Submission Guidelines
Updated 13th March, 2026
Thank you for your interest in Bitten Fruit Books. If and when working with authors, our goal is to give a voice to unusual, less mainstream work within genre fiction, especially for first-time UK authors. We want to help you get off the ground.
We are a micro-publisher based in the United Kingdom – we are small, niche, and a family-run business and we don't pretend to be anything other than that. We only work with one author at a time to give you our best, which can mean only publishing, say, two new authors a year.
What We're Looking For
We are looking for genre fiction which is fast-paced, passionate, creative, intelligent, and somehow different to the norm. We publish new authors under Bitten Fruit Books (contemporary romance, women's fiction, contemporary thrillers) and our brand new about-to-launch imprint, Between Fire & Ice (dark fantasy, paranormal romance, gothic fiction, horror, supernatural thrillers).
We get excited about stories that are character-driven and told in an exciting and passionate way as if you are living the journey with your characters, or watching it like a film in your mind. We are not overly interested in tropes or overdone formula – we want your characters, narrative, and dialogue to weave and power the story.
What to Send Us
Your cover letter should include your author details (including website or social media accounts), your book's working title and blurb, a hook, and a synopsis. Tell us why your book is different.
Include your first chapter only. If your book has a prologue, send both your prologue and your first chapter. Send it as a standard word doc with single spacing, in Times New Roman font. (If you are not successful, your submission will be deleted from our system after we contact you; we do not hold onto any information unless we publish you.)
Genre and Word Count
Please make sure your book meets the criteria below before querying us:
- Your book must be in the genres of either Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Paranormal Romance (any spice level), Erotic Romance, Contemporary Romance (any spice level), Women's Fiction, Thriller (can be contemporary or paranormal), or Horror (must have good character drive and narrative, even if it's splatterpunk). We do not publish YA Fiction. Please inform us if your book has descriptive sex scenes so we can let our manuscript readers know. (Please do not inform us of triggers.)
- Your book must be a minimum of 30,000 words (yes, we happily accept good novellas) and no more than 140,000 words.
- Your book must be complete – please don't send us a query if you haven't finished the book.
- If we go on to ask for your full manuscript, we expect it to be edited to the best of your ability.
Other Info
We are not a vanity or hybrid publisher and we do not charge for publishing your book. We also do not currently pay advances. Your book will receive various stages of editing, we will design a cover for it, and we will market it. We create titles in both eBook format, and in paperback (POD), and attempt to upload to all major online platforms through our distributors. Your eBook will not be on Kindle Unlimited. We do not currently publish audiobooks or hardcovers.
We are slowly building a list of brick and mortar stores that might stock our books, and we will also contact your local independent book shops, but it may not be possible to place your book in a physical bookstore. Your book will be promoted primarily online.
Royalties
- For eBooks, we pay you 30% of the list price for every book sold.
- For paperbacks, we pay you 15% of the list price for every book sold.
- Our contract is for exclusive worldwide rights for five years for both eBook and paperback versions (your contract can either be terminated or renewed after the five-year term).
- We do not pay advances.
If the above sounds agreeable, send your submission to submissions@bittenfruitbooks.com and title your email SUBMISSION: [TITLE OF YOUR BOOK]
We also suggest you follow us on Facebook or X as that is where we will publicly post any problems we might be having with our email or tech, or general updates that affect all queries.
We look forward to hearing from you.