DelSheree Press

Curated, Crafted Fiction

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about

DelSheree Gladden was one of those shy, quiet kids who spent more time reading than talking. Literally. She didn’t speak a single word for the first three months of preschool. Her fascination with reading led to many hours spent in the library and bookstores, and eventually to writing. She wrote her first novel when she was sixteen years old, but spent ten years rewriting it before having it published. Native to New Mexico, DelSheree and her family spent several years in Colorado for college and work before moving back home to be near family. When not writing novels, you can find DelSheree reading, painting, sewing, and working with other authors. DelSheree has several bestselling young adult series and has hit the USA Today Bestseller list twice as part of box sets. DelSheree also has contemporary romance, cozy mystery, and paranormal new adult series. Her writing is as varied as her reading interests.

Submissions

DelSheree Press has a yearly submission window, which accepts a limited number of submissions.

The submission window is publicized on the blog, social media, and through the newsletter.

At the end of the submission window, a tiered evaluation process is followed before a one author is offered a mentorship publishing contract. The evaluation process is as follows:

  • Round 1: readers evaluate each submission’s story elements for specific criteria (story quality, writing ability, story flow, marketability, engagement level, etc.)
  • Round 2: selected authors complete a questionnaire related to their writing background and ability to collaborate within the press’s mentorship program
  • Round 3: finalists are interviewed by the publishing team to gauge personality and style match and for a Q&A session

What are we looking for?

While we are open to a variety of fiction genres, what we want most are character-driven stories that go beyond formulas and beats. Yes, the story needs to have a coherent plot, but the plot should not be the main focus of the story, sacrificing character depth and development. How the characters work through specific plots point is more important to us than whether the meet cute happens at 6% or the climax occurs at 85%.

Characters should be well-developed and interesting. They should be flawed, struggling, imperfect. They should make mistakes. They should be relatable to a wide variety of readers because they are experiencing universal challenges in a unique way. Characters with depth speak to readers and forge connections. Characters simply moving from plot point to plot point because the writer needs them to do so is neither interesting nor engaging (in the vast majority of cases).

There is the adage in writing that there are no new stories, only the same stories told in new ways. Those new ways are what we are looking for. All families have drama, all relationships have challenges, and all humans do stupid things. But these things all occur in unique ways for individual characters, and the stories we’re looking for highlight that truth.

What are we NOT looking for?

Nonfiction, poetry, middle grade literature, children’s literature, picture books, experimental fiction, or erotica.

Submission Guidelines

DelSheree Press only accepts exclusive submissions. Because this is a mentorship publishing process, we need to know that submissions will not be pulled from consideration mid-way through the process to pursue another offer.

When submitting during the submission window, authors will be asked to provide the following information:

  • Cover letter explaining your interest in working with us
  • Completed manuscript. No partial drafts.
  • Genre
  • Word count
  • Target audience
  • Synopsis (1 page max)
  • Development history (beta readers, critique group, workshop, etc.)