Submission Guidelines
We accept a small number of new manuscripts each season. Here is what we look for, what we do not publish, and exactly what to send.
Walk the Manuscript Pathway first.
Every author we sign begins with the Anchored Manuscript Pathway — a guided discernment process that asks three questions: is the work ready, is it true, and is the author ready to carry it. Most authors complete it in a few weeks. There is no fee to walk the Pathway and no obligation on either side.
- Memoir and testimony written with discernment
- Devotionals, sermon collections, and prayer books
- Faith-aware fiction and short story collections
- Children's books with strong values and original art
- Business, leadership, and creative-vocation books
- First-time authors who have completed at least one full draft
- AI-generated manuscripts presented as original work
- Work that disparages a person, group, or church by name
- Content sexualizing minors or romanticizing abuse
- Manuscripts under 10,000 words (consider a long essay instead)
- Anything you do not own the rights to or have not written yourself
What to send.
- 1. A one-page query letter: who you are, what the book is about, who it is for, and why now.
- 2. A two-to-three page synopsis covering the full arc of the work, including the ending.
- 3. The first three chapters (or first 25 pages of nonfiction) as a PDF or DOCX.
- 4. A short author bio (150 words) and any platform or audience details you would like us to know.
Send everything as attachments to submissions@anchoredwordpublishing.com with the subject line: Submission — [Your Title].
Our response policy.
We respond to every submission within 60 days. You will receive a real reply from a real person — not an automated rejection.
If we are interested, we will invite you into the Manuscript Pathway. If we are not the right home for your work, we will tell you why and, when possible, suggest who might be.
No reading fees. No mandatory paid services. No rights grabs at intake. Ever.