Pitch Your Book to Fresh Water Press: Rolling Submissions Open June 15, 2026
We are a small publishing company located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin that operates as a traditional model, meaning we invest in authors we believe in and there are no costs to authors. Authors earn royalties based on books sold.
If you would like us to consider your book for publication, please follow the submission guidelines on our website. Note, because we are a small, traditional-model publishing company, our acceptance rate is currently less than ten percent.
Start with strong writing, a good plot, authentic place and characters, and a local tie. Please review our titles to get a feel for what has been published to date.
Types of genres we love:
- Mystery
- Historical fiction
- Poetry
- Local/regional history
- Women’s fiction
- Literary fiction
- Memoir
- Spiritual
- Self help
- YA and middle grade
- Science fiction
- Fantasy
This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. We are open to all genres if the writing is strong, and the idea will resonate with readers.
Things that are not a good fit:
- Graphic novels
- Cookbooks
- Picture books
- Manuscripts of more 90,000 words
- Erotica
Our body of work informs, entertains, encourages, and delights readers locally and throughout the world so that writers from our communities are added to the rich diversity of American Literature.
We hope to hear from you, and happy writing.
From the Publisher’s Desk
Companies grow. They evolve; they adapt to what is around them. Fresh Water Press is about halfway through its third year in business. We are proud of the work we have done.
To date, we have five books published, with our sixth, The House on Hemlock Hill by Brittni Nelson, scheduled for release on July 30, and our seventh, Phases of the Wayward Moon: Poems by Tracey Ludvik, scheduled for release in September. We have two additional books in the pipeline through the middle of 2027—Unbroken Us: A True Love Story by Tina and Jason Prigge and The Show Must Go On by Karin Derenne.
In the past, we have held reading periods annually, which generated interest and gave us a good opportunity to compare the submissions to make our publishing decisions. The downside to these six-week periods is that there is potential to miss good books that are ready outside of those windows.
Therefore, we are opening to rolling submissions on June 15. We invite writers with a tie to Wisconsin’s Lakeshore to submit book ideas for us to review at any time.
We pride ourselves on collaborating with authors on all aspects of the book production and beyond. Fresh Water Press was founded on a shared love of books. We are having a blast creating literature and connecting with writers and readers.
—Tara Huck, Co-owner and Editor
