The Shiver Collective: Books with Lit Shark Magazine energy.
Readers, Writers, and Shark Fans, Welcome to Lit Shark’s Shiver Collective.
Readers, writers, and shark fans, we are SO PLEASED to enter this next phase with you and to share this fin-tastic news with you.
In addition to Lit Shark Magazine and its little sister, Lit Pup Magazine, The Shiver Collective will also publish books of poetry, fiction, memoir, and nonfiction that celebrate and examine nature, ecology, and the human condition.
Each issue of Lit Shark Magazine up to this point has been a beautiful blend of the human and the marine, and we want to continue that trend in the books that we publish. While it would be lovely to feature poems centered around waterfronts and seascapes, ecofiction and futuristic fiction, and memoirs and nonfiction rooted in nature like Rooted by Lyanda Lynn Haupt and Wild by Cheryl Strayed, we’re interested in other stories that illuminate human rawness, beauty, and wonder, too. And we’d love to have some books about craft and artistry, like The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and Starving Artist, Get Something to Eat by Ransford Doherty and Angie J. Sanders.
We’re so excited to share this with you, and we can’t wait for you to go on this journey with us.
What We’re Looking For
To get a better idea of the style of writing that we’re most interested in, please see our past issues of Lit Shark Magazine; all of our content is available as free PDFs on our website, as well as paperbacks on Amazon, to make our content available to everyone. We would also recommend browsing the books we’ve reviewed, as well as the authors we’ve interviewed, especially the titles in literary fiction, eco-nonfiction, and artistry.
We’re interested especially in expressive, lyrical, and nature-focused poetry, literary and ambitious fiction, slow burn and creepy-crawly horror, and insightful, well-researched nonfiction and memoirs rooted in nature, travel, conservation, the body, and the mind.
- Poetry Chapbooks
- Full-length Poetry Collections
- Short Fiction Collections
- Novels
- Novellas (Fiction and Memoir)
- Memoirs and Nonfiction in Artistry, Writing Craft, Nature, Marine Life, Ecowriting, and Ecopolitics
We’re also interested in supporting authors who have been impacted by closed or defunct publications or steeply limited print runs. Please reach out to us at any time, as we might be able to consider these outside of our normal submission cycle. Also, to help support you, your submission fee would be reduced, so please contact us first.
What The Shiver Collective Will Provide Their Authors
During each reading period, one (1) winner will be selected. The winner will receive:
- $500
- 10 copies of their book
- A unique, digital broadside inspired by their book
- All services related to the publishing of their book: editing, interior design, cover design, publishing, and marketing
- An independent ISBN code so that the book can appear on Amazon and Bookshop.org, and we will attempt to get all of our titles listed in brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries.
- Royalties will be paid once per quarter (PayPal preferred): 25% of ebook and 45% of paperback profits.
- 50% discount on additional copies of their book
Additional honorable mentions may be selected. If so, they will receive:
- 5 copies of their book
- All services related to the publishing of their book: editing, interior design, cover design, publishing, and marketing
- An independent ISBN code so that the book can appear on Amazon and Bookshop.org, and we will attempt to get all of our titles listed in brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries.
- Royalties will be slightly higher for HMs since they did not receive an honorarium up front: 30% of ebook and 50% of paperback profits, paid once per quarter (PayPal preferred).
- 50% discount on additional copies of their book
Writers who submit to our reading period but are not selected will receive a 20% discount on the title(s) published during the cycle they submitted.
Writers who wish to have their book reprinted from a defunct press will be treated as an “honorable mention,” receiving five copies of the Shiver Collective’s edition of their book, all related services for republishing their book, and a 50% discount. Please contact us first as your submission fee will also be reduced.
How to Submit to The Shiver Collective
Early Bird Submissions!
As of April 22, 2025, we are still accepting 4 out of 5 “early bird” submissions. These early birds will be given the same compliments as our “honorable mention” winners, and their submission fee is $15 instead of $20.
All other requirements remain the same and are listed below. Our Early Bird window ends June 1, 2025.
Open Reading Periods: September 1-October 1, 2025, and
March 1-April 1, 2026
To submit, please first send your submission fee to mckenzie@litshark.com via PayPal. $20.00 USD.
Next, email your submission to publishing@litshark.com.
- Subject Line: Shiver Book Submission
- In the body of the email, include your preferred author name, author bio, preferred pronouns, and contact info. Note also the name and email associated with your PayPal payment.
- Your submission should appear in ONE document. Your name should only appear on the cover page, not on the interior pages. PDF or Word docx.
If the submission is a reprint, please also note this in the body of your email, along with the information about its earlier printing(s).
You can submit as many projects per reading period as you wish, in as many genres/forms as you wish (one reading fee included per project). You are also welcome to submit the same project to more than one of our reading periods; just because we rejected it doesn’t mean we didn’t love it.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome as always, but please let us know right away if it’s accepted elsewhere. Please just reply to your original submission email with the update.
End with a Kiss by Helga Kidder:
The First Title by Lit Shark’s The Shiver Collective
Coming Summer 2025
