Submissions
How to query us with your manuscript.
If you would like to be notified when we open for submissions, sign up for our newsletter.
We’re passionate about other worlds—tales of the impossible, broken, and lovely—told by unique voices. We publish middle grade, young adult, and adult science fiction and fantasy books. We also publish graphic novels by author/illustrators or author illustrator teams.
We’ll consider select nonfiction projects if they relate to geek culture in some way. For example, we’ve published a book on chronic illness that discusses how disability is represented in pop culture and a collection of essays on geek culture and philosophy.
We are currently
Closed
for submissions.
What we're looking for...
Science Fiction
We consider all genres of science fiction, but are particularly drawn to alternate/parallel universe, Lovecraftian, artificial intelligence, light/humourous, science-fantasy, and space opera. Stories that are character-driven and have a basis in real science are our jam. Aliens, otherworldly societies, and futuristic technology are welcome!
Fantasy
Show us world-building we’ve never seen before! We especially like sword and sorcery, mythic, humourous, and superhero sub-genres, but all the better if your book doesn’t neatly fit into a category and delights us with its quirkiness. We enjoy stories that take unfamiliar turns and characters who find meaning in community.
Non-Fiction
Nonfiction projects should relate to science fiction, fantasy, anime, comics, video games, or mythology. We’re looking for books that engage with pop culture in a unique way. Feminist and disabled viewpoints are especially welcome. We’re also interested in engaging with pop culture and religion/faith.
Submit Your Query
We now use QueryManager for receiving queries. Not only does this simplify things for us, it makes things easier for you querying writers, as you no longer have to guess what we want from a query letter—it’s all laid out for you!
You can query our editor, Allison Alexander, through QueryManager here. Do not send us snail mail; we only accept electronic submissions. You do not need a literary agent to query Mythos & Ink. Here is the information you’ll need to fill out this form for fiction submissions:
- Your Name
- Email Address
- Biography (tell us a bit about yourself, including any relevant writing credentials. We also love hearing about your top three nerdy fandoms.)
- Website, Blog, or Twitter if you have them
- Book Title
- Genre (We publish middle grade, young adult, and adult science fiction, fantasy, and geeky nonfiction.)
- The first 10 pages of your book
- A one-paragraph pitch (imagine you are writing the back cover copy from a published book)
- Similar books (e.g. if someone likes ___, they might like your book, too.)
- Additional tags if you would like to declare marginalized content
- Why you’ve chosen to query Mythos & Ink
For nonfiction, a book proposal should include the following:
- Short summary (one sentence)
- Long summary (one page maximum)
- Target Market
- Promotional Ideas
- Specifications (word count, estimated completion date if the book isn’t finished)
- Chapter Summaries
- Sample Chapters (preferably the first two)
We do NOT publish
- Poetry anthologies
- Picture Books
- Chapter Books
- Erotica
Response Time
We read and respond to every query we receive. Our response time varies from one to four months.
Query Tags
These tags are taken from the Pitch Wars website—they are used in their #PitMad Twitter event when authors tweet their pitches, but we also find them useful for general queries, and there’s a section in our QueryManager form where you can add these if you choose. We encourage marginalized writers to query us!
BVM = Black Voices Matter (to be used by black creators)
POC = Author is a Person of Colour
OWN = Own Voices (book’s protagonist is part of a minority, and author is part of that same minority)
IMM = Immigrant
LGBT = LGBTQIA+ subject matter
IRMC = Interracial/Multicultural subject matter
MH = Mental Health subject matter
DIS = Disability subject matter
ND = Neurodiverse subject matter