Manuscripts

Manuscript Guidelines

Backroom Press publishes books with themes taken all or in large part from the Kimberley, by authors who have lived or spent time in the region. Backroom Press only considers completed manuscripts; we are happy to discuss ideas from prospective writers, but we do not provide a mentorship service.

Backroom Press will respond to a manuscript submission within six months. We may:

  • accept your manuscript and offer you a contract,
  • express interest but ask you to do more work on your manuscript
  • reject your manuscript if it does not meet our criteria or standards

Expressing interest and making suggestions should not be taken as a commitment to publish.

If we accept your manuscript and offer you a contract, certain conditions may apply, such as completing all changes and corrections by a given date, providing illustrations, getting written permissions, etc.

Before you submit your manuscript, please consider the following:

  • Is your topic/story relevant to the Kimberley?
  • Is your manuscript fiction or non-fiction? If non-fiction, do you need an index and/or a bibliography/page of references, and have you provided these?
  • Who is your expected readership? (adults, children, age-group, cultural group etc.)
  • Has anyone else read your manuscript and given you feedback? It often pays to get someone else’s opinion before submitting your work.

A clean, clear manuscript gives a good first impression. A handwritten manuscript will only be considered if it is either very short or so brilliant it is worth the effort of reading it. Please provide your manuscript using the following format:

  • One hard copy and an electronic copy in Word.
  • Double-line spacing and a readable font.
  • Numbered pages, printed on one side only.

Send your manuscript to Backroom Press Inc.

  • PO Box 2778, Broome WA 6725
  • inquiries@backroompress.com.au

After you submit your manuscript

Backroom Press will acknowledge receipt of your manuscript, usually within a week or two of receiving it.

Within six months we will let you know whether or not we are interested in considering your manuscript further, or are rejecting it if it does not meet our criteria or standards.

Note that expressing an interest in your manuscript does not mean we will agree to publish it. We may ask you to do more work on the manuscript before we can consider it for publication.

If we are happy with your final manuscript, we may accept it and offer you a contract.  If we are still not happy with it, we may have to reject it. The timing of the final decision will depend on how long it takes you to revise it and submit the final draft.

Note that Backroom Press is a not-for-profit micro-publisher, and we do not have the capacity to work with you to make improvements to your manuscript. Once we have accepted it for publication, we will provide editing and proofreading services.