We know that the publishing process can be daunting - and we try our best to be transparent with everyone who submits to us. Here are some of our most frequently-asked questions, answered:

Do I have to pay to play?

Absolutely not. Written Off was originally set up as anathema to the glut of ‘pay to play’ publishers who always ask for one of the following:

• That a writer pays to submit;

• That a writer ‘enters’ a ‘competition’ with an entry fee to submit;

• That a writer purchases a book and provides proof in order to submit.

​Written Off does not ask writers to pay anything in order to enter their work for consideration.

What can I submit?

We work primarily with poets at this time, due to time constraints and the cost of editing for longer novellas and prose collections.

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Will I be paid if Written Off publishes my work?

Yes - we offer new writers a small, 5% royalty payment on every book sold up until the book breaks even. After this, we offer 40% of the sale price paid in royalties (minus re-print fees).

Written Off take the financial risk of releasing your books - this covers fees for editing, formatting, artwork, proofreading and printing. If the collection does not break even, nothing extra is paid.

We take a larger share of the profits due to the risk we take on. Our offer is far more generous than other publishing houses, many of whom offer free copies and kudos only - and we are only able to do this by working with enthusiastic writers who are keen to put the work in to market their collections themselves in addition to the marketing we do. It also matches the offer of self-publishing houses such as KDP or Lulu.

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Can I purchase reduced-price copies of my work once it's published?

Yes! You are able to purchase copies of your own work at a 40% discount from the cost price. You are then free to sell these as you wish without passing any money back to us. However, these copies do not count as part of your sales figures.

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How does the process work if I'm accepted?​

If your work is accepted, the simplest breakdown is:

• Contracts are exchanged and signed

• Final manuscript is submitted by a mutually-agreed deadline

• Manuscript is edited and formatted

• Author signs off on proof copy

• Author meets with their cover artist to design cover art

• Proof copy is submitted for final reading

• Copies go to print

• Launch event - organised by the writer with our support.

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How will people be able to purchase my work once it's published?​

We will supply all collections and books with its own ISBN and barcode. This means that books can be sold outside of the Written Off site. We will endeavour to supply copies of books to local independent bookshops, provided they want to stock your work. We will also submit all work to wider retailers such as Waterstones and Barnes and Noble, though we cannot guarantee they will be accepted.

We will also have a merchandise stand at all live events where people can purchase copies of your work and we take our books to local and national book fairs, markets and other shopping events.

At this time, we do not work with Amazon. This is because we believe that Amazon is not an ethical seller due to its anti-union stance and treatment of workers; we also believe that Amazon exploits vulnerable writers with its easy-to-access but ultimately unfair pricing and ISBN-assignation system. Plus, we just don’t like Amazon or its ethos, which is putting small booksellers and publishers out of business at a rapid rate. Sorry. It’s the principle of it all.

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Will Written Off organise promotion for me?​

We enter into the publishing agreement on a mutual understanding that promotion of the collection is 50/50. We are only interested in working with writers who believe their work is worthy of promotion! This is in part due to the fact we do not have a budget for marketing and our social media is run on a volunteer basis.

Of course, we will enter your work into competitions and put you forward for headlining slots at open mics; we may also consider you for longer shows and festival slots as they become available - we try to give everyone a chance to perform on a wider platform.

However, it is important to remember that we are publishers, not publicists - and so promotion will always, in the end, come down to you. We feel this is an important point to make - if you’re expecting to have all of your promotion done for you, you will be better served elsewhere.

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Who prints the collections Written Off publish?

We work with Mixam UK - a small, British printing press to produce high-quality collections. Turnaround from order to delivery is usually 14 days.