Updated August 11th, 2023: They recently announced “To streamline the review process and become more efficient, we are now only accepting electronic submissions in the form of a PDF and ask for a $25 submission fee. We feel it’s a nominal fee to cover our printing and ink costs and relatively the same as if you printed it yourself, mailed and sent return postage.” As this goes against our guiding principles, they no longer qualified to be listed with us.
The Permanent Press is an established small press. They only publish adult fiction with a focus on mystery and general/literary fiction. They have published a number of successful, ongoing mystery series. They are run by a husband and wife team, Judith & Martin Shepard. Martin passed away in 2021 and Judith now runs The Permanent Press on her own. The press is not as active as it once was.
The covers of the work they publish range from good to dated. The prices of their books is higher than average. The website is well laid out, easy to navigate and very up to date.
The books they publish are featured in and reviewed by major, respected, publications.
They do not have traditional distribution, instead they have a page focused on bookseller interactions. I have seen books they have published in a number of bookstores, which is very unusual for a press that doesn’t have traditional distribution.
Browsing through their catalog will give you a better idea of what they publish.
They ask that all authors submit the first 25 pages through the post. They do not accept electronic submissions. I get the impression that they do this to keep their slush pile down and to make sure that most of the submissions they receive are serious. Based on what I have heard, I believe they have about a six month return time.
To learn more or to find their address to submit to, go here.
Bio: Emily Harstone is the pen name of an author whose work has been published internationally by a number of respected journals. She is a professional submissions adviser. She occasionally teaches a course on manuscript publishing. You can follow her on Facebook here.
