Submit



We need to publish your weird shit, your uncanny valleys, the fiction that doesn’t fit in ✦



Diachro’s next submission window is Sep 1–Nov 30, 2024.

For this intake, we seek specifically and only:

(1) Manuscripts from writers belonging to underserved groups. We encourage you to submit if you self-identify as belonging to an underserved or marginalized group (e.g., BIPOC, low-income, disability, gender identity). Why? We haven’t seen too many manuscript submissions from diverse demographics and life experiences. And we want to! Diverse stories are interesting. Diverse stories are life. *Important note*: No need to tell us how or to which group you belong to in your submission. Neither does your manuscript need to explore your identity.

(2) Manuscripts that fit the following specific descriptions:
- Funny horror / Humour about death
- Fiction written from and exploring lived experiences of mental illness or neuro-spiciness (e.g. postpartum psychosis, OCD, prosopagnosia, Tourette’s)
- Antihero origin stories / People on paths the opposite of what they thought they'd be on
- Boldly unlikeable female, trans, or non-binary protagonists

Diachroneity Books seeks novels, short story collections, novels-in-flash, encyclopedias (lol), and fresh translations of the above. Currently, we’re working with prose only (no poetry (◕︵◕)).

What we want: Oddness. Stream of consciousness. Weird, but beautiful. Genre, but literary. Just a liiiiittle left of centre. Biting humour, biting commentary, and biting humour-as-commentary. Eighteen layers of sorta confusing metaphor. Make us (and you) feel uncomfortable, unsettled, unsure. Or astound us. Ideally both.

If you think other places would publish your manuscript and sell mad stacks, it’s probably not for Diachro.

What we don’t want: The mainstream. -isms or -phobias. Easy reading. Cool kids.

If you’ve been knocked back for being “too much,” hi.

Also, we aim to be, like, nice and thoughtful and understanding human beings. So if we’re thinking about doing this thing together (i.e., literary birthing), we kindly request that you be nice and thoughtful and understanding too.

Teamwork makes the dreamwork, y’know?



The technical stuff


Submissions are open Sep 1–Nov 30, 2024. See above for manuscripts sought.

Please stick the following requests into a single editable document (.doc(x), .odt, etc.) and email:

books🐌diachroneitybooks.com
Subject line: SUBMISSION: [Working Title], [Your Name]

Please allow minimum three months for a response.

Simultaneous submissions are A-OK.

Any submissions sent outside the window will be deleted without response ˙◠˙


If you have a completed or near-completed manuscript, please send us:

1. A letter of introduction containing:
- A brief outline (max. 1 page)
- Your best elevator pitch (max. two sentences)
- A bio of your good self (optional; max. 200 words)
- Tell us what makes your manuscript “weird,” “niche,” or “uncanny” and “unplaceable” elsewhere (max. 200 words)
2. The first chapter of your manuscript
AND
3. The best/most outstanding/exciting/weirdest chapter of your manuscript 
PLUS
4. Indicate which specific Fall 2024 call you are submitting under: (1) or (2) or both (see above; just say a number, details not required unless desired)

(If your manuscript doesn’t have chapters, please contact us for instructions customized just for you, baybeh!)


If you have an idea for a prose fiction work you want to develop with us, please:

1. Send a letter of introduction containing:
- A brief outline of your idea (max. 1 page)
- A bio of your good self (optional; max. 200 words)
2. Convince us that you’ll be able to pull this thing off (max. 1 page)
AND
3. Convince us that Diachroneity Books is the best partner to help you pull this thing off (max. 200 words)
PLUS
4. Indicate which specific Fall 2024 call you are submitting under: (1) or (2) or both (see above; just say a number, details not required unless desired)