Writers: methodology

Whether you are a new writer looking to publish your first work, or a seasoned veteran struggling to find a publisher in these days of The-Next-Dan-Brown frenzy, Epistol is the imprint for you.

We regard ourselves as a publishing company in the classic sense, though operating far more freely on account of the relative ease of digital publishing. We believe that, though digital publishing is not in any way brand new, it is not yet being used in any liberating or enlightening way, for either artist or audience. Through a stringent curatorial process, we aim to excavate the most exciting work submitted to us each season.

As the major imprints struggle to figure out the internet and are fast introducing their own online and digital iterations, Epistol is keen to distance itself from the status quo. Epistol is an independent project, unperturbed by the perplexities of commercially-focused trade publishing. We aim to invite, include and illuminate the most elemental ideas being articulated today.

We do not have the resources to employ editors to help you finalize your work. Therefore, we ask that you submit your work to us as you would have it published: edited, formatted, and ready for readership. If it is somewhat rough around the edges, we don't necessarily mind: if it is chosen, it is chosen, and we shall consider any imperfections an aspect of its charm.

Once you have submitted your work, we guarantee to inform you whether your submission has been selected or otherwise.

If selected, you will retain copyright to the work you submitted. One hundred percent of it. Forever.

Your work, like Epistol itself, will be hosted in London, England. It will be stored as HTML, and disseminated as PDFs, paid for by subscribing readers. Readers have the ability to disseminate these PDFs amongst themselves - we cannot control this. Nor can we stop readers from printing your PDF out and making their own hard copies. We will neither encourage nor advocate this behaviour. We do not imagine that there will be a worrisome amount of uptake on this kind of activity. We have a great deal of faith in our readers. Writers likewise.

You will have no lasting or binding contract with Epistol. Should your work be selected, you retain the right to request its removal from the Epistol website at any time. And, if featured as a monthly selection, your work will be removed as soon as that month ends. 

Our commissions will be extremely favourable to writers at all stages of their careers, evading the heavy costs of pulp, paper and distribution. We also will not deal or negotiate with agents, lawyers or managers, thus this financial agreement is not commercial from our side, as we do not, fundamentally, view literature as a commodity such as oil, cotton or popular music.

Our payment model is as follows:

55% of gross to the author

45% of gross to overhead

Overhead includes VAT (presently at 20%), PayPal fees, hosting and other adminstrative costs associated with bringing your work to its audience. 

Works will be published in 'seasons', composed of no more than four works, each Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. These seasons will be marketed and sold in a variety of ways: single publication purchase, seasonal subscription (a package purchase of the entire season at a discounted rate), package purchase (purchase of one-three of the season's publications, at a slightly discounted rate), and, eventually, an annual subscription, the details of which will have to be determined once we arrive at a full year of available content.

Epistol will market your work as if it is our own. Your face is unlikely to grace the sides of London (or other) buses or to commingle with the likes of Martina Cole or Simon Cowell on the pages of free commuter papers, but it is very much in the interest of making this project a success. The more media and sales for your work, the more capacity Epistol will have to maintain high standards and continue to deliver the high-quality work we hope to become known for in what has otherwise been an age of almost unprecedented decline.

If you would like to submit a work, please click here.