In an announcement today, Swoon Reads have revealed that they are now accepting all genres of young adult and new adult fiction for submission. Their website has also been redesigned and looks less romancy. Swoon Reads prints under the Feiwel and Friends imprint of Macmillan. Writers submit their novels to the Swoon Reads website and every few months a selection of novels are chosen to be published.

Previously, only romance novels were accepted (including fantasy romance, sci-fi romance etc.) but they are now accepting submissions for all genres. This is good news for anyone who writes YA/NA without a heavy romance aspect. It’s an interesting move by the publisher, and I think it could make the site even more popular. By opening it up to more than just romance, they may get more people reading and submitting. I’ve known of the site for a while but I don’t generally write romance novels. There’s often a romance subplot, but it’s not the focus, so none of my books would have been applicable. Now, if I want, I have the option to submit to them.

It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to lose and I reckon it’s worth a shot for anyone who’s written/writing a YA or NA book. There requirement is that the book be exclusively on the site for 6 months (i.e. you can’t submit it to other publishers or agents during that time), which seems reasonable. If accepted, it’s also apparently a standard publishing contract.

I’ll be keeping an eye on how this one develops.