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New indie Head Shot Press is dedicated to crime fiction. They are open for submissions of ‘crime novels that are predominantly neo-noir or hard-boiled’. Don’t send ‘murder mysteries, cosy mysteries, or crimes are solved by cats’.

Query first by email with a brief synopsis, the first three chapters as a doc, docx, rtf or pdf attachment, and some bio information. If the team are interested they will request the full manuscript.

They are also publishing anthologies and currently need submissions for Bang!: An Anthology of Noir Fiction. Stories ‘must adhere to the noir genre’ but no ‘slavish reproductions or carbon cut-outs of genre classics.’ They want ‘new spins on old themes. We want nihilism… we’re more likely to publish nitty-gritty realism… than space vampires with a noir edge.’ Writing should be literary, with style, and substance. Give them ‘stories set in locales untraditional to the genre’, not just the ‘litter-strewn alley in 1940s New York’. Stories, 2,000-8,000 words, are welcome ‘from writers of any age, derivation or inclination’.

The imprint is launching with reprint titles by the publisher, Andrew Hook, as a way of keeping his books in print.

Email submissions as doc, docx, rtf or pdf attachments together with a brief covering letter. Put ‘Bang submission, name, story title’ in the email subject line.

Anthology deadline is 1 September. Response time is ‘reasonable.’ Payment for anthologies is ‘£10 per story plus one contributor copy of the paperback.’ Payment for novels is discussed with the contract.

Details: Head Shot Press, email novel queries to editorheadshot@gmail.com; website: https://headshotpress.com