Now accepting submissions

February 13, 2010 at 3:00 pm (Guidelines, submissions)
Tags: rules, submissions

Now that the issue of the name is resolved, I would like to invite people to send us their manuscripts for consideration. There are a few things you need to know however.

First, I am planning on releasing everything published by Gaslight Alley for free through Creative Commons licensing along with the POD print versions (which would be paid for of course). What this means is that people would be able to read the novel for free before deciding to buy it. The use of CC doesn’t mean that you will lose copyright. You can have more information about it through the official website of Creative Commons. I wrote my Master’s dissertation on the use of CC as a marketing tool. It can be very effective. Some writers who use it: Cory Doctorow, Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty.

Second, because this is a very small press just starting out, I can’t offer advances at this time. However, you will get payment in the form of royalties for print books sold. You will have more specific information on this if you are offered a contract. The contract will also detail which rights we’d like to acquire from you.

What I am looking for:

Gaslight Alley Press will publish within certain subgenres of science-fiction, fantasy and horror: Steampunk and other forms of retro-futuristic fiction. Regardless of whether it’s set in the past with very advanced technology (Victorian England with Robots) or in the future with very retro technology (a spaceship in 3052 that’s run with the power of thousands of hamsters in little wheels?), if it’s well-written, intelligent and interesting, we want to see it. We will look at every variation thereof, whether it’s romance, action/adventure, crime thriller… if it works within the boundaries of the genre, we’re interested.

As a small publisher, we are free to publish things simply because we love them. We don’t need bestsellers that will appeal to as many people as possible, we aim for the highest quality. We want the good stuff. If it turns into a bestseller, all the better of course. There will be three of us looking at manuscripts. We all have different tastes but personally, as Publisher and BOSS (that’s right!), I would really be interested in seeing stories with:

• an African woman as main character (and I mean from Africa, not just black)
• something set somewhere or somewhen unusual (ancient Egypt with blimps? Native Americans with Rocket-ships?)
• I love stories set on ships, whether sea/space/sky faring is mostly irrelevant so long as it’s not your average space-opera story.

Submission rules:

1. We welcome unagented authors as well as authors’ whose submitted work has already been self-published in whatever form (digital, audio, print through Lulu and similar printers etc). We especially love authors who have spread their work through Creative Commons, especially as podcast audiobooks. But it’s not a requirement.
2. All queries should be sent by email to GaslightAlleyPress (at) googlemail (dot) com and should contain a query letter (read: http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx for an explanation) addressed to Submissions and the first two chapters of your novel or novella (we are not accepting short stories at this time) as a .doc
3. In your query letter, please state if you work is available online in any format and available to the public.
4. We will only look at completed manuscripts, i.e. you need to have a finished novel.
5. We aim to reply within 4 to 6 weeks, please be patient and only contact us again if we fail to respond within this time limit. Thank you.