Submission FAQs

Yes! While we prefer completed manuscripts, you only need to upload the first three chapters of your book via the submission form. Our process includes four months for the author to finish writing their book if it is not completed at the time of submission.

If you choose to upload a book proposal, you can include a table of contents and/or chapter summaries to give us an idea about what the rest of the book will include.

The submission form will ask for the final word count of your manuscript. If you have not completed your manuscript yet, please estimate the final word count.

If the prize did not include publication, please include information about the competition in the details you send with your submission.

If the prize included publication, we will need more information from you – including information about the original publisher and how to contact them, so we can verify the book is no longer under contract if we decide to proceed.

Please see above regarding sending a submission for a new edition.

If your manuscript has previously been posted on a blog, website, or a platform such as Wattpad, it would need to have undergone major changes since appearing online. If you believe your manuscript has changed significantly and choose to submit, please include details and links to the online version.

If your work has been published in another country, it is still considered published. Please see above regarding sending a submission for a new edition.

We do not generally publish new editions received as unsolicited submissions. If you’d like us to consider a submission for a new edition of a book, we will need more information from you – including information about the original publisher and how to contact them, so we can verify the book is no longer under contract if we decide to proceed.

New editions should include changes or updates from the original edition.

In general, no. We publish previously unpublished work.

If you’d like us to consider a submission for a new edition of a book, we will need more information from you – including information about the original publisher and how to contact them, so we can verify the book is no longer under contract if we decide to proceed.

New editions should include changes or updates from the original edition.

Yes.

If you accept a contract offer from another publisher, please let us know as soon as possible. Be sure to check that anywhere else you submit your manuscript also accepts simultaneous submissions.

If your piece is accepted for publication and/or shortlisted in a competition where the prize includes publication, you must withdraw your submission.

Everyone can submit a manuscript to How2Conquer. We accept submissions from anyone, located anywhere in the world. Submissions must be in English.

Please title all submissions. There are thousands of “Untitled” pieces; you’ll stand out more if you give your work that little bit of extra love.

Please include your title in the header on each page.

Yes, please.

We would prefer that submissions follow these guidelines:

• Font size 12, black, in a commonly used font such as Calibri, Times New Roman, or Arial
• U.S. letter-sized page
• Double-spaced
• Manuscript title in the header on each page
• Pages numbered

Legibility is the important thing, but the often-used standards exist for a reason. Check out our blog post on manuscript formatting, which includes a free manuscript template download for Word.

As long as you’ve filled out the information required in the submission form, you don’t need to include a cover sheet, but you can include one if you’d like to.

Please save the file containing your manuscript sample with the title of your book. This should match the title you enter on the submission form.

Please save the file containing your book proposal with the title of your book and “Book Proposal.” This could be something like: “My Book Title – Book Proposal”.

Please do not include any symbols in your file names that might interfere with our ability to open the file, such as:

/ ? % * : | “ < > .

(We use Windows.)

What kinds of things are you interested in doing to promote your book? Have you had any exciting ideas for tie-in products, blog posts, or other initiatives?

This portion should mainly focus on what you can and will do, without publisher assistance. You can also use this question to give us an idea about any existing platform or online/social media following you have.

If you’re writing a full book proposal, you will have more space to expand on this in other sections (see Jane Friedman’s article on book proposals).

If you are only filling in the fields on the form, this section should be brief but informative. How can you expand on your elevator pitch? What is the focus of the book? What will people have gained after reading it?

What are the higher-level sections it breaks down into? Can you give any insight into specific elements included in the book – illustrative stories, prompts, actionable tactics, a central narrative, etc.?

If you don’t have a book proposal to upload, you can simply select “No” on this question and fill in the fields that appear asking for a brief overview/summary and marketing/promotion plans.

However, while these are the most important elements we’d like to consider at this time, book proposals usually include more details.

There are a lot of excellent articles and resources online to help you shape your book proposal, considering the sections to include and how to present the strongest case for your book. Writer and publishing expert Jane Friedman posted a useful article on her website.

If asked to describe your book to someone, what would you say?

It can be helpful to imagine you are actually telling someone about it in an elevator. Their floor is speeding closer as the lights move up the panel of buttons. You need to draw their attention in a short frame of time.

How can you maintain the listener’s interest and entice them to want to know more?

It can be helpful to start with something you already have on LinkedIn or a website, but don’t just copy and paste it. Your bio should show how your expertise and experience give you a strong platform and understanding of the subject to reach your target audience.

This field is only necessary if you want to publish your manuscript under anything other than your actual name.

You only need to upload the first three chapters. We do not need your full manuscript at the time of submission.

The submission form will ask for the final word count of your manuscript. If you have not completed your manuscript yet, please estimate the final word count. You can include a table of contents and/or chapter summaries in your book proposal, if you choose to upload one.

We prefer completed manuscripts with a target range of 40,000 – 70,000 words.

If we receive a manuscript that is uniquely strong, based on the merit of the writing and development of the idea, but it is longer or shorter than this, we will consider how the content may be tightened or expanded (respectively) and whether the subject merits a longer work.

However, we would prefer that you work to tighten your manuscript before submitting to us, keeping this range in mind.

Please get in touch via our contact form.

Please get in touch via our contact form.

Please don’t send us another identical entry “just in case.” If you think something has gone wrong with the upload, please just get in touch via our contact form, and we’ll check for you.

Yes, you will be sent an automated confirmation email. If you haven’t received this email, please check your spam folder. If you still don’t see it there, get in touch with us.

Permitted file types are: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt

NOTE: Please DO NOT lock your file.

Please get in touch with us using our contact form. We’ll look into what’s going wrong and get back to you as soon as possible.

There is an option to save and return to the submission form. Simply click “Save and Continue Later” at the bottom of the page, and you will be given a link and the option to email the link to yourself. These links should be accessible for 30 days.

No. We do not collect a submission fee for manuscripts we receive.

Unfortunately we cannot accept postal submissions. If you’re having any problems with the submission form, please get in touch with us.

No.

We ask that you please use our online form to send in all submissions. We have a system in place that tracks and sorts all submissions sent via the form, which will help in the review process.

If you’re having any problems with the submission form, please get in touch with us.

Submissions sent in any way other than the online form will not be considered.

We define published as:

• An editorial decision that someone else has made to publish your work (i.e., it has been chosen or selected to be published)
• Self-publishing, where you or a vanity press have otherwise made the work available in print, ebook, audiobook, or another form

This includes print and online publication.

We would prefer that you only submit one manuscript at a time, beginning with the work you believe to be the strongest and most ready for publication. We aim to respond to submissions within four weeks.

However, you can submit as many manuscripts as you’d like, but please submit a separate form for each. Our submission form allows us to track submissions through our review process, and the fields ask questions which will be specific to every manuscript.

We are working on building out our lists, but you can visit our bookshop to see our current titles. Books listed there include links to various retail sites, such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon, many of which include previews of the books.

If you’d like, you’re also welcome to purchase one of our books! However, this is not required to submit a manuscript. We just get excited about our books.

We publish small-format, nonfiction books. We prefer completed manuscripts with a target range of 40,000 – 70,000 words.

How2Conquer is currently working to build our lists in the following categories:

• Business – General (including Business Development, Business Leadership, Business Management)
• Business – Industries (including Security, Business Resiliency, Franchise, Restaurant & Food Industry)
• Hobbies & Home (including Crafts, Cooking, Pets & Animal Care)
• Parenting & Relationships
• Self-Help & Personal Growth

For more information, please see What We’re Looking For.

We do not want submissions that are:

• Gratuitously violent or sexual
• Racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, or that otherwise seeks to target a particular person or persons

Our submission form walks you through the information we need from you. It has specific sections for information about you and your manuscript, including:

• Author bio
• Elevator pitch
• Book proposal, or brief overview and marketing/promotion plans*
• Manuscript sample (the first three chapters)

*If you do not have a book proposal to upload, you can include a brief overview of your manuscript and any marketing and promotion plans you have in the fields provided.