Submission guidelines

Juicepage is open to writing and visual storytelling of any kind. You can submit a public sample of:

  • novels and novellas
  • short stories
  • poetry and poetry collections
  • memoir and biography
  • essays and non-fiction
  • scripts
  • experimental writing
  • comics and graphic novels
  • illustrated work
  • extracts from longer works
  • work that does not fit an established genre

Juicepage is designed to help creators share work in progress, receive thoughtful feedback and decide what to develop next. If you may want to sell your work in future, we recommend publishing a sample rather than making a complete finished work available for free download.

A sample might be a poem or three from a collection, a complete short work, or the opening pages of a novel. You may also add an optional full manuscript download. If you make a complete work available for free, that may affect later attempts to sell it.

Prepare your files

Every submission needs a public reader sample in PDF format. This is what people can read in the page viewer before commenting. Keep it to a focused excerpt of no more than 10 pages.

You can optionally add a longer full-manuscript download in PDF, EPUB or DOCX format. Do not upload the full work unless you are happy for it to be available as a free download.

Your sample should:

  • begin with a title page containing only the work’s title
  • use double-spaced text where that suits the format
  • have clear page breaks and readable text
  • be checked carefully before upload
  • contain no tracked changes, private notes or personal information you do not want to publish

Double spacing is not required for poetry, comics, graphic novels or work where spacing and page layout are part of the form.

PDF is usually the best format for your sample because it preserves fonts, spacing and page layout. Check the finished PDF before submitting it, especially if you converted it from Word or another program.

Choose your feedback option

When submitting, choose one of these options:

  • £5 Community — give two useful comments on other authors’ samples within 30 days and receive two useful comments on your own sample.
  • £10 Feedback — receive two useful comments without a reciprocal commenting requirement.
  • £20 Juicepage Promise — receive two useful comments, with no reciprocal commenting requirement, plus a Juicepage Reading Note of up to 300 words.

The £20 Reading Note is a supportive review of the sample’s strengths, reader engagement and potential. It is not a professional manuscript edit, proofread or publishing assessment. See How guaranteed feedback works for the full rules.

Tell readers what feedback you want

You can select up to five feedback priorities, such as pace, character, plot, writing quality, opening, dialogue, world-building or reader engagement. You can also add a short note about a specific question you would like readers to consider.

These priorities appear above the comments on your public sample page. They help readers give feedback that is useful to you, but do not require them to answer every question.

Include a cover image

We strongly recommend adding a cover image. It helps your work stand out and gives readers an immediate sense of its subject, genre or atmosphere.

Your cover should:

  • be portrait rather than landscape
  • remain clear as a small thumbnail
  • include the title if possible
  • use images and type you have permission to use
  • avoid copyrighted characters, logos, photographs or artwork unless you have permission

You do not need to pay a designer. The writing is what matters. A distinctive hand illustration can work well, but a simple, clear image that works online is also enough.

You may use an AI image tool to create a cover, but check the tool’s terms. Do not ask it to copy a living artist, reproduce a protected character or imitate an existing book cover. You are responsible for ensuring that Juicepage can display the image you submit.

For example:

Create a portrait book cover for a literary mystery called The Quiet Harbour. Show an empty harbour at dusk with one illuminated window in the distance. Use a restrained, atmospheric style with dark blue and faded yellow. Make the title large, modern and easy to read. Do not include an author name.

Description of your work

Add a short, accurate description to help readers decide whether to read your sample. Your description can explain:

  • what the work is about
  • its type or genre, where relevant
  • who or what it follows
  • the central situation, question or conflict
  • whether it is a poem, short work or excerpt from a longer work

Keep the description focused. Do not include reviews, sales claims, long quotations or a detailed account of every event.

For example:

After returning to the coastal town she left 20 years earlier, Mara discovers that her childhood home has been occupied by someone who claims never to have heard of her. The Quiet Harbour is an extract from a literary mystery about memory, family and belonging.

For poetry, visual work or experimental writing, describe the form, themes and approach instead of forcing a conventional plot summary.

Check your submission

Juicepage does not proofread, format, edit or fact-check submissions. Work is presented substantially as you provide it.

Before submitting, check:

  • spelling and punctuation
  • page order
  • paragraph and line spacing
  • image quality
  • that no pages are missing
  • that the title, description and feedback priorities are correct
  • that you have removed comments, tracked changes and private notes
  • that the file does not contain personal information you do not want to publish

After publication, you can use your Author Dashboard to update the title, description, cover, sample, optional full download, feedback priorities and other listing information. Changes to a published work may be reviewed before they appear.

Your rights and responsibilities

You keep ownership of your work. By submitting it, you confirm that:

  • the work is yours, or you have permission from the relevant rights holders to publish it
  • you have permission to use every image, illustration, quotation or other third-party element it contains
  • the submission does not plagiarise or unlawfully reproduce another person’s work
  • the information you provide is accurate
  • publication will not breach copyright, privacy, confidentiality or other legal rights
  • you have authority to agree to the Juicepage terms

If your work was created with another person, commissioned, previously published or produced under a contract, check that you still have the right to submit it.

What you must not submit

Do not submit anything that:

  • is unlawful in the UK
  • sexually exploits or abuses a child, or depicts a child in an unlawful sexual context
  • promotes, supports or assists terrorism or another criminal offence
  • contains a credible threat or unlawfully encourages violence
  • unlawfully incites hatred
  • harasses, stalks or deliberately exposes another person to harm
  • is defamatory or contains serious allegations that you cannot responsibly support
  • reveals private, confidential or identifying information without a lawful reason
  • is fraudulent, deceptive or intended to impersonate another person
  • infringes copyright, trademarks or other intellectual-property rights
  • contains malware, malicious links or code intended to damage or gain unauthorised access to a device or service
  • encourages, promotes or instructs suicide, serious self-harm or eating disorders
  • contains pornographic images, illustrations, audio or video
  • is otherwise prohibited by the Juicepage Terms and Conditions

Fiction may contain violence, sex, offensive language, disturbing ideas, controversial opinions or morally difficult characters. These subjects do not automatically prevent publication. Juicepage supports creative freedom, but creative freedom does not override the law or the rights and safety of other people.

Removal of submissions

Juicepage may reject, restrict, suspend or remove a submission if it appears to break these guidelines or the Terms and Conditions; may be unlawful; is the subject of a credible complaint; creates a risk to users, Juicepage or another person; is misleading, corrupted, unsafe or technically unsuitable; or if a court, regulator or law-enforcement body requires action.

We may remove work while a complaint is investigated. Publication does not mean that Juicepage has reviewed, approved or accepted legal responsibility for a submission.

Keep your own copy of every file. Juicepage is not a storage or backup service. If you believe your work has been removed in error, contact support@juicepage.org.

How to submit

Submit your work using the online form. You will be asked to create or set a password for your Author Dashboard, where you can monitor your sample and make permitted updates.