Advice to consider before submitting to PaperBox Books

What we're looking for:

Authors and publishers are known by their reputations. You say names like Scholastic, Dan Brown, Hemmingway and J.K. Rowling and people have an opinion. Many times it isn't even about their writing, but it's their writing that got them in a position to be talked about to begin with.

While our goal is to publish every author who submits to us, we're very conscious that we're building our reputation along with yours. We want to be known for our 'Great Books on the Download' we want your book to be the best it can be. It's a win/win.

To that end, here is a list of things we watch out for when we're reading your story.

Proper spelling

It might seem a no-brainer, but make sure you run your novel through a spelling check. If your novel is full of errors, we can't publish it. We've promised our readers high quality books.

Style Check

Every writer has a unique voice. Some use long flowery statements, think Gabriel García Márquez, and some refuse to use punctuation and capitals like James Frey. No matter what your voice and personal writing style it must remain consistent throughout your entire novel.

Story Flow, Continuity and Conclusion

We all love those books you just can't put down until the end and we all hate being pulled out of a story because the author has contradicted themselves. A blue sedan is suddenly a pink convertible, a character's name or outfit inexplicably changes or a scene so confusing that we can't understand what just happened.

Our test-readers watch out for these types of anomalies in addition to sub-plots that aren't resolved and main stories with a conclusion that has nothing to do with what's happened in the book, e.g. a lottery win to magically save the day.

Characterization

Characters are the glue that binds a story together. As readers we need to care about them and wonder what will happen next in their journey through the story. Each main character needs to be identifiable and consistent throughout the story. Any actions they take contrary to reader expectations have to be addressed. Each character has a responsibility to help move the story forward toward the conclusion.

Character Development

We also look for character development and how it is incorporated into the story. Main characters should not be static. As the story progresses, they must learn something about themselves along the way. Spiderman wouldn't have had the same impact if he hadn't learned 'with great power comes great responsibility'.

A Word or Two of Advice

Do not send in your query, synopsis and first three chapters until your novel is completed and you are in the final stages of proofreading and editing. If we request to see the rest of your manuscript we expect it to arrive within days-not months.

Before you submit your manuscript have someone else read it. Preferably someone you trust to give you an honest opinion and helpful suggestions if necessary. It's amazing how often when editing our own novels we miss obvious mistakes because we read what we meant to say instead of what is actually on the page.

Ditch your ego. Our goal is to publish as many authors as we can. If your proof-reader, or PaperBox Books, offers advice take it into consideration. If two or more proof-readers stumble on the same section, it needs to be fixed.