Letters

Editorial letters about the books in progress, the ones we turned down, and the parts of publishing that are usually kept quiet.

17 September 2026 Why we print the author’s shareEight per cent of net receipts is a number you cannot check. Half the cover price is a number you can.17 September 2026 Nine titles carry forty-oneThe arithmetic of a small list, written out, including the losses.17 September 2026 On saying no in eight weeksWhat a rejection from this press contains, and why it takes two months rather than two minutes.17 September 2026 Printing on the islandIt costs more, the paper is harder to get, and the second printing can fix the first one.17 September 2026 Reading aloud catches what editing missesSix titles a year is not modesty. It is the most two people can read out loud.17 September 2026 The book that lost us four thousand dollarsLetters to the Custos, honestly accounted, and why it is still in print.

Submissions, orders and rights

Search the site

What do you publish?

Caribbean literary fiction, poetry and the occasional work of non-fiction that nobody else will take. Six titles a year. We do not publish memoir, self-help, business books or anything with a subtitle promising a number of steps.

How do submissions work?

By email during an open window, any length, no agent and no synopsis required. Each one is read independently by both editors. The reply takes about eight weeks and it is a real reply rather than a form.

Do you charge a reading fee?

No, and a press that does is not a press. There is no fee to submit, no fee to be considered and no paid critique service attached to the submission process.

What does the author actually get?

Half the cover price of every copy sold, paid quarterly, whether or not the title has earned back its costs. Not a percentage of net receipts. The rate is the same for a first book as for the best-seller.

A letter when there is a book, and silence when there is not

See the books