Glad you dropped in! Please allow me to introduce myself…I’m Joe Lee, Manager of Dogwood Press. I’m a native Mississippian and take great pride in being able to showcase the works of fellow Mississippi authors. If you’re interested in submitting your work, well, I’m always on the lookout for strong Southern voices and would love to hear from you. Before you get in touch with even an initial query, though, please read the following carefully. For starters, I’d much rather receive e-mail queries, but sending them via “snail-mail” is fine (see mailing address below). Do not send e-mail attachments. Please give me one week to get back to you regarding your e-mail query. If you contact me through the mail, you must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you want me to write back. When you submit your work by mail, do not send your originals—always send copies. If you want your materials returned to you, I ask that you include a postage-paid envelope or box. Be aware that unsolicited phone calls will not be returned, so do not query by telephone. You have a leg up if you write good suspense, especially if you’re from Mississippi or if your work is set in the Magnolia State! But I’ll be happy to consider the right non-fiction project, too. I’m not interested in sci-fi/fantasy proposals, and the same is true for children’s books and poetic works—not at this time. I’ll also consider short stories for possible inclusion in an anthology down the road, but be aware that such a project is not on the drawing board any time soon. I’d be most interested in seeing your book-length work. Now…here’s what I’d like in an initial query: A brief pitch about your work, no more than 300 words in length. Please provide your professional credentials and list of publications, if applicable, as well as a brief personal biography. Note…do not send writing samples at this time! If I contact you and ask to see part or all of your work, please send exactly what was requested; if I request, say, your first ten pages, please send only that…I don’t want 50 pages, or the entire manuscript. And if your work is incomplete, please wait until at least a first draft is finished before querying. Giving an opinion on an unfinished work won’t help either one of us. If I indeed want to see your work, here’s my set of pesky requirements: Twelve-point font, one-inch margins, consecutively-numbered pages, header or footer with author name and title of work on each page, double-spaced but unjustified text, standard paragraph indentation, and either Times New Roman or Courier typeface. Please allow me 3-4 weeks to read your work and respond with a detailed response. Here’s the mailing address: Joe Lee c/o Dogwood Press P.O. Box 5958 Brandon, MS 39047 Editing services: There’s never a charge for me to read your work if I request it for possible publication. But let’s say you’ve never published anything, and you’re looking for a thorough, detailed critique of your work. I’ll be happy to work with you on character development, plot construction, grammar, dialogue and the many other facets of writing…for a very reasonable fee. Be aware, though, that a deposit is required up front. And if we work together on an editorial basis, I can not consider you for publication—to do so would create a conflict of interest. I look forward to hearing from you. Good luck!