Questions
What authors ask us first
The eight questions the submissions inbox actually receives, answered properly. If yours is not here, send it — the same address reads both.
Do you charge authors to publish?
Not for a trade contract — that is the one where we pay you, with an advance on signature. The Partnership and Independent tracks are paid for, and both are quoted as a fixed itemised figure before anything begins. There is never a fee to read or consider a manuscript.
How long until I hear back?
Fourteen days for a first response, and everybody gets one. If a manuscript is going to take longer — usually because two editors want to read it — you will hear that before the fourteen days are up rather than after.
Do I keep my rights?
On the Partnership and Independent tracks, entirely: the rights, the files and the print files stay yours, and you can walk away with them. A trade contract licenses specific rights for a term and a territory, all of it written in sentences you can read, with reversion spelled out.
Should I send the whole manuscript?
Not at first. Send the enquiry form with a description of the book and who it is for. If an editor wants it, they will ask for the full text in the format we need — which saves you formatting it for a house that turns out not to be right for it.
What if my book is already published?
Then publishing is not what you need, and the marketing, reviews and author-growth divisions all work on books published elsewhere. A surprising share of what those divisions run is for authors whose own publisher stopped after launch week.
Which imprint should I send it to?
Whichever one publishes books like yours — the five lists are described in full, including what each is not for. Say in your note which you think is closest and why; that sentence is read, and getting it wrong has never cost anyone a fair reading.
Do you publish first-time authors?
Constantly. First Light publishes nothing else, and the Lighthouse Prize carries a ₹5,00,000 advance for a debut. A first book is not a risk we tolerate; it is most of what the house is for.
Can you guarantee my book will sell?
No, and anyone who does is selling you the one thing they do not have. What we sell is work — editing, design, print, distribution and campaigns — done to a standard you can inspect on books we have already published, before you commit to anything.
Still deciding?
Send the enquiry rather than the manuscript. Describe the book in a paragraph and ask whatever is actually stopping you — that gets a real answer from a person.