Bella Books publishes stories about women-loving-women. The press is currently acquiring manuscripts that involve these stories across all genres, including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc. They publish books that celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ community.
Linda Hill, the owner of Spinsters Ink and Ban Pole Books, currently owns the press. Kelly Smith started Bella Books in 2001 and acquired the back catalog of several other publishers. They have around 300 books in print, publish between 24 to 30 new books a year, and over 100 of their titles have won Lambda Literary Awards or Golden Crown Literary Society awards.
You can get a feel for what they like to publish by browsing through their catalog.
How to Submit to Bella Books
The press accepts romance, mystery, action/thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, erotica, and general fiction. However, the press’s submission guidelines are very detailed. You will want to go through them carefully before sending your work.
Bella Books does not accept simultaneous submissions, and it takes up to 90 days to hear back from them. They also do not accept submissions via post, only through email. (You can reach them at the following email address: submissions@bellabooks.com.) Here’s what you should send them:
- Use your author name and title of your book in the subject line of the email.
- A synopsis of your novel.
- A cover letter.
- Your complete manuscript.
There are many things that you should include in your synopsis and cover letter, which you can find out by reading their submission criteria. You can check out their detailed guidelines here.
Good luck to those of you who submit. I’ve got my fingers crossed for you.
And if you are accepted, please let me know! I’d love to read your work and pass it along to a friend.
Stay safe, everyone.
Until next time.
Cheers,
Danielle
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