Guidelines
CURRENTLY READING FOR...
…NOTHING for the foreseeable future as our slots are being filled with work by the fine authors we usually work with. PLEASE DO NOT QUERY OR SUBMIT ANYTHING except what we say we are reading for on this page and even then only WHEN we say we are reading.
Your book or story is not the exception. We do not read often, and our submissions windows are small because we are swamped with excellent material each and every time we open. If you are interested in submitting to our press, then buy our books so that you have a good idea what we publish — and keep checking this page!
SPECIAL NOTES to those who still think they should submit even though we are not reading right now:
- We NEVER accept submissions from agents. Our press is not large enough to make you enough money to pay that agent. If your agent is submitting to us and charging you for doing so, you may want to have a talk with your agent about why this is not a good idea.
- If you or your agent submit to us when we are not reading, not
only will we not take your work, but the following will happen:
- We will destroy the submission without reading any part of it unless it is from an agent.
- If the submission comes from an agent, we will read the submission letter in order to contact the author and let him/her know that this submission was made.
- We will put your name on a list of folks from whom we will never take any submission — not even if we’re reading — because you can obviously either not read and understand clear facts or do not believe that such facts apply to you. In either case, we do not wish to work with you.
If you think this is harsh, please go back to the top where it says we are reading for… “Nothing for the foreseeable future…”
AUTHOR GUIDELINES…WHEN WE ARE READING (SEE ABOVE)
ALL SUBMISSIONS
We usually only accept manuscripts that have not been previously
published. There have been a few exceptions, so if you have a
previously published manuscript that you think we might be interested
in, query first and be sure to include where and when the story or
novel first appeared.
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
We try to respond to queries within two weeks and to manuscripts
within three months. If we're going to take longer, we will contact
you and let you know why so that you can decide at that time what you
want to do.
We almost always make editorial comments on manuscripts whether we accept them or not. The advice is free; take it or leave it.
NO EMAIL / ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS
Your original submission should always be hard copy unless the editor
requests otherwise. Yard Dog Press does not take electronic
submissions in any form.
NOVELLAS
We are usually looking for tight, well written, novella-length books
in the sci-fi, horror and fantasy genres. We will consider other
genres—query first with a synopsis—when we say we're open. From 15,000
to 20,000 words. We are looking for the out-of-the-ordinary.
Basically, if it's the type of thing that one of the major publishing
houses would take, we probably don't want it.
Advance in copies, pays 50% of net profit in royalties for print books, and a larger percentage of net profit for EBooks. All titles will be published in both ebook and print formats
ANTHOLOGIES
Watch this page for updates. In the meantime, if you want a better
chance of getting into the anthologies, buy and read our books.
PREFERRED SUBMISSION FORMAT
Please note that we are perfectly serious about the following three no-nos:
- No porn or hate fiction.
- No overtly religious texts — in other words, we are not a Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Pagan, or whatever type of religion publisher.
- No poetry unless we solicit your work.
All submissions must be in a fairly standard manuscript format. Please follow the requirements below:
- Use white, off-white, or bright paper, please. Dark colors and dull grays can be hard on the eyes. Recycled is great. NOTE: Most editors want only white paper.
- 12 point font. Any smaller is hard to read, and any larger is a waste of paper.
- Left alignment for the body of the text.
- Use a legible font. Times New Roman is best, but Bookman Old Style or Arial will work. No fancy fonts, please! If you want to get fancy with your title, fine. But the text needs to be readable.
- Doublespace the story itself.
- PLEASE use the TAB key for the first line of your paragraphs. If you use the space bar, this tab will be lost in transfer when you sell the work and need to submit an electronic file. Save yourself and your publisher a lot of work and USE THE TAB KEY!
- If you're using MS Word, any version of which I'm aware, your default margins will work, although I think they waste a lot of paper — hence a lot of trees. Margins should be no less than ½ inch right, left, and bottom, and no less than one inch on the top. Your header margin should be ½ inch, and your footer margin should be zero.
- Your header should include your name, the title of the piece and the page number. When you read several manuscripts from several people, it can be confusing. This method prevents any such confusion even if the papers should be dropped. So, the header should be aligned right and look something like this:
- On page one, please include your personal information at the left top of the page, and be sure to include a word count. It should look like this:
Then skip ten or twelve lines and type your
title (centered) with your by-line directly under the title. No fancy
fonts — just type it.
Double space, set alignment to left or justify and start your text.
Remember — double space the text.
- Always send a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope). If you want the manuscript returned, then send a large enough SASE with enough postage. If the manuscript is disposable, then just send a legal sized SASE with one stamp for a reply. >We will usually include a few line-edited pages. Hopefully this will be helpful to you in future submissions.
- Always include a cover letter telling us who you are and what you have had published if anything. (NOTE: By "published" we mean writing for which you have been paid money or at least have a contract that states you will get money when a profit is made. E-publication for the sake of getting your work out there is NOT a publishing credit.) If the manuscript is disposable, please state that here. If you want it returned, please be sure you include a large enough SASE with enough postage. Please keep it short. We want to spend our time on the manuscript.
ARTIST GUIDELINES
Honestly, we have so many great artists working for us that we really are not actively looking for new artists. If you are still interested, read all of the information below before contacting us.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
No porn or hate subject matter, please! We
have nothing against nudity when appropriate, but we're not into
exploitation or promotion of hate and violence.
We usually only accept artwork that has been created specifically for our particular publications. Exceptions may occur, however, so if you have completed artwork that you think we might be interest in, let us see it and we'll talk.
HOW TO GET US TO LOOK AT
YOUR WORK
If you see us at a convention, show us your portfolio or drag us to
see your panels in the Art Show, and give us your card. We WILL
remember you, and will contact you when and if a project comes up that
would match your style.
If you don't see us at conventions, but have a web site with your art, contact us and give us your web address. We'll add you to our list of prospective artists.
If you don’t see us at conventions AND you don’t have a web site, send us a few good examples of your artwork — a brochure would be excellent. We just need to see the style and quality of your work. We'll add you to our list, and maybe a project will match your style.
COVER ARTWORK
CHAP BOOKS
(NOTE: We are no longer actively publishing new
staple-bound chapbooks. That does not mean that we won't ever
publish this shorter-lenghth book, so I'm leaving this information
for now.)
We are always looking for cover art for these novella-length books in the sci-fi, horror and fantasy genres.
Advance is $10.00 plus one copy of the book when published. Pays royalties of 25¢ per book sold — no royalties on books given as advance or for purpose of review. Publisher has the right to use the artwork on as many copies of the work as deemed appropriate without any further compensation other than royalties, but the artist retains all other rights to artwork, including the unconditional right to re-sell the artwork.
PERFECT BOUND TRADE PAPERBACK NOVELS AND
ANTHOLOGIES
These are full-color pieces with room left for title and by-line, or
with title and by-line included, depending upon the project.
Advance is $25.00 plus one copy of the book when published. Pays royalties of 50¢ per book sold — no royalties on books given as advance or for purpose of review. Publisher has the right to use the artwork on as many copies of the work as deemed appropriate without any further compensation other than royalties, but the artist retains all other rights to artwork, including the unconditional right to re-sell the artwork.
INTERIOR ARTWORK
Interior artwork usually consists of several — up to 15 or 20 — line drawings that can be reproduced in gray scale or as a b&w bitmap.
Advance is $25.00 plus one copy of the book when published if interior art is done by an artist other than the cover artist. If this is the cover artist, then you already have a copy of the book, and you don't get another — sorry. Pays royalties of 50¢ per book sold (yep, if you do the cover AND the interior, you get $1.00 per book sold). No royalties on books given as advance or for purpose of review. Publisher has the right to use the artwork in as many copies of the work as deemed appropriate without any further compensation other than royalties, but the artist retains all other rights to artwork, including the unconditional right to re-sell the artwork.
