Submission

Under the Moon is launching the fiction side of things fully in October 2008. Currently there are limited spaces in 2008, primarily for short fiction, or novella's.

Under the Moon is the fiction imprint of Final Sword Productions, a role-playing game company, and as such we're interested in interested in stories that might appeal to gamers.

What are we looking for?

Alternative History.
Historical.
Fantasy
Science Fiction - either space opera, sci fi tech, or 'adventure'
Urban Fantasy
Dark Fantasy
Horror/Paranormal -Not then blood and guts type of horror.
Cross Genre, or stories that don't fit a specific genre, would also be of potential interest to us, so don't be afraid to query.

Stories that are more likely to interest us will be either non romance, or have only a small a romance sub plot. There might be some erotic content, but neither the romance, nor the erotic content, will be the driving force of the story.

Releases will be in e-book first, through our partnership with Mojocastle (this saves us buying 'shelf' software)

We will be releasing one full length book and one novella a month at first, with the optional release of a short story. All contracted work will go into print, through our in house printer, and sold direct on our store, as well as via Amazon. Yes, even the shorts- though they will do so in 'chap book' form. We believe this will allow our authors to take active roles in local conventions because even a chap book allows an author to take part in a signing at events such as these. Books will go into print approximately 3 months after their e-book release.

The books will not be distributed via Ingram's, so if you're searching for a publisher who will attempt to place your work with the traditional brick and mortar book stores, we are the wrong house for you. We do, however, sell/distribute via Alliance Diamond, Black Hawk, and other RPG distributors.

Lengths -
Shorts - 5,000 - 16,000 words
Novellas -16,000- 45,000 words.
Novel - 45,000 -150,000 - preference for 120,000 or less

Now, why this change? Quite simply because we already have that connection with the RPG market. Although there's some cross over the readers for this market seem to prefer stories closer to the Luna brand, Tor paranormal, Baen Books, Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey, Pern novel style than romance led books. So, there can be a romantic sub plot there, but this cannot be be the driving force of the story.

We're also looking at the 'boys own' market. Think Deathlands, Horselords, Pournelle, Ringo books as ideas there. We're especially interested in good alternative history/History novels.

Royalty rates
35% on e-book
8% on print
Paid quarterly, within 60 days after the end of the quarter.

How to submit.

First - query me with a synopsis. Query must not contain any attachments at all. This includes jpg signature files. Do not, under any circumstances, send even a partial without a direct request from me first. Breaking either of these rules will immediately have your email deleted, unread.

Send queries to terri @ underthemoon .org (without spaces) - a response to your query will generally be sent within 28 days.

Now, for the odd part.

UTM is a small press, and heavily connected with the RPG industry. It is common for this side of the industry to 'shut down' during the summer months. The reason for this is the convention season. Most of the major conventions for the RPG industry take place between May 31st and September 5th. As such, queries sent between these dates are subject to slow response because my priority during this time are the conventions, my children (who are school age and home during those months) and preparing the releases for the summer period.