000 words) and poetry books (between 40 and 80 poems suggested). Chapbooks, novellas, and short story collections are not accepted.

Literary Fiction & Poetry

Temp Closed

Please follow the below guidelines as closely as possible to ensure your submission is complete and can be processed in a timely manner.

  • We require that you submit a finished, polished, final-edit manuscript. While books will be copyedited/proofread prior to publication, manuscripts requiring more in-depth edits will likely be rejected.
  • Please inform us if your manuscript is under consideration elsewhere, and notify us promptly if it is accepted for publication. We will do our best to review and provide a prompt response if possible, so you can make an informed decision.
  • Depending on our submission queue, our preliminary review process can take several months to respond and request your full manuscript if we are interested.
  • We do not accept previously published work or reprints. Poetry collections may contain previously published poems (in literary journals or elsewhere), as long as the full collection hasn't already been published.
  • Do not submit the same manuscript to both Brick Mantel Books and Open Books Press (for literary fiction). If you feel your manuscript would fit well with either imprint, please include a note in your cover letter section and/or the body of your query letter, and we will consider it for both imprints.

Submit all of the following as a single Word or other text document, in this order:

  1. A professional query letter with word or poem/page count, 25–30-word pitch, a brief author bio, and any other relevant details about you or your work.
  2. A synopsis of your book, 250 words or less. (Poets may omit a synopsis.)
  3. Your marketing plan: Who is your target reader and how do you plan to reach them? Also include your platform, which can include: links to your website, blog, and social networking sites; an email/mailing list count; past sales figures; organizations or other avenues for promotion you have; etc. Authors with an established or growing platform are preferred; involvement in promotion is required.
  4. The first 50 pages of your manuscript. (Poets may submit their full collection.)

Not Open

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