Publishable - Application Guidelines
Annual program. 2024 applications open: Monday 11 March – Tuesday 14 May 2024
Publishable 2024 is Queensland Writers Centre's 15th annual national manuscript development program for emerging writers. The program accepts submissions of completed, unpublished manuscripts across a broad range of genres and formats.
Publishable gives up to 25 longlisted applicants the chance to take part in a tailored manuscript development program, designed to strengthen, refine and polish their completed manuscript. Writers can expect to work with professional writers, the Queensland Writers Centre team, and industry experts, applying that knowledge to their own manuscripts to take them closer to publication.
Up to 10 shortlisted writers from the Program, selected by Queensland Writers Centre following the manuscript development phase, will receive a 5-hour mentorship with an industry professional. On completion of the mentorship phase, shortlisted writers will also be given the opportunity to attend pitch interviews with specially matched agents and publishers.
One-on-one Feedback Sessions with Queensland Writers Centre staff to receive reader feedback on your manuscript and discuss next steps (regardless of the application outcome), are available as an add-on for all applicants.
To ensure all writers receive value from their application, QWC has committed to providing a relevant development workshop to all applicants as part of the Program (included in the application fee), tailored to address commonalities found by reviewers across the cohort of applications.
Please read the guidelines below carefully before making your application. By making an application, applicants acknowledge to have read and understood the terms.
How to apply - applications & submission formatting
Applications are accepted via the online Application Form only (surveymonkey.com/r/Publishable2024).
Applicants are required to submit the first 50 pages, industry formatted, of a complete manuscript, alongside a 400-word synopsis and information as requested in the Application Form.
Manuscripts should be presented according to standard manuscript formatting:
12 point, Times New Roman font
Double line spacing
Left aligned paragraph formatting
3cm margins on an A4 page
Page numbered
Manuscript title at top of first page, bolded and centred
Submissions are accepted in PDF format only. Include the title of the manuscript in the file name. Do not include your name or identifying details on any portion of the manuscript or synopsis, nor should you include the competition name, or Queensland Writers Centre.
Application materials will be disposed of securely once Queensland Writers Centre completes the selection process. Queensland Writers Centre will record and keep information provided on the application form for up to 9 months.
Application criteria
The Program is for emerging Australian authors. For the purpose of the Program, ‘emerging authors’ are defined as writers who are unpublished or who have no more than one commercially published work. A writer who has had one work published and has contractually agreed to give the option on their next work to their incumbent publisher is not eligible.
Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents in Australia and must currently reside in Australia.
Applicants must submit their own original work.
Examples of acceptable entries include:
novels
novellas
non-fiction books
poetry collections
children’s books
graphic novels and comics
short story collections
Manuscripts can be any genre, excluding works intended for the academic or educational market, self-help, business, and cookery manuscripts.
Manuscripts for general adult fiction and non-fiction should be approximately between 55,000 and 110,000 words in length; manuscripts for other formats of work should be of industry standard length in their genre (contact QWC for more information).
Applicants who have entered work into previous years’ competitions are eligible to enter this competition, however resubmissions of work without substantial changes are not eligible.
Writers making resubmissions may be asked to provide a short statement regarding changes made since the previous submission.
Previously shortlisted applicants are eligible to enter but not with a previously shortlisted manuscript.
Where there is Indigenous content or participation in the work, applicants should comply with Creative Australia’s Protocols for using First Nations Intellectual and Cultural Property in the Arts, available via australiacouncil.gov.au/investment-and-development/protocols-and-resources.
Applicants under 18 years are eligible but should contact the Centre prior to making their application. If applicants are under 18 years and are selected for the Program, they will need permission from their guardian to continue.
A minimum of 3 places on the Program’s shortlist may be reserved for Queensland-based writers. A Queensland-based writer is defined as a writer currently residing in Queensland.
Membership of Queensland Writers Centre is not required to apply, though discounted application fees are available for members of writers’ centres in the National Writers’ Centre Network, and you may take advantage of discounted Queensland Writers Centre membership as part of your application.
If the applicant is incorporated, it must validly exist under the laws of its place of incorporation.
The applicant’s manuscript must not be part of any current undergraduate/postgraduate or masters’ coursework or research or study.
Key dates
Applications open: Monday 11 March – Tuesday 14 May 2024
Longlist announced (Program commences): Late July 2024
Development workshop (all applicants): August 2024
Shortlist announced (mentorships commence): September 2024
Feedback Sessions: late September – October 2024
Pitching: September – October 2024
Successful applicants will be publicly announced on Queensland Writers Centre’s website and Pen & Pixel email newsletter. Applicants will be personally notified of the outcome of their application prior to public announcements.
Entry & assessment process
Applications must be made via the online Application Form – see How To Apply. Applicants must submit the complete materials requested in the Form.
Once submitted, application materials cannot be modified or amended.
Applications incur an administration fee (see Fees & Charges).
One-on-one Feedback Sessions (up to 30 minutes) with QWC staff are available as a paid add-on, for applicants to receive reader feedback on their manuscript and discuss next steps. All feedback is constructive and the opinion of the reader/s.
Applicants may submit more than one manuscript to the Program; each submission will require a new application and incur a separate administration fee.
All applicants will be personally notified of the outcome of their application via email.
QWC staff, tutors and trained readers will assess all submissions.
QWC will select up to 25 applicants, at its discretion, for the Program longlist.
Longlisted applicants will take part in a manuscript development program, which may include consultation and workshops.
QWC reserves the right to ask applicants to submit full works (within 72 hours of being notified). Please note that this submission is required for proof of completion of the manuscript, and may not be read or assessed in its entirety by QWC’s reading team.
Any advice given will be based off the submission and synopsis, and is provided to allow you to work through the rest of your manuscript.
Following the selection of the longlist, QWC will select up to 10 writers (the shortlist) from the Program, at its discretion, to attend an interview with a matched agent or publisher.
Correspondence with QWC will be a mixture of remote and in-person communication depending on availability. All required elements of the Program will be made available in an online format.
QWC is committed to providing a relevant development workshop, delivered by an industry professional, to all Program applicants free of charge, regardless of application outcome. QWC will endeavour to tailor the content of the session to address commonalities found across the cohort of applications.
Fees & charges
Standard application fees:
Member application fee - $55
Non-member (standard) application fee - $60
Fees include GST. Fees contributes toward administration expenses of QWC in administering this Program.
Discounted member application fees are available to current members of state writers’ centres in the National Writers’ Centre Network. If you’re not a member of QWC, you may be asked to verify your membership of another Centre.
Participants will be required to arrange and pay for other expenses throughout the Program, if applicable, except as expressly identified by QWC in written agreements.
Application fees with add-ons:
Application fee + One Year Membership - $115
Application fee + Feedback Session - $104
Application fee + One Year Membership + Feedback Session - $164
Applicants can take advantage of a discounted One Year Membership (usually valued at $89) with Queensland Writers Centre as part of their application. If the applicant is already a member of Queensland Writers Centre their current membership will be extended by one year.
Applicants can take advantage of a half-price Feedback Session (usually valued at $99). After applications close, Feedback Sessions may be made available to book separately at full price for a limited time through QWC’s Writer’s Consults program.
Additional terms
QWC does not guarantee the future publication of manuscripts submitted to or developed during the program.
The final numbers selected for the Program’s longlist and shortlist are to be at QWC’s discretion, and may depend on the quality and number of applications received.
QWC reserves no rights over manuscripts submitted to or developed during the program. QWC allows writers to submit their manuscript to competitions, courses, or publishers prior to, during or following their participation in the Program, unless shortlisted, in which case a temporary embargo will apply.
QWC does not take a percentage of any future royalties or sale of submitted work, and all rights and intellectual property remain with the author, regardless of their final placement in the competition.
While QWC will take all reasonable steps to secure an interview/s for shortlisted writers, entry into the Program shortlist may not guarantee an interview.
Works selected for the Program shortlist will be exclusively embargoed (successful applicants cannot continue to separately enter this work into competitions, promote, pitch or sell rights to the work) until 3 months after the pitch meeting/s. This is standard practice for all potential deals as agents and publishers consider the pitches.
If work selected for the Program shortlist is contracted by a publisher or agent, the applicant will be requested to acknowledge the assistance provided by QWC and the Program in published/produced outcomes and/or associated promotional materials (i.e. press releases), according to direction/consultation provided by QWC.
Successful applicants will be expected to promote and support the program and QWC through social media sites, websites, and other forms of media. Successful applicants may also be requested to provide a testimonial for the competition.
Any credit offered towards QWC and the Program - on social media sites or media releases - should comply with any direction given by QWC, the proper logo and/or approved graphics used, and notification given of your intention to credit QWC.
Whilst not obligated and ultimately at the applicant’s discretion, if successful in future due to exposure or experience gained from the Program, appropriate credit and acknowledgement of QWC’s role is expected.
QWC may offer unsuccessful applicants the opportunity to participate in a tailored Program at a cost additional to the initial application fee.
These Application Guidelines were developed and updated for the 2024 Publishable program.
Queensland Writers Centre reserves the right to amend Application Guidelines for future programs.