The following are Vanilla Heart Publishing manuscript submission guidelines. Please carefully read through them before submitting your manuscript.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

 

Please read and adhere to these guidelines. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will be immediately rejected - unread - and we would hate to miss a great manuscript!

 

Manuscript Format and Style Guidelines:

Vanilla Heart Publishing does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. All authors must submit a query first, and if we are interested in reviewing your manuscript, we will request the manuscript at that time.

If we request your manuscript or have requested your manuscript, we expect you to adhere to the following manuscript formatting and manuscript submission guidelines:

1) The manuscript must be double-spaced (through paragraph settings, not by using double hard returns), 12 point font, Courier New or Times New Roman, with paragraphs indented by first line indention through page setup controls, not by tabs or spacing. This guideline is critical.

2) Do not double space (two hard returns) after paragraphs. When the document is properly set to indent first line, the carriage automatically wraps the paragraph, and with auto-indention set for first line. There is no need for an additional hard return after a paragraph.

3) No headers or footers should be included in your manuscript submission. If you are using footnotes in a non-fiction writing, the footnotes should be included as part of the text, and not in the header or footer sections. (Use of footnotes and end notes are discouraged. There is usually a better way to cite sources in text with a reference at the end of the manuscript.)

4) Margins should be set at no less then .5” and no more than 1” on all sides, and all margins should be equal. No gutter should be set.

5) Page size should be 8.5” X 11”.

6) Please use either .DOC or .RTF for your submissions.  (.DOC format is highly preferred.)

7) The first page at the top of your manuscript must contain the following information in this format:

Name Street Address City, State and ZIP E-mail

Word Count = Approx. xxx,000

 

 

TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT (Subtitle Of Manuscript) YOUR NAME

 

 

Body of Manuscript Starts Here

 

8) Each chapter should start on its own page, labeled as Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, etc., and should be spaced down five single spaces from the top margin. If you have titles for each chapter, then type Chapter One – Title, using proper title case.

9) DO present a professional manuscript. If you think correct style, spelling and grammar aren't important, then you aren't likely to get your work published anywhere, and certainly not with Vanilla Heart Publishing.

We may have a professional editor provide a readability and editorial assessment of your manuscript if we believe it has potential, but we fully expect you to present a fully edited, professionally prepared manuscript.

10) There is no need to put a copyright notice on each page of your manuscript. The law grants you a natural copyright on your submission the minute you put it in tangible form, and publishers and editors would not stay in business long if that law was not followed. We know your manuscript is protected by copyright, and there is no need to put that information on every page.

11) DO act professionally regarding your submission.

 

Vanilla Heart Publishing and its subsidiary/imprint companies receive a large volume of queries and contest entries each day. We will respond as quickly as possible to every properly formatted query or submission that adheres to our guidelines. We will not ask for manuscript submissions from every author. This is a part of the normal publishing process.

Keep in mind, it's called a "submission", not a "demand."  

We offer advances only on manuscripts we believe have potential to recover those advances quickly, so we may not be able to offer an advance to every author. The best way to secure an advance with Vanilla Heart Publishing is to show us a proven marketing plan or a track record of book sales and readership.

Any author who demands an advance as part of their query letter will likely be rejected. We will discuss finances (advances and royalties) only after we have requested a copy of your manuscript and have decided to offer you a contract.

While we believe that all authors should be a part of the entire creative process of their novel, the query and submission time period is not the time to discuss illustrations, covers, money, royalties, and other matters. Once we have determined that your manuscript has potential, we will discuss all of those details with you in full prior to offering you a contract.