What We're Looking For
Traditional Genres: Fantasy, Urban fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Action, Horror, Historical, Er0tica and Romance -- all subgenres, all heat levels.
Non-traditional or Cross-Genres: Historical sci-fi, erotic thrillers, paranormal mysteries… you get the idea. Add to this whatever your muse tells you to write that may not fit traditional categories. Will all non-traditional ideas work? Probably not. Will we accept anything just because it's "different?" Nope. But if you can make it work, and make us stay up too late at night reading it, you'll probably keep other readers up late, too.
General Fiction and Literary Fiction: If you write this, you know what it is.
Young Adult: We're looking for young adult books in all the above categories (except erotic, obviously). We're looking for stories that speak to teens and young adults and the challenges they face in today's world, whether the story is contemporary, fantasy, historical, or something else. No preachy, dogmatic, or goodie-two-shoes stories (unless the story is about the trials and tribulations of being a goodie-two-shoes in a world full of street gangs, werewolves or Russian mafia).
Interracial, Multicultural, BBW, etc: People come in all colors, shapes, sizes, creeds, sexual orientations, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds… the list goes on. Stories with these elements won’t be “segregated” into their own line, but will be included in all the above traditional, non-traditional, general, and literary categories.
What Lengths We're Looking For
We're actively seeking novels, novellas, and short stories in all categories. Word count: whatever the story will support. Minimum 2,500 words.
For short stories, be sure there's an actual thematic point. It's easy to get caught up in a mood or a feeling or an event, but make sure there's a reason for it all. For erotica and erotic romance shorts, be sure there's an actual plot holding the sex together. Short sexy stories are great, as long as they're short sexy stories, plot and character development required.
For novels and novellas, there's no maximum word count, but if it's very long, be doubly sure it's all story. Watch for wordiness, repetition, unnecessary scenes, etc. We love "big books," but there has to be sufficient conflict and story movement to justify a huge word count.
Right now, we're especially looking for shorter works-short stories and novellas, especially darker-themed shorts (fantasy/sf/horror) and erotica and erotic romance shorts. We're also looking for more fantasy/sf/horror in longer lengths, as well as thrillers of all flavors.
A Note on Fan Fiction
Please don't send us stories based on your favorite TV shows, movies, books, anime, manga, video games, etc. Fan fiction can be a great way to connect with other fans and keep your favorite worlds alive, but we can't publish it. Changing the names of characters isn't enough to qualify the story as an "original work."
How to Format Your Submission and Where to Send It
We accept email submissions only. Email them to the executive editor at etopiapress@gmail.com
*** A Note on Following Guidelines***
Please follow these guidelines exactly when submitting to us. For example: we don't use paper. We'll never print your manuscript to read it, so we don't need all those old-fashioned things they required from the paper and SASE days like headers with your title/name and page number. What we do need is a format that our editors can read on their various e-readers and a way for us to file, track, and assign the various parts of your submission to our staff. So please--be kind to us--and increase your chances for an acceptance--by being that person who makes our job easier.
Your submission should include:
1. A standard submission cover letter in the body of your email.
* Start the email by writing your contact information in the top left corner: Real name, address, phone, email address, title of the work, pen name if any, genre or category, and the word count of your manuscript according to MS Word
* Include your web or blog URL and any publication credits you may have. And don't forget the most important part-that short blurb that will pique our interest and make us eager to read more
2. Complete manuscript, attached as an .RTF file
* Write your contact information in the top left corner of the document itself (please do not use a header or footer): Title of the book, Pen name, email address, genre or category, and the word count of your manuscript according to MS Word
* No spacing between paragraphs (Word 2007 defaults to this style, but you can change it by clicking "change styles" in the home tab and selecting Word 2003, or by "selecting all" and using the paragraph menu to remove the spaces before and after.
* See the help files in MS Word for more information) Times New Roman, 12 point font
* 1.5 line spacing
* Please don't use fancy styles, elaborate headings, macros, master document outline formats, headers and footers, etc. These can make the document go wonky when electronically formatted
3. Short synopsis (2 or 3 pages, same formatting as the manuscript), also attached as an .RTF file
Response Time
We'll send you a quick response immediately just so you know we've received your submission. These auto-replies often get caught in spam filters, so if you don't get one, send us another email to let us know, and we'll manually confirm receipt of your submission. After that, you should hear from us in about four weeks.
Questions?
Email us at help@etopia-press.net and ask. We're happy to help. And we can't wait to read your work!
More information here.
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