Relegation Books is delighted to offer an open reading period for story collections and short novels up to 50,000 words. Our selected work will be released in 2025, and will receive Relegation’s standard contract, national distribution, and marketing and publicity campaign.
Relegation Books publishes the right books at the right time. We will notify all writers about our decision by September 2023. We will close general submissions after receiving 500 manuscripts, and will accept up to an additional 100 by writers living in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. D.C. is Relegation’s home, and we are eager to publish authors in our community.
Eligibility
Any manuscript written in, or translated into, English is eligible.
Manuscripts may not have been previously published. If excerpts or stories from your manuscript have appeared in print or online, include a credits page with your submission.
We expect that simultaneous submissions be withdrawn promptly if accepted elsewhere.
Multiple submissions by one author are not permitted.
We reserve the right to disqualify any manuscript submitted under false pretenses.
Manuscript Requirements
Manuscripts may not exceed 50,000 words.
If submitting a translation, include proof that you have permission to translate.
Partial works or proposals will be rejected unread, except translations. Standard translation pitch packets will be considered.
Manuscripts should be written in 12-point font, 1.5 or double spaced with pages numbered, and should begin with a title page containing your name, email, and mailing address. Your name should appear in the header.
We only accept submissions through Submittable, except from incarcerated authors. If you are—or are representing—an incarcerated author, please write to relegation.books@gmail.com to discuss submission protocol.
About Relegation
Relegation Books was founded in 2012 by Dallas Hudgens, with a mission of working with “an author who hadn’t found an audience yet” (Bethanne Patrick, Washingtonian) and “previously published but under-recognized authors” (American Booksellers Association Small Press Profile).
After the encouraging success of Hudgens’ story collection, Wake Up, We’re Here, which included Emily St. John Mandel writing that it was “easily one of the best books I’ve read this year” in a profile in The Millions and Roxane Gay praising "awesome endings in every story," Relegation Books went on to publish the novels On Bittersweet Place by Ronna Wineberg, A Single Happened Thing by Daniel Paisner, The Loved Ones by Sonya Chung, and the nonfiction and art titles, With Paris In Mind: Talking with Artists of This Generation by Will Mountain Cox, and The Game by Stuart Roy Clarke, an in-depth photographic study of British football culture. Clarke's Glastonbury All Mine will be published this spring, and Roundabout, Cox's debut novel, will be published this fall.
Relegation Books is distributed by Itasca Books, and titles are available via Ingram. In addition to Hudgens’ role as publisher and editorial director, Lauren Cerand advises on publicity, marketing and general strategy, alongside a team of independent creative professionals who come together on a project basis, including artist and Youth Attack Records founder Mark McCoy, who designed the logo, and designer and Featherproof Books founder Zach Dodson, who designs all of the covers; editor Jules Hucke, and Nicolette Nance. Joseph Grantham and Lily Meyer have joined the team in 2023.
Contract Details
Relegation will publish 250 copies of the selected work or works, retaining the option to release an additional 250-book run. Books will retail for $15. When the manuscript is accepted, Relegation will pay the author 50% of each published copy’s list price, so the author will be paid $1,875.00 per print run. Authors retain all other rights, and copyright reverts to the author two years after the contract is signed.
Relegation Books is delighted to offer an open reading period for story collections and short novels up to 50,000 words. Our selected work will Relegation Books is delighted to offer an open reading period for story collections and short novels up to 50,000 words. Our selected work will be released in 2025, and will receive Relegation’s standard contract, national distribution, and marketing and publicity campaign.
Relegation Books publishes the right books at the right time. We will notify all writers about our decision by September 2023. We will close general submissions after receiving 500 manuscripts, and will accept up to an additional 100 by writers living in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. D.C. is Relegation’s home, and we are eager to publish authors in our community. If you are a D.C., Maryland, or Virginia writer, you are welcome to submit here. If not, please submit through the General Submissions portal.
Eligibility
Any manuscript written in, or translated into, English is eligible.
Manuscripts may not have been previously published. If excerpts or stories from your manuscript have appeared in print or online, include a credits page with your submission.
We expect that simultaneous submissions be withdrawn promptly if accepted elsewhere.
Multiple submissions by one author are not permitted.
We reserve the right to disqualify any manuscript submitted under false pretenses.
Manuscript Requirements
Manuscripts may not exceed 50,000 words.
If submitting a translation, include proof that you have permission to translate.
Partial works or proposals will be rejected unread, except translations. Standard translation pitch packets will be considered.
Manuscripts should be in 12-point font, 1.5- or double-spaced with pages numbered, and should begin with a title page containing your name, email, and mailing address. Your name should appear in the header.
We only accept submissions through Submittable, except from incarcerated authors. If you are—or are representing—an incarcerated author, please write to relegation.books@gmail.com to discuss submission protocol.
About Relegation
Relegation Books was founded in 2012 by Dallas Hudgens, with a mission of working with “an author who hadn’t found an audience yet” (Bethanne Patrick, Washingtonian) and “previously published but under-recognized authors” (American Booksellers Association Small Press Profile).
After the encouraging success of Hudgens’ story collection, Wake Up, We’re Here, which included Emily St. John Mandel writing that it was “easily one of the best books I’ve read this year” in a profile in The Millions and Roxane Gay praising "awesome endings in every story," Relegation Books went on to publish the novels On Bittersweet Place by Ronna Wineberg, A Single Happened Thing by Daniel Paisner, The Loved Ones by Sonya Chung, and the nonfiction and art titles, With Paris In Mind: Talking with Artists of This Generation by Will Mountain Cox, and The Game by Stuart Roy Clarke, an in-depth photographic study of British football culture. Clarke's Glastonbury All Mine will be published this spring, and Roundabout, Cox's debut novel, will be published this fall.
Relegation Books is distributed by Itasca Books, and titles are available via Ingram. In addition to Hudgens’ role as publisher and editorial director, Lauren Cerand advises on publicity, marketing and general strategy, alongside a team of independent creative professionals who come together on a project basis, including artist and Youth Attack Records founder Mark McCoy, who designed the logo, and designer and Featherproof Books founder Zach Dodson, who designs all of the covers; editor Jules Hucke, and Nicolette Nance. Joseph Grantham and Lily Meyer have joined the team in 2023.
Contract Details
Relegation will publish 250 copies of the selected work or works, retaining the option to release an additional 250-book run. Books will retail for $15. When the manuscript is accepted, Relegation will pay the author 50% of each published copy’s list price, so the author will be paid $1,875.00 per print run. Authors retain all other rights, and copyright reverts to the author two years after the contract is signed.