Submission Guidelines
IMPORTANT: CIP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO NOVEL SUBMISSIONS UNTIL 2009. ANY SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED UNTIL THEN WILL BE TRASHED, UNREAD.
We at are currently looking for a novella/novel/collection to start off our print line for 2008. Submissions should be well polished and professional. That means erasing extra words and using the format requirements below. We are not interested in reprints, so take your previously published works elsewhere. Original manuscripts only.
Genres
We are only interested in the following genres. If you’re not sure if your work falls into one of the following categories, feel free to query. We will get back to you as fast as humanly possible.
♣ Horror
♣ Dark Science Fiction
♣ Dark Fantasy (urban fantasy; no swords and elves)
♣ Cross-Genre (anything with a horror edge)
♣ Mystery (no cozy; mystery will be a hard sell)
♣ Bizarro
♣ Splatterpunk (another hard sell; stay away from conventional splatter)
What We Don’t Want
No romance/erotica/necrophilia. Screwing corpses just to make the reader squirm is not good storytelling. Also, stay away from mutilation of the genitals. We have seen many submissions with that involved, and would like some originality. The guidelines above outline what we’re looking for in each genre, but as a rule of thumb, if it isn’t dark or scary, we don’t want it.
Length
Anything from 20,000-80,000 words. Don’t send anything under 20,000. That number is firm. However, if you have something that exceeds the word limit, we might consider it. But it better be damn good.
Formatting
Twelve point times new roman or courier font. Single spaced. We’re in the era of computers, so double is not necessary. No underlining; use italics. Indent paragraphs. No extra spaces between paragraphs. Put your name, the title of your story, and the page number on the right upper side of the page. Also, include your name and contact information on the first page. Other than that, we’re not too picky.
Payment
Payment will be a flat rate of $100.00 US dollars. No royalties. We’re a small press, and aren’t planning on making a fortune from sales. In addition, this amount willbe paid via paypal. So if you don’t have an account, get one. It takes all of five minutes.
Rights
We will be buying exclusive print rights to your work for a period of twenty-four months. Because we like the environment and want to save the trees, the contract will be sent via email. You maintain copyright of your work.
Submission Process
If you’re still interested in submitting, then read the following paragraphs carefully. Do notsubmit the whole manuscript. Query first, with a short bio and summary of your manuscript. We would like to know your publication history (if any), and what your story is about. Attachments aren’t necessary. A few paragraphs in the body of an email would suffice. If we’re interested, we’ll ask for the first three chapters (or short stories, if it is a collection). Then, if we’re still interested, we’ll ask for the whole manuscript.
Send queries to submissions@midnighthorror.com, with “CIP SUB: TITLE” in the subject line. Expect an initial response within two weeks.
