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Third Rail Press publishes adult fiction, nonfiction, and collected works by cis/trans female and non-binary authors.

We do not accept screenplays, graphic novels, or children’s literature (including picture books, middle-grade, and young adult).

Requirements

As a press that is dedicated to sharing the untold stories of women’s lives, we publish cis/trans female and non-binary authors whose work illuminates any of the following:

  • Addiction and substance abuse

  • Childhood abuse and neglect

  • Discrimination and prejudice

  • Disordered eating, body image, and diet culture

  • Domestic violence and abuse

  • Gender identity, fluidity, and expression

  • Grief, loss, and trauma

  • Healing, awakening, and transformation

  • LGBTQIA+

  • Marriage, divorce, and partnership

  • Menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause

  • Mental and physical health, illness, and neurodiversity

  • Misogyny, patriarchy, and oppression

  • Parenting

  • Perfectionism and people-pleasing

  • Relationships

  • Reproduction, infertility, and childlessness

  • Self-hatred, self-harm, and suicidality

  • Self-worth, self-acceptance, and self-love

  • Sexual assault, harassment, and abuse

  • Sexuality

  • Women’s history, leadership, and contributions

  • Work, career, and vocation

If you’d like us to consider publishing your work, please email your query letter, a 700-800 word synopsis, and the first 50 pages of your manuscript to info@thirdrailpress.org with “[SUB]: Title of your work” in the subject line.

Please include everything within the body of the email; we will not open any attachments.

We accept agented and unagented submissions.

Response time is typically 8-10 weeks. We endeavor to respond to every submission we receive, so please wait patiently for a response; if you have not heard from us after 10 weeks, feel free to follow up.

If we are interested, we will request the following:

  • For fiction, memoir, and collected works: The full manuscript

  • For all other nonfiction: The full manuscript or proposal

Questions

Questions

Questions Questions

FAQ

  • We are a traditional small press, not a hybrid or collaborative publisher. You do not have to pay anything to have your book published through us.

  • Before publication, you will work collaboratively with our editors on a developmental edit, copy edit, and proofread of your manuscript.

    Then, our production team will format and typeset the manuscript, design the book cover, and distribute Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) for blurbs and reviews.

    Leading up to your launch, we will promote your book through social media, digital book tours, and more. Post-launch your book will be advertised through Facebook and Google ads.  

    You will be expected to fully participate in the promotion of your book, including social media engagement and podcast appearances, but we will coordinate all of the publicity for you (e.g., booking podcasts, setting up a local book-signing event, etc.).

    In addition, we will prepare you for all of the uncomfortable stuff through monthly coaching calls, mock interviews, live-reading opportunities, social media kits, and more.