Anything political (excluding works tied to a storyline), horror, excessively violent, descriptions of sexuality (e.g., erotica, on-page sexual acts, or exploration of sexuality), anti-religious, or stereotypical of Muslims or other groups. We are also not a good fit for books with witchcraft or polytheism.
No picture books at this time unless we request them.
Shaherazad Shelves is primarily a fiction publisher for Young, New, and Adult audiences. We accept select middle-grade, chapter books, and nonfiction. Works can be of any length.
Most importantly: we want to see Muslims and Muslim communities across all genres. Please double-check our shop and imprints.
While Muslim experiences vary, we lean toward orthodoxy.
The current timeline to respond to all queries, whether they are accepted or rejected, is WITHIN FOUR WEEKS to the email address provided. We endeavor to provide personalized feedback for all our rejections. For solicited/event submissions, we aim to respond in TWELVE WEEKS to your full manuscript. You may resubmit if we have stated so in your rejection. It can still be rejected at this stage.
The manuscript must be written by a Muslim author and/or has a Muslim lead or theme(s) to be placed with Shush Books.
Unagented submissions are accepted from February 14 - June 14.
If you are NOT a Muslim author and/or your book doesn't have overt Muslim themes, please submit it to Sorra Books. Unagented submissions are accepted from October 14 - December 14.
The manuscript must be COMPLETE and have gone through some editing. They must also adhere to our moral mission.
Please only submit exclusively to us (or less than five outstanding queries). We ask that you do this out of respect for the time we input into each and every query.
The book doesn't have to be polished—however, we will prioritize the editing process over the publication date if need be.
Manuscripts are discussed internally so they will be passed to another editor as we see fit. This also means that a no from one of the agents is a no from the whole publishing house.
If you are a writer, agent, or acquisitions editor looking for some help on Muslim characters/ manuscripts, we'd love to help you.
Please use the contact form at the bottom of the homepage to let us know.
Before submitting, please read our bios and current bookshelf. Even perusing our FAQs can help ensure we're the right fit for your manuscript.
Note: For religious purposes, we do not accept male authors for works of fiction. Exceptions apply if you submit to Heather. Please read her bio to ensure you're a good fit.
Shaherazad Shelves is a Muslim-owned, women-owned press.
We reserve the right to refuse any material that would make the team feel uncomfortable or manuscripts that contain content that is offensive or contradictory to our beliefs. Authors whose projects mention or explore these topics have the right to send their manuscripts elsewhere.
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