Bookouture and Dahlia Books join forces on an exclusive call-out for writers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds – open
Bookouture, in association with The Asian Writer and Dahlia Books, are putting out an exclusive call-out for commercial fiction submissions from unagented and unpublished writers from BAME backgrounds and will be offering professional editorial feedback on the synopsis and first three chapters for the month of August.
Lucy Dauman, Associate Publisher at Bookouture, said: ‘We are committed to diversifying our list and ensuring that voices from all backgrounds are heard. It’s more apparent than ever that writers from BAME backgrounds are under-represented in publishing and we hope that, by helping to shape the pitch and those all-important first chapters, we can add real value to a writer’s publication journey and discover some exciting new voices in commercial fiction.’
Farhana Shaikh, Founder of Dahlia Books and The Asian Writer, said: ‘We’re seeing lots of publishers rushing to diversify their lists which is right and long overdue. I’m thrilled to see that Bookouture are going one step further. Working with Lucy at Bookouture to bring this opportunity to writers from diverse backgrounds has been incredibly heartwarming. It’s a fantastic opportunity for BAME writers to receive editorial feedback, which I’m certain will help them to develop their writing talent and support their journey to publication.’
Writers should submit a short bio, a synopsis (of up to 1,000 words) and the first three chapters/50 pages (up to a total of 10,000 words) here.
The inbox will open at 12.00am on Saturday 1 August 2020 and the deadline for submissions is 11.59pm on Monday 31 August 2020*.
Each submission will be read by a member of the Bookouture editorial team, who will provide editorial feedback within six weeks from the date of submission. The feedback will cover the hook and the pitch, as well as the writing style and impact of the opening chapters. We will also advise on genre and where the author thinks this sits in the market.
For more information on what Bookouture are looking for, click here
*If you are not able to submit to us in August, we would still love to read your submission via the usual submissions platform on our website. However, while we respond to all submissions and give feedback where we can, beyond the month of August, we will not be able to give the same detailed editorial feedback.
