White City Press 2024–2025 Submission Guidelines

Arequipa, Peru is also known as “The White City,” due to its buildings made from gleaming white stone. It’s a city that’s a celebration of ancient Peru and contemporary life combined into one city. During the day, Arequipa shines bright in the sunlight. After dark, the narrow (and, often, cobblestone) streets of the city are mysterious and intriguing. Tiny shops are tucked away in narrow alleys. Theaters exist through massive wooden doors but buried in the depths of hillsides. It’s a city of intrigue and history.

White City Press endeavors to capture that same feeling of history/nostalgia while also bringing forth titles of contemporary design. Our special sub-imprint, Sandra Murphy Presents, exists to help shine the light on unpublished or underpublished authors of extraordinary talent that deserve to be seen and read.

We are not interested in publishing lots and lots of material. We’re interested in publishing the right material. Stuff that really moves us, makes us think and approaches the genre in new and interesting ways. The surest way to have your manuscript turned down is to tell us “if you like XYZ book or ABC author then you’re going to like this.” If we liked ABC author so much we’d go after them. Be original, be yourself, show us something we haven’t seen before. Think outside the box. If any other publisher told you they just didn’t see how it would fit, you’re likely perfect for us. Weirdness wins.

UPDATE: June 2024

Submissions are currently open for our 2025 and 2026 publishing calendars.

• Submissions in the following categories should be submitted directly to Jay Hartman at jhartman@mistimedia.com:
  • Submissions by authors who have worked with Jay in the past, and any authors represented by an agent.
  • Submissions by authors from established publishing houses that have closed, or authors looking to bring their out-of-print backlist into publication.
• Submissions by unrepresented authors with other existing publications should be submitted to: submissions@whitecitypress.com.
• Debut authors (NOT self-published authors) and those who have never had a major book release from any other publisher (again, NOT self-published authors) should submit to Sandra Murphy at smurphy@mistimedia.com

Here’s what we’re looking for:

Cross-genre mysteries (i.e.: scifi/mystery, horror/mystery) where the mystery is the key element
Mysteries for the YA/NA reading ages as well as mysteries with protagonists over the age of 55
“Historical” mysteries based anywhere from 1950-2000, with the 1980s being of particular interest
International mysteries: those that take place somewhere other than the US and preferably outside of England. Africa or South America is a plus.

We are particularly interested in novellas and series. We will consider short story collections but no flash fiction.

We are actively seeking materials featuring and/or written by marginalized and underrepresented voices. White City Press takes diversity, equity and inclusion very seriously and has this as a core tenet of our publishing house. This includes the communities of (but not limited to): indigenous nations, African-American/Black, Latino/a, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse and accessibility. White City Press and Misti Media are owned and operated by Jay Hartman, a gay and neurodiverse individual. Therefore, finding these voices is extremely important to him and his vision of publishing.

Submissions should include a short description, the manuscript in its entirety (Word format), and a marketing plan to give us a better idea of your social media presence and following. If you need help, we recommend you visit https://booklaunch.com/book-marketing-checklist/ as a starting point.

Here’s what we’re NOT looking for:

• Tired cozy tropes (i.e.: women working in bakeries or coffee shops, women falling for the local cop or vice-versa, the person who moves to town to fix up the old house they inherited, etc.)
• Women needing to be rescued by a man
• Romantic mysteries that are more romance than well-plotted mysteries (please save those for our Miraflores Nights imprint)
• Historical mysteries taking place prior to 1920
• Small towns filled with “quirky” characters or residents who are depicted as not being smart
• Gruff sheriffs with a heart of gold that just need to find the right person
• Rehashes of NYT bestselling books. No, we really don’t need another The Girl on the Train. Honest.
• Rehashes of classic mysteries/characters. No, we really don’t need another Sherlock Holmes or Edgar Allen Poe mystery. Honest.

We typically do not accept previously self-published works unless the author has a significant backlist and following.

For questions regarding submissions, please email submissions@whitecitypress.com.