Writers

Write with Fidgety Fox

Different writers. Different routes. Big stories.

Submissions are currently closed. Please don’t send manuscripts or unpublished material until an official window is announced. We hope to open the first opportunities during 2027.

At Fidgety Fox, we don’t expect every writer to arrive in the same way.

Some will have a polished manuscript sitting on their laptop.

Some will have written a first draft but have absolutely no idea what to do with it next.

And some will have an incredible story living inside their head and need a little help getting it onto paper.

All of those people can be writers.

Fidgety Fox Publishing is a small independent publisher with a particular interest in easy-reading fantasy, science fiction and imaginative storytelling, as well as selected family and bedtime stories.

As we grow, we want to discover new writers — particularly those who may not have taken the traditional route into publishing.

We hope to open our first submission opportunities during 2027, subject to the growth and success of our initial publishing list.

We’re looking for storytellers

Perfect spelling doesn’t make a brilliant story.

Neither does perfect grammar.

Those things matter when a book reaches publication, but they can be edited, developed and polished.

Imagination is harder to teach.

We’re interested in writers with something to say and a story we don’t want to stop reading.

Fidgety Fox was founded by a dyslexic writer, so we’re particularly passionate about creating opportunities for dyslexic and neurodivergent writers who may previously have questioned whether there was a place for them in publishing.

There is.

But you don’t need to be dyslexic or neurodivergent to submit to Fidgety Fox.

Our books may be easier to read. Our ideas don’t have to be.

What we’re looking for

Our initial publishing list will focus primarily on:

• Fantasy
• Science fiction
• Speculative fiction
• Easy-reading fiction
• Selected family and bedtime stories

We love imagination, mystery, adventure, unusual ideas, emotion, relationships and characters readers genuinely care about.

Most importantly, we’re interested in stories that can work with the Fidgety Fox approach:

Big stories. Easier reading.

That doesn’t mean stripping a story of its personality or forcing every author to write in the same style.

It means thinking about how someone experiences the story as well as the story itself.

A small independent publisher

Fidgety Fox isn’t a vanity publisher or a pay-to-publish service.

If we choose to publish your book, we will never charge you for the privilege of being published.

We won’t ask you to pay a publishing fee, buy a compulsory package or contribute money before we’ll put your book into print.

We’re also a very small independent publisher, so initially we don’t expect to offer traditional advances or upfront author payments.

Instead, our publishing agreements will be based around royalties.

When your book earns, you earn.

The exact royalty arrangement will depend on the individual project, the rights being licensed and the work and investment involved. Everything will be explained and agreed before a publishing contract is signed.

Our intention is to build partnerships where the author receives the larger agreed share of the relevant royalty income, while Fidgety Fox earns its share for the publishing work and investment it provides.

No hidden publishing charges.

No buying your way onto our list.

And no promises of overnight bestseller status.

Fewer books. More attention.

We don’t want to publish hundreds of titles every year.

Fidgety Fox is being built around a small, carefully chosen list.

If we fall in love with a manuscript and believe we can do something meaningful with it, we’ll look at what that individual story needs.

That could involve developmental editing, proofreading, accessible book design, formatting, cover development, production, distribution and marketing support.

Some manuscripts will require more development than others.

That’s okay.

Our publishing agreements will reflect the individual project, and we’ll be clear from the beginning about what Fidgety Fox will provide, what we’ll expect from the author, the rights involved and how income will be divided.

We’d rather publish fewer books and care deeply about them.

How submissions will work

When Fidgety Fox is ready to accept new writers, we’ll announce specific submission windows.

During those periods, eligible writers will be able to submit directly to us following the guidelines published on this page.

You will not need to complete a Fidgety Fox course to submit.

You will not receive preferential consideration because you’ve purchased a course from us either.

Our publishing decisions will be based on the manuscript, its suitability for Fidgety Fox and whether we genuinely believe we’re the right publisher to develop it.

Full submission guidelines will be published before our first window opens, including genres, word counts, manuscript formatting and exactly what we’d like you to send.

Not ready to submit yet?

That’s where Fidgety Fox Courses come in.

Not everyone is ready to send a manuscript to a publisher.

And that’s completely fine.

As Fidgety Fox develops, founder Amie L. Spurgeon plans to offer accessible courses and workshops for writers who want some help finding their way through the writing and publishing process.

These will be completely separate from Fidgety Fox’s publishing decisions.

You might come to us with an idea. A few chapters. A finished first draft.

Or a manuscript you’ve been staring at for three years thinking: what on earth do I do with this now?

Our courses are being developed to help.

From idea to story

For people who have a story in their head but aren’t sure how to get it onto paper.

We’ll explore characters, story structure, planning, finding your own writing process and ways to work around some of the barriers that can make writing feel overwhelming.

Writing for easier reading

A closer look at the Fidgety Fox philosophy and how writers can make fiction more approachable without making their ideas less ambitious.

We’ll explore things such as flow, sentence and paragraph structure, pacing, chapter length, readability and thinking about the person on the other side of the page.

Polishing your manuscript

Finished the story? This is about what happens next.

We’ll explore practical ways writers can review and improve their own work, including editing stages, proofreading, manuscript organisation and how writing and editing software can support your process without replacing your individual voice.

Understanding publishing

Publishing can feel like another language when you’ve never done it before.

We’ll break down things such as manuscripts, submissions, editors, ISBNs, copyright, traditional and independent publishing, royalties, contracts and what happens between finishing a manuscript and seeing a book in print.

Preparing your submission

For writers who are nearly ready to approach publishers.

We’ll look at manuscript presentation, synopses, covering letters, researching appropriate publishers and how to give your story its strongest professional introduction.

And importantly, these skills won’t only apply to Fidgety Fox.

We want writers to leave with knowledge they can use wherever they choose to submit their work.

Courses are not a route to publication

We want to be very clear about this.

Paying for a Fidgety Fox course will never guarantee publication, preferential treatment or acceptance of your manuscript.

You don’t have to take one of our courses to submit during a public submission window.

And you’re completely free to take what you’ve learned and submit your work to another publisher, self-publish it or simply keep writing.

The courses exist because we believe there are writers who have wonderful ideas but could benefit from somebody making the process feel a little less complicated.

Publishing and education will remain separate.

Why aren’t we accepting manuscripts yet?

Because we’re starting small — and we want to do this responsibly.

Fidgety Fox begins with founder Amie L. Spurgeon’s Strange Emotions: The Black Legend – Book One and our initial publishing list.

Before taking responsibility for somebody else’s story, we want the business to have the funding, experience and resources to give that book the attention it deserves.

We’re not interested in collecting manuscripts simply so we can say we have a large catalogue.

When we take on our first Fidgety Fox authors, we want to be ready for them.

That’s why we’re waiting.

Coming in 2027

We hope 2027 will see the beginning of both our writer education programme and our first opportunities for new authors.

Dates haven’t been confirmed yet.

When we’re ready, you’ll find everything here:

• Submission windows
• Writer courses
• Workshops
• Submission guidelines
• Genres we’re seeking
• Author information

Until then, please don’t send manuscripts or unpublished story material.

Follow the Fidgety Fox journey and watch this space.

Because somewhere out there is a person who doesn’t think they’re a writer yet.

We’d quite like to change their mind.

Meet Amie