Submissions
Under the Moon is the fiction imprint of Final Sword Productions, a role-playing game company, and as such we're interested in stories that might appeal to gamers.
What we are looking to publish?
What stories interest us?
Stories that are most likely to interest us will be either
non-romance, or have only a small a romance sub plot. There might be some
erotic content, but neither the romance nor the erotic content should be
the driving force of the story.
Releases will be in e-book first.
e-Books release via our Genreshop, Mobi (and by extension Kindle), All
Romance eBooks and it's sister site OmniLit (for non-romance/non-erotica),
Onebookshelf site and 1romancebooks site. Future plans for distribution of
e-books include Fictionwise, eReader, and B&N e-books.
We aim to
release one full length book and one novella a month, with the optional
release of a short story.
All contracted work will go into print, through our in house printer.
Yes, even the shorts, though they will do so in 'chap book' form. We
believe this will allow our authors to take active roles in local
conventions because even a chap book allows an author to take part in a
signing at events such as these. Books will go into print approximately 3
months after their e-book release.
The books will not be distributed
via Ingram's, so if you're searching for a publisher who will attempt to
place your work with the traditional brick and mortar book stores, we are
the wrong house for you. Print releases sell at our Genreshop, Amazon, and
via our comic and gaming distribution through Alliance Diamond, Black
Hawk, and other RPG distributors.
Now, why this change? Quite simply because we already have that
connection with the RPG market. Although there's some crossover, the
readers for this market seem to prefer stories closer to the Luna brand,
Tor paranormal, Baen Books, Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey, Pern novel
style than romance-led books. So, there can be a romantic sub plot there,
but this cannot be be the driving force of the story.
We're also
looking at the 'boys own' market. Think Deathlands, Horselords, Pournelle,
Ringo books as ideas there. We're especially interested in good
alternative history/History novels.
Submission Guideline
Lengths -
Shorts - 5,000 - 16,000 words
Novellas -16,000- 45,000 words.
Novel - 45,000 -150,000 - preference for 120,000 or less
Royalty rates
35% on e-book
8% on print
Paid quarterly, within 60 days after the end of the quarter.
How to submit-
First, query me with a synopsis. Query must not contain any attachments at all. No partial. No market analysis. Not even the synopsis as an attachment. Put it in the body of an e-mail. This includes jpg signature files. Do not, under any circumstances, send even a partial without a direct request from me first. Breaking either of these rules will immediately have your email deleted, unread.
Send queries to terri @ underthemoon .org (without spaces) - a response to your query will generally be sent within 28 days.Now, for the odd part.
UTM is a small press, and heavily connected with the RPG industry. It is common for this side of the industry to 'shut down' during the summer months. The reason for this is the convention season. Most of the major conventions for the RPG industry take place between May 31st and September 5th. As such, queries sent between these dates are subject to slow response because my priority during this time are the conventions, my children (who are school age and home during those months), and preparing the releases for the summer period. �