Submission Guidelines

Kayelle Press publishes several types of books:

short fiction anthologies
young adult novels
“Awesome Aussie Tales” featuring stories for younger readers written by Australian authors

All our publications fit into the speculative fiction genre, which includes fantasy, science fiction and horror (and their sub-genres). Please carefully read these submission guidelines in conjunction with the individual Project Guidelines as it will make our job easier and your chances of acceptance greater.

Click on the question to read the answer. We encourage you to read the entire page prior to submitting a manuscript for consideration.

“Do you have reading periods?”

Each project has its own reading period. Anything received before or after the dates specified on the Project Guidelines page will not be considered. Active and upcoming projects (if any) are listed below.

“What are you looking for?”

Anthologies: We define “short fiction” as stories between about 3,000 and 6,000 words in length. We do not apply strict word limits, but anything over 6,000 words will need to be extremely good. We prefer stories that are crisp and fast moving. Give us well developed characters, real conflict, a gripping plot and plenty of action and you may just grab our attention. We rarely read or accept anything under 2,000 words.

Young Adult Novels: We define “novel” as stories between 60,000 and 75,000 words in length. The stories must be crisp, fast paced and fit within the speculative fiction genres.

“Awesome Aussie Tales” series: We define “fiction” for this series as stories between about 25,000 and 40,000 words in length. Only stories written by Australian residents will be considered for this series. The stories must fit in the speculative fiction genre and be written for the 9 to 12 year-old age group.

“What market should my story target?”

Anthologies: All stories should be aimed at the adult market and must be written in English.

Young Adult Novels: All stories must be written for young adults, in English.

“Awesome Aussie Tales” series: All stories should be aimed at 9 to 12 year-olds and must be written in English.

“What DON’T you want?”

We do not enjoy stories with lengthy weather reports and/or descriptions.

Previously published work, poetry, fan-fiction and public domain material will not be considered.

Please do not send us multiple submissions or simultaneous submissions.

“What do you pay?”

Anthologies: At present, we pay a flat fee of AU$20 per story (we hope to increase this in the future) and one contributor’s copy in digital format (epub, mobi or pdf). Contributors living in Australia will receive payment by cheque or Paypal (their choice) within four weeks of publication. International contributors will receive payment through Paypal only. Please check the project guidelines to find out the expected publication date.

“Awesome Aussie Tales” series and Young Adult novels: We do not pay an advance. Two paperback contributor copies will be posted to the author. We pay 50% net royalty fees (after printing costs and store commissions have been deducted). Payment is made twice a year, with minimum amount required prior to payment being made. International authors will be paid through PayPal only.

“If you accept my story, who owns the copyright?”

“What rights are you acquiring if you publish my story?”

Anthologies: We will be acquiring worldwide first publication rights and worldwide electronic rights for the downloadable version(s). All rights will revert back to the author six months after publication, at which time the author is free to resell the story. We will retain the right to continue to promote and sell the anthology, in which the original work appears, at our discretion. Please note that as we use print-on-demand technology and digital printing, the anthology may never go “out of print”.

“Awesome Aussie Tales” series and Young Adult novels: As above, however, rights will revert back to the author 12 months after publication.

“What formats do you accept?”

Submissions will be accepted in .doc, .odt or .rtf formats. We suggest you format your manuscript using the guidelines found on William Shunn’s “Proper Manuscript Format” for Short Stories webpage as it will make your story easier to read. Please note that we prefer you to bold your bold and use italics for your italics rather than underlining them.

“What do you expect where spelling and grammar is concerned?”

Only manuscripts that have been fully edited and are considered ‘print ready’ should be submitted for consideration.

Note: This is an Australian publication. If you are not Australian, you should submit your story for an anthology only if you are willing to have your story converted to Australian spelling and grammar.

“Do you have special requirements that I must follow?”

Yes, you are required to provide two additional things when submitting your story:

You must provide a one-sentence blurb of up to 25 words (definitely no longer). It must be a statement, questions will not be accepted. Here’s an example on how to write a one-sentence blurb. Alternatively, follow the instructions in Step 1 of the Snowflake Method of Writing a Novel.
You must provide a bio of no more than 100 words. The bio should be written in third person. As it may be used in the publication, please ensure you do not include anything that you do not wish to be used publicly.

Both of these items must be included in the ‘cover letter’ section of the submission process. See below for ‘How to Submit’ instructions.

“How do I submit my story for consideration?”

Once you are satisfied that you have optimised your chances for acceptance by following all the guidelines listed on this page, you will be ready to submit your story.

Submissions will only be accepted through Submishmash (you will find a SUBMIT link on the project guidelines page). If you have not used Submishmash before, you will need to create an account with them prior to submitting. Don’t worry, it’s easy and it’s free! (You will receive an email confirmation of receipt of your story and you will also be able to track the progress of your submission through the submission manager.)

“Do you charge a reading fee?”

No! We will never charge a reading fee, it goes against everything we believe in.

“How long can I expect to wait for a response from you?”

All effort is made to respond to submissions within four to six weeks. If you haven’t heard from us after two months, then feel free to query us:

admin AT kayellepress DOT com
kayellepress AT gmail DOT com

“I have further questions, what should I do?”

Use the Contact page or send an email to: