CIOLNA PRESS

Submissions.

How to submit

Thank you for your interest in publishing with us!

Before you submit your manuscript for consideration, make sure to read and understand the Submission Policy on this page. If you believe your manuscript matches what we’re looking for, submit the following by email to submissions@ciolna.com:

  • Your query letter. Tell us a little about who you are, your past publishing credits (if any), and the book you’re submitting.
  • The first ~5,000 words of your manuscript.
  • A full synopsis of the story, including the ending.

Submission policy

Last updated:

Use of artificial intelligence (AI)

Ciolna Press is a human-first enterprise. We do not license our books for AI training, and we do not use generative AI tools for cover design, audiobook narration, or manuscript translation. We are committed to protecting our authors' rights and are prepared to take all legally permitted action to that effect.

Ciolna Press does not accept manuscripts generated by AI tools such as ChatGPT, NovelAI, Sudowrite or Claude. This includes AI translations of manuscripts from other languages into English.

We do not accept AI-generated cover art or illustrations.

What we’re looking for

We want stories that are bold, fresh and, above all, fun to read.

We like books that blur the lines between genres (sci-fantasy, romantic thrillers, supernatural mysteries, etc.) and authors who find new and creative ways to work with conventional tropes.

We welcome agented and unagented submissions.

Ciolna Press publishes fiction that falls within one or more of the following categories:

  • Sci-fi & fantasy
  • Queer fiction (all genres welcome!)
  • Romance
  • Thrillers
  • Contemporary fiction
  • Comedy
  • Slice of life

While Ciolna Press welcomes submissions from authors worldwide, we particularly want to uplift and amplify stories from outside the North-American/Western European bubble.

What we’re not looking for

Ciolna Press currently doesn’t publish the following:

  • Literary or experimental fiction
  • Non-fiction
  • Religious or spiritual books
  • Poetry
  • Graphic novels
  • Children’s books
  • Screenplays and stage plays

For legal reasons, we can’t accept fanfiction, derivative works (retellings, sequels, prequels or spinoffs of existing media), and real-people fiction (RPF).

We evaluate books that were previously published on a case-by-case basis, provided they are no longer available in any format (including ebook and print-on-demand) and the author holds all rights.

As a Canadian-based global press, we’re extremely selective with works that center US politics and/or US current events. We believe American issues already receive a vast amount of global coverage and choose to prioritize non-US events and perspectives.

Word count

We typically accept works between 60,000 and 100,000 words.

Minimum quality standards

Before you submit your work, make sure that it meets all of the criteria below:

  • There are no placeholders, tracked changes or editorial comments.
  • Your manuscript uses a legible font, with clearly marked chapter titles and headings.
  • You’ve done a thorough spelling and grammar check.
  • You use standard English punctuation for paragraphs and dialogue and avoid non-standard punctuation like ???, ……, two spaces after a period, etc.
  • You don’t overuse em-dashes (—), ellipses (…), ALL CAPS, bold or italic formatting.
  • You use dialogue tags correctly (see common dialogue tag mistakes).
  • Names are consistent and fit the genre, setting and period.
  • Story beats flow logically.