FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What do you publish?
The majority of the books we bring out are poetry. We also publish plays, English translations and retellings of Indian epics from other languages and cultures, and, occasionally, creative nonfiction. While we do publish fiction, we encourage authors to first approach commercial presses because there are more options for fiction and nonfiction than poetry and drama in the publishing world and larger publishing houses would be able to offer better distribution and terms than a small, independent press like us.
2. Do you publish only in English?
The books we publish have either been written originally in English or have been translated from any language into English. Occasionally, we publish non-Indian literature which uses the standard Roman alphabet as in most European languages.
3. Do you publish every manuscript submitted to you?
No, we have a rigorous review process and expect creative writing in any genre to meet specific markers. In reality, we accept far fewer manuscripts for publishing than we receive.
4. Do you have any guidelines for submitting a manuscript for consideration of publishing?
Any manuscript of poetry we publish must have at least 50 poems or fill a minimum of 70 pages in the final printed book (where each page contains 30 lines including blank lines between stanzas). In the first phase of our review, we request a sample of 10 poems so that we can get a sense of a poet’s style and craft. The sample should be emailed to us as a single Word attachment. Due to the volume of publishing enquiries and samples we receive, it might take us up to 4 weeks to simply review your sample (from date of receipt).
If your sample fits in with our creative standards, we will ask you to send us your complete manuscript which we will proceed to review (this is the second phase).
For other genres, email us mentioning the nature of your book and we will advise you accordingly.
5. I am below 18 years of age. Do you accept poetry collections by children?
We have, on rare occasion, brought out the work of young people below the age of 18 but here too we have certain criteria that need to be met. In general, we believe children (any young person below 18) should simply enjoy reading and writing and look to publish when they are older, if they still wish to then. Please keep in mind that child safety is of immeasurable importance for us. Ideally, we feel that if a child or their parents/guardians have decided to publish their work, communication should be initiated by their parent/s or guardian/s. If a child wishes to communicate with us themselves, they must copy their parents/guardians into all correspondence they send to us (cc not bcc) and provide one phone number of the adult caregiver they are looping in so that we can contact them directly as well allowing for responsible, transparent three-way communication.
6. What are your terms of publishing?
We publish 300 copies of a book. 10% (30 copies) is given to the author in lieu of royalty. The writer is expected to make an advance purchase of 100 copies of their book, for sale or distribution as s/he pleases.
We have no sources of funding and this is how we have partially sustained our operational costs since our inception.
7. Do you bring out any journals or do you have a section in your website where I could submit one or more poems or stories or other individual pieces of writing?
No.
8. How can we order books from you?
i. You can email us mentioning the name/s of the book/s, author/s and your shipping address and we will guide you about placing your order with payment options.
ii. Our newer titles having a ‘Book Buying Inquiry’ form embedded at the end of each entry on our website featuring a book which you can fill up, submit and we will get back to you.
iii. If you live in India, you can check if the book is available with our distributing partner, Monograph and order directly from them.