Betty Books

Betty is an imprint of WTAW Press dedicated to publishing books by women for everyone.

Historically, women authors and their stories have been underrepresented in publishing. Betty seeks to bridge this gap. We prioritize books by authors who identify as women. Our goal is to amplify the voices of writers from diverse cultures, ethnicities, races, ages, sexual orientations, socio-economic statuses, and identities. Betty is committed to fostering diversity, representation, and inclusivity in the literary world.

Betty is a traditional independent press imprint with an innovative cohort structure. Authors are brought in via a traditional acquisitions and editorial process and enter into a cohort relationship with the publisher and one other. This offers a rigorous apprenticeship in the operation of an independent press and membership of a community of writers. While preparing to send their own books into the world, Betty authors support the publication of the imprint’s other titles and take an active role in helping to shape Betty’s catalog. Betty offers authors more involvement and control in their publishing journey while benefiting from the collective wisdom and resources of the cohort.

Betty authors enjoy the benefits of WTAW’s traditional publishing program, wherein WTAW bears all the costs, including editing, design, marketing, distribution, and payment of author royalties. Authors profit from the hallmarks that have made WTAW a successful and respected publisher: the high quality of editorial care, attention to book design, and dedicated marketing and publicity efforts. Betty’s innovative structure takes the key advantages of a support system among authors and unites it with WTAW’s track record of publishing and championing books of urgency, emotional resonance, and enduring significance.

Learn more about Betty authors here.

Submissions to Betty

At Betty, our mission is to publish books of prose by women for everyone. We aim to showcase the diversity of women’s voices. With an innovative publishing program, Betty seeks manuscripts from authors who are willing and able to commit to a three-year term of active involvement in a cohort of authors who support the publication and promotion of one another's titles under the guidance of our founding director.

Betty strives to be a supportive and inclusive community. We value excellent writing and seek collaborators with a diverse range of backgrounds and lived experiences. By submitting a manuscript, an author is expressing their interest in serving a three-year term participating directly in the publication and promotion of books.

Betty considers full-length prose manuscripts (novels, memoirs, narrative nonfiction, collections of stories or essays) for publication during our open reading periods. Entries are accepted only via Submittable. Our goal is to publish 2–3 books a year.

In seeking to elevate and publish traditionally underrepresented authors, we eagerly welcome all self-identified women including trans women, nonbinary and intersex authors, and authors whose gender is fluid or nonconforming.

Selection process

In the interest of transparency, we’d like to share our selection process. Our criterion in reviewing manuscripts is the quality of the work. In the first round, all manuscripts are evaluated anonymously by no less than two readers. If a reader recognizes the anonymous manuscript, that reader recuses themselves from the review of that manuscript. Every reader chooses two manuscripts to advance to the second round. All readers review the manuscripts advanced to the second round, and from these, each reviewer chooses their top two selections. Identities of the finalists are revealed to the readers, and from that roster of finalists, we make our selections.

If we are interested in publishing your manuscript, you'll be invited to a meeting to discuss how Betty authors work together. The meeting is a chance for both you and the press to decide if our cohort approach is right for you at this point in your writing life.

Betty responds to every submission it receives through the submission manager at the email address furnished with the submission. We are committed to responding as soon as possible.