Over the course of our unsolicited submissions open periods, we at Tor.com Publishing have found a wonderful variety of novellas to acquire and publish. Slush brought us such novellas as The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Runtime, The Drowning Eyes, and more. To date Tor.com has purchased half a dozen novellas from slush, and we’d like to keep up that good work.
As such, Tor.com Publishing will soon be reopening to unsolicited novella submissions! Starting June 5th, Lee Harris and Carl Engle-Laird will be reading and evaluating original novellas submitted by hopeful authors to http://submissions.tor.com/tornovellas/. You can find full guidelines here, and we highly recommend you read the guidelines, because we’re doing things a little differently this time.
Until the end of June, Tor.com will only be considering novellas of between 20,000 and 40,000 words that fit one of the following science fiction subgenres:
- Time Travel
- Space Opera
- Near Future Thriller
- Cyberpunk
If you have a novella you want to submit that doesn’t fit these parameters, don’t give up hope. Our plan is to rotate which genre we’re soliciting periodically, so check back here and on our submissions guideline page regularly. Once we’ve worked our way through these submissions, we’ll re-open for a different genre. Please don’t ask us what genre we’ll be moving to—we’ll be deciding that closer to the time.
As always, both Lee Harris and Carl Engle-Laird actively request submissions from writers from underrepresented populations. This includes, but is not limited to, writers of any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class and physical or mental ability. We believe that good science fiction and fantasy reflects the incredible diversity and potential of the human species, and hope our catalog will reflect that.
I have an exciting post-cyberpunk novella called “Sick Robot” lined up but wondered how long your submission window will remain open. Starting June 5th until…
Thanks,
D.C. Lozar
D.C. – read paragraph 3…
Any insights on how to get a science fiction book series promoted into the New York Times bestseller list?
Will it be published as an eBook or as a printed one?
if we have a novella that fits the themes, can we still submit if we have a (different) short story in the short story submissions (submitted before closure)? Is that kosher?
I’ve a full novel set in the near future that combines practical sci-fi, espionage and bro-political intrigue in an intelligent thriller built around a strong and diverse collection of characters. Would there be any interest at TOR in a submission, or are you just looking for novellas?
Carl and Lee:
Like last years event, does this run until July 5th, or does it close June 30th? I ask because I have a team of readers currently working revisions / clean-up and would like to know when it’s time to call them off and doing a final clip.
Best, and very pleased with the opportunity,
Nick
Hi, I learned about Tor’s novella publishing program at this year’s Viable Paradise. Do you have any idea if the unsolicited submissions for this program will be opened again? If so, when? I have a novella based on “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” only in a hard SF format that I’d love to submit. Thank you!