A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on three very basic lessons learned from the slush pile. As we open to novel submissions once again, I thought it would be good to revisit the first point: Read the guidelines before you submit your story [or novel].

So here are our novel guidelines with some clarifications on the (potentially) confusing points.

1. We are looking for dark SF/fantasy or horror novels.

That’s three categories: dark SF, dark fantasy, and horror. If you’re wondering what “dark” means, in this context, read a few of the free stories in Apex Magazine to get a feel for the kind of “dark” we’re looking for. It won’t take you long, and you’ll enjoy it, honest. Note that “dark” doesn’t just mean “people are killed.” “Vampire/werewolf/other supernatural beastie” and “zombie” don’t automatically equal dark, either.

2. Submissions must be between 50,000 and 100,000 words.

Believe it or not, this means you. We’ve already gotten numerous requests to consider novels that are either longer or shorter than our stated word counts. Our answer: No. We have reasons for this particular guideline. Stick to it.

3. Use standard manuscript format.

A quick search on “manuscript format” can help you out here. (The bulleted list at the top of the Wikipedia article on the subject covers most of it.) Let us know if you have any questions.

4. Please send a query letter in the body of your email, and attach the first three chapters and a 1-page synopsis of the book as .doc or .rtf files. All three chapters should be a single attachment, with the synopsis as a separate attachment. Submissions containing other file types will not be read.

We’ve been a bit lax on this one, but come on. It’s difficult to take submissions seriously if we can tell that the sender hasn’t read this far down on the guidelines. There are three things going on here:

A. Query letter in the body of the e-mail. Here is an expansion on this particular guideline from Jason:

“Keep it brief and to the point. Just introduce yourself, tell us the genre and word count, and sum up the most important aspects of the story in a sentence or two. Previous publishing credits are great, but not having any won’t hurt your chances.”

Also, if you haven’t ever published a story or novel before, you don’t have to tell us. Honest. Just make your pitch.

B. Attach the first three chapters in one file, and your synopsis in another file. That’s two separate attachments.

C. Also, .docx files are not acceptable, and any other formats are dicey at best. Please stick with .doc and .rtf.

5. Email submissions ONLY. Please send to apex.novels@gmail.com.

We’ve gotten several submissions from people who want to send us printed books or manuscript packets. As you can see from our bios, Apex editors are spread out around the globe. We don’t have one centralized mailing address for submissions, so we cannot accept paper manuscripts or copies of published books.

Also, you don’t win any extra points if you send your novel to Jason, directly, rather than the specified e-mail address.

6. No multiple submissions (i.e., only send us one query package at a time—don’t send the next until you hear back from us on the first).

People have been good about this one. Thank you.

7. Simultaneous submissions are okay.

This means you can send a novel to us and to another market or markets at the same time with no hard feelings. Many publishers don’t like this, but we’re a-okay with it!

8. Remember to include your contact information–including real name, pseudonym if applicable, email address, and phone number—in both your query letter and the manuscript.

People have been good about this one, too.

In summary, here’s what I wrote in the previous post:

Editors are strapped for time, in general, and may use guidelines as a quick way to weed out stories and novels. (For example, I know of at least one editor who would immediately reject a novel if there was no SASE included with the manuscript.) So think about the guidelines as a job listing and your story as a candidate. Does the story meet all the requirements in the guidelines? Yes? Then your story’s chances of making it to the next round increase exponentially.

The editors reading novel submissions want to enjoy your novel. (Really. We keep hoping that the next novel is The One.) But if an author ignores the guidelines, that can be a one-way ticket to a fast rejection.