Nightingale Press’s Flagship Manuscript

We’ve been pretty upfront about the fact that we’re not a traditional press. So it shouldn’t surprise you that we’re also not doing a traditional submissions process.

Instead, we’re hosting a pitch event.

You know what that means—no custom query letter. No comp titles if you can’t think of any. No synopsis written to a specific word count. No box to fit yourself into.

The pitch event won’t be until after the No Good Deed flash fiction contest closes on April 10th.

While we really wanted to open submissions today, there’s no point if manuscripts are going to sit in a box, unread, for an unknown amount of time (look at you, trad-pub). This gives us time, focus, and energy to make sure everything we do is done right. We’re not interested in doing too much at once (and, in turn, doing all of them badly).

How it works

When our manuscript pitch event goes live on Wrizzit—after April 10th, exact date TBA—you drop your pitch in the comments. The only rule: Dark fiction only—any genre, any subgenre, any flavor. If it makes someone uncomfortable, we’re probably interested. Write as much or as little as you want about your story. Or just drop the title and dip, because you’re a cocky little shit (honestly, good for you).

Each member of the Nightingale team will have a set number of pitches they can react to. If someone on the team likes what they see, they’ll react to your comment. If one of us reacts to your comment, DM your email address. You’ll hear from us with a request for your first three chapters, along with additional information about your manuscript.

That’s really it.

Unlike most publishers, we don’t want to take up too much of your time unless there’s serious interest in your work. The pitch event is how we keep it mutual.

If your pitch doesn’t receive a reaction from us, don’t sweat it. Transparency is key, so—we plan to be incredibly picky with our flagship.

There will be plenty of opportunities to submit in the fall. We promise. That’s part of why we’re not asking you to put together a full file on yourself for the pitch event; I personally hate putting a bunch of work in, just to get a form reply.

What Happens After

The thread stays live for 48 hours. Once it closes and we’ve collected first chapters, the team sits down and talks through each of our picks. We’ll be judging the flash fiction contest around the same time, so we won’t have a hard timeline for when we’ll reach out again. But we’re aiming to have our flagship manuscript picked up by the beginning of June.

More details on the exact date coming soon. Subscribe so you don’t miss it—and if you haven’t already, consider submitting to No Good Deed first. It’s a good way to see how we work before you hand us something you’ve poured your whole soul into.