How to be published by Honno

GWASG MENYWOD CYMRU
CYHOEDDI LLYFRAU MENYWOD CYMRU

WELSH WOMEN’S PRESS
PUBLISHING LITERATURE BY WOMEN FROM WALES

Being published by Honno

General Information and Advice on How to Get Published

If you are interested in writing and need information and advice on how to get your work published, it is a good idea to join a local writing group as they could help develop your work and give you continued support. Your local library should have information about such expertise in your area.

For writing courses try the ones run by the Taliesin Trust in Ty Newydd in North Wales (Tel: 01766 5228811).

Get published in magazines and periodicals

In the case of poetry and short stories, if you are an unpublished author, you have a greater chance of success approaching a book publisher with a complete collection and an established readership of your work. For this reason it is advisable to seek publication initially in magazines or literary journals which publish work similar to yours. Check libraries and bookshops for these magazines and follow their specific submission guidelines.

In Wales, authors can contact the Welsh Books Council (Castell Brychan, Aberystwyth SY23 2JB Tel: 01970 624151) or the Literary Department of the Arts Council of Wales (Museum Place, Cardiff CF1 3NX Tel: 01222 221447) as they may also be able to provide up-to-date advice and contacts.

Manuscript Submission

When you have completed your manuscript you can:

Submit it directly to various publishers, strictly according to their submission guidelines. Make sure you choose the right publishers. It would be a waste of your time and ours if you were to send Honno academic manuscripts, for example. Get hold of various catalogues from publishers and study what kind of books they print before sending them your work. Please be patient while you wait for a reply. You should expect to wait three months at least for a response.
Give it to a literary agent, who will be able to advise you on your work and who will know the most suitable publisher(s) for your kind of work. (See the list in Black's Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, for example.) A Welsh agent is Combrógos Literary Agency (10, Heol Don, Yr Eglwys Newydd, Cardiff CF4 2AU).
Have it checked by a manuscript assessment service. A number of literary and writing organisations offer this service, for a fee. Try the Welsh Books Council, and the Arts Council of Wales (see addresses above).

Submitting Manuscripts to Honno

HONNO IS A PRESS FOR WELSH WOMEN.
WE ONLY PUBLISH WORK BY WOMEN LIVING IN WALES OR WITH A WITH A WELSH CONNECTION.

How to contact us.

If you send your work to Honno, please be patient while you wait for a reply. Remember - no news is good news. Honno receive a lot of manuscripts and the editor only works part-time. The Editorial Board all give their time voluntarily, and as we are a co-operative company at least three of our members - all busy mothers/ wives/ full-time workers - need to read each piece of work before we can decide to publish it.

If you want us to acknowledge receipt of your manuscript, please send a self-addressed, stamped postcard.

If you want your work returned, then please send a SAE.

HONNO CANNOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR MATERIAL SENT TO US.
Make sure you retain your own copy of your work.

Long manuscripts
For initial submissions, please do not send an entire manuscript - a sample is sufficient. A synopsis and a few chapters of a novel, for example.

Short Pieces
If you would like your work to be considered for future anthologies, please let us keep your work on file. We cannot promise to publish a short story, for example, in a future collection of short stories as it would be purely the editor of that volume's choice and would depend on the theme of that particular book. We will contact you for permission to include your short pieces in any anthology.

We welcome proposals and ideas for anthologies which reflect any aspect of women's lives in Wales. See our catalogue for examples of previous publications.

ASK to be put onto our Author Database to receive regular information about forthcoming Honno projects and calls for submissions. Contact the editor on editor@honno.co.uk or 01970 623150.