Thins
‘Muttons & Nuts: Thins’ is a new series of contemporary short stories, beautifully presented through fine press printing, exquisite design and quality materials. It is a collaboration between Muttons & Nuts (Philip Treble) and Effra Press (Nick Gill). We aim to produce between two and four stories yearly.
How to submit
To help us track and review your work as quickly as possible, please use our online submission form. We cannot accept submissions sent by post.
What we are looking for
We welcome all fiction genres and have no overarching theme. However, please note that we do not accept novel excerpts, non-fiction, poetry, or any work containing illustrations or photographs – we will organise and commission our own illustrations. Additionally, all submissions must be entirely human-written; work generated using AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools will not be considered.
AI policy
We exist to promote pure human creativity. Because of this, stories utilizing AI tools will not be considered. Authors must confirm 100% human authorship on both the submission form and publishing contract. Please note this includes AI grammar and style correctors, which interfere with a writer's authentic voice.
Word count
We publish short stories between 1,000 and 15,000 words. Please ensure your submission falls within this range, as we cannot consider anything longer or shorter.
What we pay
We pay a flat fee of £100 if your story is selected for publication. Additionally, contributors receive two complimentary printed copies of the standard edition.
International submissions and translations
Based in the UK, we welcome short story submissions from authors worldwide. All submissions must be in English. For translated works, please use the synopsis field to note who is submitting and who holds the rights to both the original story and the translation.
We do not accept stories translated by or with the assistance of AI. Translation is an art form, and we exist to celebrate the creative choices of human translators.
Rights and copyright
We ask for first serial rights on all published stories, meaning your work must not have appeared anywhere else in print or online (including personal websites). Upon publication, we require exclusivity and the right to keep the story in print as part of our anthologies.
We never ask for more rights than necessary to produce our books, and copyright always remains with the author.
File formats
Please submit your short story in .docx, .doc, .pages, or .odt format. We can accept .rtf files if necessary, but please avoid PDFs and Microsoft Works documents, as we cannot always open them.
Your manuscript should be double-spaced on A4 or US Letter paper, using a typeface of your choice (you will be judged.) Finally, ensure the document includes your real name, pen name (if applicable), story title, and email address.
Multiple submissions
Feel free to send us multiple stories—in fact, we prefer seeing two or three to understand the broader context of your work! Please limit yourself to three stories maximum, and submit each one separately through the form rather than in a single document.
Simultaneous submissions are also perfectly fine, but please let us know right away if your story is accepted elsewhere so we can withdraw it from our queue.
Response times
Our target response time is six weeks, though busy periods or holidays might push this back slightly.
Because our replies sometimes land in spam, please keep an eye on your junk folder. If two months pass without an update, check your junk mail again; if it's not there, drop us a line via our contact form.