Regal House, Fitzroy Books, and Pact Press are open for submissions from authors and literary agents.
During our Regal House contest period (The Petrichor Prize: April 15 - July 15, 2022), Regal House will be closed to general submissions.
Please note that we do not accept multiple submissions, but should we request a full, we will endeavor to provide you with answer within 12-16 weeks of receipt of the manuscript. Also, please understand that, due to our limited resources and small staff, we are not able to respond to individual editorial queries on Submittable after the submission process for the manuscript has been completed.
Before submitting, please first identify the imprint appropriate to your work:
Regal House publishes contemporary and historical literary fiction, memoirs, short story collections via our W.S. Porter Prize, and poetry via our Terry J. Cox Poetry Award.
Fugere Books publishes novellas, with a word count between 17,000 and 40,000 words.
Pact Press publishes nonfiction essays, and anthologies that speak to themes of social justice, immigration, LGBTQ concerns, racism, discrimination, homelessness, and poverty.
Fitzroy Books publishes children's books, middle-grade and young-adult fiction.
We accept only electronic submissions, which will be forwarded to our acquisition editors for careful consideration. We will notify you within three to four weeks if additional chapters are required. Thank you for your interest in Regal House Publishing. The submission fees are nonrefundable so please take the time to make sure your documents are in order prior to submitting and that you are referencing the correct imprint. In your accompanying query, please include: two comparable titles published within the last five years, a one paragraph description of the novel, your author bio, and the novel's word count.
The Regal House Awards Program:
Accepting submissions February 15, 2024 - May 15, 2024: The Fugere Book Prize for Finely Crafted Novellas
Accepting submissions April 15, 2023 – July 15, 2023 : The Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction
Accepting submissions September 2, 2023 - December 1, 2023: The W.S. Porter Prize for Finely Crafted Short Story Collections
Accepting submissions from November 23, 2023 – January 31, 2024: Terry J. Cox Poetry Award
Please note that Regal House Publishing is a small press with limited staff capacity, submission fees allow us to maintain sufficient editorial resources for careful review of each and every manuscript. We understand that submission fees can be difficult to accommodate, but rest assured that because of them, your submission will be carefully read, reviewed, and considered by our editorial staff. Thank you for your understanding.
The W.S. Porter Prize is awarded to recognize a masterfully written short story collection, while also honoring William Sydney Porter, a native born son of North Carolina and an accomplished short story writer who wrote under the pseudonym O. Henry.
Accepting submissions September 1, 2023 – December 1, 2023
Winner Receives: Book publication by Regal House Publishing in 2025/26 and $1000 honorarium
The Timeline The editors at Regal House Publishing will announce their longlist on January 30, 2023, and the judge, Heather Bell Adams, will select a winner on February 15, 2023.
Electronic Submissions Submissions are invited only through Submittable or by post mail. We do not have the staff capacity to read or respond to manuscripts that are submitted by fax or email.
*Submission fee: $25
*Please note that, without the submission fee, we would not be able to accept contest submissions, or to offer a $1000 prize to the winner. As Regal House Publishing is a small press with limited staff capacity, contest submission fees allow us to maintain sufficient editorial resources for careful review of each and every manuscript, they contribute toward the prize money, and they help cover the production and publication costs of the winning manuscripts. We understand that submission fees can be difficult to accommodate, but rest assured that because of them, your submission will be carefully read, reviewed, and considered for this prize. Thank you for your understanding.
Physical Submissions All physical manuscripts must be mailed (or postmarked) to the below Regal House Publishing address by December 1, 2023. Please be sure to include the entry form and the $25 entry fee with your submission. Send one copy of each manuscript. Make check or money orders payable to Regal House Publishing. Do not pay by cash or credit card. Please note that authors who mail manuscripts will need to check our website for contest results. We do not have the staff capacity to respond to each mailed submission via mail.
Download the Entry Form Eligibility:
Entrants must be at least 18 years of age.
Translations, previously published, and collaborative manuscripts are not eligible.
Employees and volunteers of Regal House Publishing, Pact Press, Fitzroy Books or The Regal House Initiative, their partners or spouses, their immediate families, or immediate family of the judge are not eligible.
Manuscript Format:
- Minimum of 100 pages, maximum of 350 pages.
- At least 11pt. font
- The entries will have a blind reading, so please do NOT include name, address and telephone number anywhere in the body of the manuscript. DO include it in the Submittable cover letter form (or if by mail, include a separate cover letter with the above information.
- Do not send artwork or photographs.
- Paginate consecutively and include a table of contents
- Attach publications acknowledgments, if any.
- Please adhere strictly to contest dates. Neither late nor early manuscripts will be accepted.
- Contestants may submit the manuscript elsewhere simultaneously, but must notify Regal House Publishing immediately if a manuscript is accepted by another publisher.
- Once submitted, manuscripts cannot be altered. Winner will be given the opportunity to revise before publication.
- Contestants may submit more than one manuscript, but a separate entry fee and entry form must accompany each manuscript.
- Manuscripts mailed from foreign countries risk not being received before final selections have been made.
Suggested Guidelines for postal entries:
- Keep a copy of your manuscript, as manuscripts will not be returned.
- We advise that you send your manuscript by first class or priority mail.
Answers to FAQs:
- The longlist will be announced on longlist on January 30, 2024, and the winner on February 15, 2024.
- The winning manuscript will be published in 2025/26 in paperback, hardcover, and ebook editions.
- The paper from all manuscripts will be recycled after the winner is announced.
- Regal House Publishing assumes no responsibility for loss of manuscripts.
Send manuscripts, postmarked between September 1, 2023 – December 1, 2023, to:
Regal House Publishing
ATTN: The W.S. Porter Prize
806 Oberlin Rd, #12094
Raleigh, NC 27605
Please note that Regal House Publishing is a small press with limited staff capacity, submission fees allow us to maintain sufficient editorial resources for careful review of each and every manuscript. We understand that submission fees can be difficult to accommodate, but rest assured that because of them, your submission will be carefully read, reviewed, and considered by our editorial staff. Thank you for your understanding. Note: Pact Press no longer accepts works of fiction. Please consider submitting to Regal House Publishing (adult fiction) or Fitzroy Books (Middle-Grade and YA).
Please note that Regal House Publishing is a small press with limited staff capacity, submission fees allow us to maintain sufficient editorial resources for careful review of each and every manuscript. We understand that submission fees can be difficult to accommodate, but rest assured that because of them, your submission will be carefully read, reviewed, and considered by our editorial staff. Thank you for your understanding.
Please note that Regal House Publishing is a small press with limited staff capacity, submission fees allow us to maintain sufficient editorial resources for careful review of each and every manuscript. We understand that submission fees can be difficult to accommodate, but rest assured that because of them, your submission will be carefully read, reviewed, and considered by our editorial staff. Thank you for your understanding.