Submissions
Contributions and Works
Before you write to us
We publish slowly and selectively. Most submissions we receive are well-written and still not right for this catalogue - that isn’t a judgement on the work, only on fit.
Before submitting, read the questions below. If your work doesn’t answer most of them honestly, it’s probably not for Marginfold Press, and that’s fine there are excellent publishers for excellent work that isn’t this.
What we’re looking for
- Non-fiction rooted in real, observed life. Not opinion, theory, or a personal brand extended into book form.
- Work that notices people or experiences usually flattened into a stereotype, a demographic, or a statistic.
- A writer close enough to the subject to handle it with accuracy and dignity - through lived experience, sustained proximity, or long-term direct access.
- A reason for the book to exist beyond giving the author a platform.
- Work that will still matter after the trend or news cycle that might have inspired it has passed.
What we don’t publish
- Generic self-help built from secondhand research.
- Memoir centred on the author's importance rather than what was observed.
- Work that turns real people into symbols, warnings, or inspiration objects without contradiction or dignity.
- Ghostwritten platform books with no distinct voice.
From idea to book
Good work can begin with someone who has never thought of themselves as an author.
We understand how far it is from an idea or a rough manuscript to a properly structured, edited, designed and publishable book. We do not promise publication, and not every manuscript can become a book, but we are interested in:
- Manuscripts
- Developed book concepts
- Fiction
- Narrative non-fiction
- Unusual perspectives
- Lived experience
- Cultural work
- Potentially publishable collaborations
How to submit
Send a short pitch! What the book is, who it’s about, and why you’re the right person to write it, along with a sample of no more than 5,000 words.
We read everything ourselves. We don’t reply to every submission, but we read every one that follows these guidelines.