The Dark Blog: Submitting a novel
#2 of The Dark Blog
"Boy, I'd really love to submit a novel to Sofawolf."
We hear those comments a lot, usually followed by a query or complaint about how the Sofawolf novel submissions are closed.
Well, we're open again now! Sofawolf is ready to receive your novel submissions.
And since everyone who is asking about novel submissions also wants to know how to improve their chances of having their story be accepted, here is some advice both short and long on how to submit a novel. While the advice here is geared towards Sofawolf, a lot of it is generally applicable, not just to other fandom publishers, but non-fandom publishers as well.
Let's start with some basics.
- Get our names right.
This is a surprisingly common mistake. In your query letter, you should make sure your salutations are directed to the correct person or persons. Since it's really hard to know at a fandom publisher who exactly will read your submission, it's best to be general and say something like "To the editors of FurPlanet," unless, of course, you're not submitting to FurPlanet.
Getting this wrong won't result in a rejection, but it does show you were a bit careless. First impressions are critical, and this is the very first impression you make.
- Don't lie.
Lying on a submission is about the worst thing you can do. In an attempt to impress us, we've seen authors tell us they have been published in places they were never published in, or tell us that their big project is completed when it really isn't, or tell us that their work has the support of famous author/editor/artist in the fandom when it really doesn't. Doing any of these things will mean an almost certain rejection... and a warning given to all the other publishers in the fandom that you are untrustworthy.
- No simultaneous submission.
This is almost as bad as lying. Don't send your story to us and to another publisher at the same time. If we both want it, then you have to tell one of us no and waste a lot of time that we may have already put into reviewing and considering your manuscript. This, like lying, is also a great way to give yourself a bad reputation in the fandom; however, this one is a bit more forgivable among beginning authors because so few are aware of it.
- Don't oversell.
Your book is important to you. You can and should be enthusiastic about it. (Writing a book is no joke. Be proud of yourself for doing it!) But don't go overboard. Don't try to tell us how your book is a guaranteed bestseller, a sure furry classic, or that you are the next J.R.R. Tolkien (or Kyell Gold).
You're trying to tell us what your book is about, not how good it could be and not how well it will sell.
- Pitch it to us remembering that we have to pitch it to readers.
Remember that publishing is a business. We're trying to get a reader to buy something and we often do that by pitching it to them a certain way. If someone says they really like westerns, I tell them they should give "Sixes Wild" a try. If someone says they really like football, I tell them they should give Kyell's Dev and Lee series a try. Before you send a submission to us, make sure that you already know the kind of readers you want your book to appeal to and tell us about who they are as part of your submission. Make sure that your potential audience is both broad enough to sell a lot of books to and also distinctive enough that your book won't get overlooked by more established titles or authors.
- Be patient.
Evaluating a novel often takes a long time. Sometimes this is because we need to talk with other editors for a second opinion. Sometimes it's just because we are a small press and all have day jobs. Don't expect to hear back right away. Sending an email to see if there has been any update in the status of your submission is all right, but wait a few weeks in between such emails.
- Be respectful.
Being nice won't guarantee that we will publish your book.
Not being nice will guarantee we won't.
This is especially important when receiving a rejection.
- Have the book done.
Already have a full copy of your novel finished before you ask us to publish it.
- Give us what we want. No more. No less.
This is an important point. If you don't give us all that we ask for, then we're lacking something key that we use to determine whether we want to take your novel on or not. If you give us much more than we ask for, then we have to waste time searching for the things we really want. If you give us what we want, but in the wrong document type or formatted incorrectly, then we think you aren't able to follow instructions.
But we should talk about the specific things that Sofawolf wants to see from you: the query letter, the synopsis, and the sample chapters. Other publishers may want different things, so be alert.
THE QUERY LETTER
The query letter's job is to give us, in brief, relevant details about yourself and your work. The best way to learn how to write a query letter is to put "How to write a query letter" in Google and find some examples, but I'll try to give some brief details.
Open your query with a standard greeting to the editors, as mentioned in item number 1. Then, it's standard to explain why you think your book is a good fit for us as a publisher. This can be a little hard in the fandom since the reason really tends to boil down to "I wrote a furry book and there's only a few publishers in the fandom," so don't feel the need to stretch some excuse into place. Good reasons you could use include complementing some of our existing publications or filling a gap in the kinds of books we publish.
Then, tell us about your story. 100 to 200 words is what you should aim for. Be sure that you cover the basics. Who is your story about? What are they trying to do? What is the genre? What is the tone? What sort of world does it take place in? Don't go into a lot of detail, but be sure that major details about your book are clear from reading. Be sure also that you tell us some details that will hook us into wanting to read more. Think of this as giving us a version of your book's back cover blurb.
Oh, and don't forget your novel's word count!
Finally, tell us about yourself, namely any credentials you have for writing this book (experience as a cop if you are writing a police procedural, for instance) as well as your previous publication history. This latter part is very crucial in the furry fandom. Sofawolf editors can be quite demanding, and we want to know that you have had experience working through the publication process before we have multiple editors spend weeks and months getting your novel into shape.
THE SYNOPSIS
The synopsis can be described as a two-to-three page* outline of your entire novel. Put all the major plot points into it, and yes, spoil the ending.
Again, look up "How to write a novel synopsis" in Google and browse through some samples. It's the best way to get the flavor of what goes into one.
In a synopsis, try not to throw too many characters in. Most characters should be described as briefly as possible: physical details, for instance, are not necessary unless they are crucial to the plot. The exception can be the protagonist, because it's their story. It's common to have character names written in all caps the first time they appear, to emphasize that they are important. I've heard some people say that you should stay to no more than six named characters in a synopsis. I don't know that I would call that a hard and fast rule, but it's a good piece of advice. Too many characters described too briefly will just leave us confused. If you have to include a lot of characters, just refer to more minor ones by quick titles like "the lawyer" or "the mayor."
Returning to the protagonist, since this novel is about their story, you should emphasize how the events of the story affect them. Don't just give us mechanical descriptions of what happened, but emphasize the emotional response in the characters.
Setting, genre, theme, and tone (details you should have briefly touched upon in your query letter) can be expanded on in the synopsis, but still keep them short and to the point. We understand you can't put everything into the synopsis. We know there's more going on that isn't on the page. All we want is to be able to get the flavor of these things without having to read your entire novel.
The bulk of your synopsis should deal with the events of the plot and how those affect the main characters. Include enough detail that we can see the major events of the novel as they happen from beginning to end. Usually the pace of your synopsis should match the pace of your novel, but the very beginning and very end of your story might deserve a little more explanation, since they tend to be some of the most important parts.
One piece of advice I stumbled on when writing a synopsis for my own novel was that since the synopsis is so short you have to turn one of the classic writing maxims on its head: instead of "show, don't tell," it's okay to "tell, don't show." You also don't need a synopsis to have beautiful prose. A synopsis is functional. The language of a synopsis can be functional as well.
THE SAMPLE CHAPTERS
Sample chapters are a fairly common thing to ask for, although the number of chapters can vary quite a lot. At Sofawolf we ask for the first two to four chapters, which allows some flexibility depending on chapter length. If the chapters are very long, stick to two sample chapters, but if they are short, give us four.
Sofawolf also asks for the first chapters to be given. You may want to include the chapter with the shocking twist or the big climactic battle, but without all the parts of the book coming before them, we aren't going to be able to appreciate them.
The biggest purpose of the sample chapters is to familiarize us with your style of writing, so you should make sure they are some of your best work. Frequent spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and misuse of punctuation are likely to discourage us from accepting your work. We are willing to spend time correcting lots of typos and punctuation in a short story, but aren't as willing to do the same for a novel which might well be twenty times longer and take twenty times as much work.
But style is more than the technical details, it is also a measure of your success in conveying certain emotions. In your query letter, part of what you are trying to accomplish is letting us know how the book should make readers feel. Is your novel optimistic, melodramatic, suspenseful, quirky, comedic, snappy? These broad emotions should be hinted at in your query letter and your sample chapters are a way to show that, yes, you really can accomplish that.
The basic rule that I have repeated several times now is that you should look at samples of what other people have submitted before to get a feel for what the materials should involve.
*Longer synopses were more common in the past, but they've gone a bit out of favor in recent years.