Submissions

At Fortis Publishing, we believe in the transformative power of storytelling. We are proud to cover all genres, embracing the diversity of voices and stories from around the world. Whether you’re crafting an intricate mystery, a sweeping fantasy, or a heartwarming romance, we want to hear from you. However, we have a special place in our hearts for stories that inspire and uplift. We are particularly interested in narratives from survivors of war, abuse, and mental health struggles. These powerful accounts have the potential to touch lives.

We understand that the journey of writing can be as challenging as it is rewarding, and we are committed to supporting our authors. To that end, we offer the services of skilled, freelance ghostwriters for those who have a story to tell but need a little help bringing it to life. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that every voice is heard, no matter the obstacles. We are especially proud to have published books from dyslexic authors, demonstrating that with a little help from our friends, anyone can achieve their dream of becoming a published author.

Quality is at the heart of everything we do. Every manuscript we receive is carefully reviewed by our dedicated volunteer reading panel. This passionate group of readers is committed to discovering fresh, engaging, and high-quality content. We are immensely grateful for their tireless efforts, as they play a crucial role in maintaining the standard of excellence that our readers have come to expect.

We understand that not every manuscript arrives polished and ready for publication. While we require all submissions to be of a high-quality edit, we recognise that the editing process can be daunting. To support our authors, we can arrange third-party freelance editors to help refine and perfect your manuscript. These professionals can provide the expertise needed to ensure your work shines, giving it the best possible chance of success.

Please submit 10,000 words of your manuscript. If we like what we see, we’ll be in touch. Please note, we do not accept submissions from third parties, submitting of a manuscript is the author’s responsibility.

Our mission is to discover and nurture voices that might otherwise go unheard. Whether you’re an established author or a first-time writer, we welcome you to join our family. Together, we can bring your stories to life and share them with the world.

And… before you submit, let us tell you, real writing still matters at Fortis.
The rise of AI in recent years has sparked a flood of manuscript submissions to publishing companies worldwide. Biography after biography, novel after novel, manuscripts land on our desks with a common flaw—they’re created primarily by artificial intelligence. These “authors,” eager to get their name on a published book, assume a few clicks of a button and an AI-generated text is somehow worth reading. However, nothing could be further from the truth, and our team of expert submissions readers can spot these AI-derived manuscripts from miles away. This surge is not only disappointing; it’s frustrating. It represents a profound misunderstanding of what it takes to create a meaningful story or a compelling memoir.
Our team regularly encounters manuscripts that, at first glance, seem competently written. They’re grammatically correct and structured. But after a few pages, the telltale signs of an AI creation reveal themselves and they are thrown staright into the rubbish bin. AI-written content often falls back on repetitive phrases and clichés. We’ve seen the same tiresome phrases over and over—terms like “a rich tapestry of…” or “a unique narrative,” a seemless journey into…” litter the manuscripts, revealing a lack of human originality.
This is because AI, while a powerful tool, operates on pattern recognition, not creativity. It scans vast amounts of text, picking up on popular phrases and language structures. But storytelling demands more than stitching together popular phrases and arranging words in coherent sentences. Real stories are full of deep thought, emotion, and a subtlety of thought that AI simply cannot replicate. As Hemingway once said, in order to write, you need to bleed onto the pages.
Writing a good book takes more than just assembling a series of words in the correct order. At its core, writing is an art form that demands imagination, empathy, and insight—all qualities deeply rooted in human experience. A biography written by an AI lacks all this; a novel generated by AI lacks the spark of human imagination. Characters feel like cardboard cutouts, dialogue sounds mechanical, and plot twists lack depth. Real stories require an author, a real person, to tap into emotions, experiences, and cultural subtleties that are beyond AI’s grasp.
There’s nothing more frustrating than realising you’ve invested time in a manuscript only to discover (very quickly) it’s yet another AI-generated attempt, by a would be author to cheat the system and it’s no exaggeration to say we can spot them from Mars!
It’s cheating in its purest form, AI-driven manuscripts demonstrate a complete disregard for the craft of writing.
Let us be clear: AI can be a fantastic tool when used appropriately. For experienced authors and ghostwriters, AI can streamline research, organise notes, or even suggest prompts for further creativity. But the critical difference is that these seasoned writers use AI as an assistant, not a crutch. They bring their creativity, their insight, and their experiences to the process, with AI playing only a minor, supportive role.

For those considering using AI as a shortcut to publication, let us save you the trouble. If your manuscript is a hollow shell built by a machine, it will be rejected. At our publishing house, we are committed to bringing only the highest quality work to readers, and we stand firmly against the trend of AI-generated submissions. AI may be making strides, but the ability to create meaningful stories remains—at least for now—uniquely human.