Watershed Books is an imprint of Pelican Book Group. Watershed publishes Christian fiction aimed at readers between the ages of 14 and 19. They want the books to appeal to older readers as well.
It is a good idea to browse their catalog to see what they have previously published. This will also give you a good idea of the quality of covers, which appears to vary widely. I did find some errors on the website, but all appeared to be minor. I liked that the website focused on readers, not writers.
The books they consider publishing belong in the following categories
- Action-adventure
- Mystery, (amateur sleuth or other)
- Romance
- Sci-fi / Fantasy / Supernatural
- Suspense, crime drama, police procedural
- Teen angst / coming-of-age
- Westerns
The focus the narrative must be conflict that is experienced by the main characters. There can be more than one protagonist. The over-arching story does not have to be spiritual at the start but through the progression of the plot, faith becomes a requirement.
They ask that the manuscripts submitted to them not be “overly preachy.” Supernatural themes are allowed but must be limited to Christian elements. The example they give is “Angels would be acceptable; a talking witch’s familiar would not.”
They really want the stories to be character driven. Their detailed submission guidelines can be read here. You can submit to them here, but only after reviewing the submission guidelines.
They do not consider work that is previously published, self or otherwise. They only accept electronic submissions.
