Heads Up: Harper Voyager calls for unagented submissions

[Oberon89]

Thought y'all would be interested: Harper Voyager is going to accept unagented submissions from Oct 1-14.

The juicy bit: "Adult and young adult titles will both be accepted, in any genre, although epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural works will be particularly well received."

Here's the link:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/harper-voyager-opens-doors-unagented-submissions.html

Best wishes!

 

[Anninyn]

Damn it. No way I'll have anything in better than first-draft quality done by then. Ah well, I'll have to hope they open up (herrr) again when I do.

Good luck to everyone who submit!

 

[triceretops]

Hmmmm...I made a note of that. I don't know whether my agent has subbed either of my YAs to them, and right now I can't get a hold of her. I still have time, though.

tri

 

[Katrina S. Forest]

Interesting that they're accepting YA but have a minimum word count of 70,000 words.

Most YA novels I've read go over that, but I've read some very good ones that did not.

 

[BradCarsten]

From the article it seems that this is going to be mostly ebook releases. Not so excited by that.

 

[Buffysquirrel]

First I would have to remove 60k.

 

[Polenth]

I tweeted this a few days back and only got one retweet, so I wondered if the ebook thing was putting some people off. But this is a book deal from a major publisher. It could launch careers. Being in digital format won't change that.

 

[Saanen]

Ooh, interesting. It looks like they won't restrict submissions to one per author, which is an added plus for those of us with more than one project ready to go.

 

[EMaree]

This seems like a good oppertunity, but the e-book only is putting me off. This is encouraging though:

If a debut author is published under the Harper Voyager digital imprint; is there a chance to be published in print as well?
Yes, there is the possibility that submissions will be published in print as well.

 

[LadyV]

Darn. I'm no where near ready to submit anything. Bad timing as usual.

 

[CrastersBabies]

Yeah, I saw the digital part and passed (mentally). Will be trying for print first. And there is no way I'd have things done in time. It could be if they try this again, I might go for it and see.

Sometimes, I wonder what they mean by "new fresh voices" and "original ideas." I mean, I know what that means literally, but epic fantasy, for example, has so many well-mined tropes and ideas. It seems like you have to be fresh in how you present it, not necessarily fresh as in reinventing the genre altogether.

Anyway, for those submitting, good luck!

 

[jjdebenedictis]

I've got a trunk novel I'll be sending to this.

And in the meanwhile, I've got something better that I'll be sending to agents instead.

 

[amergina]

Thanks, Kevin!

I have a novel that'll be submitting to this. It's an interesting opportunity.

 

[amrose]

Darn. I'm no where near ready to submit anything. Bad timing as usual.

Me too

 

[dondomat]

I have a thing that'll be ready in 3-4 days, perfect opportunity. If they pass - then it's agent-hunting time. If they take it - agents will be easier to find, right?

 

[BRDurkin]

Digital only, hmm. I'm not quite ready to go that route just yet. Think I'll keep looking for agents on my current manuscript. But thanks for the link!

 

[aa1888]

My Novel is not complete will be interested next year, will leave it as alternative, authors can break through this road if successful novel.

 

[AceTachyon]

Hmm. They're taking books that have been self-published.

I wonder...

 

[RLTDavis]

It says that while this call is for ebooks, if they are really interested in your manuscript, they reserve the right to publish it in print as well.

I'm going with the couldn't-hurt-to-try, but I will probably start querying agents at the same time. Still have some editing and shaving to do to get my epic fantasy under 120k, but with some sleepless nights and extra strong coffee I think I can make the deadline!

 

[chicgeek]

Guh! I'm only halfway there with my book :/. I'll be lucky if it's query worthy by the end of January (my original goal). I'm gonna have to haul ass if I want to make that happen.

I was a little put off by the e-book thing, too. But that's just me. I'd like to try the more traditional route, first. Agent, print, all that. I know an agent takes a cut, but I honestly don't mind the thought of having a partner in all this publishing craziness, particularly someone who can help show me the way, and who'll be able to give me practical feedback on my work.

 

[A.P.M.]

Ooh, this is perfect for me. I have a book I was considering trunking after getting no agent bites from literally hundreds of queries and some promising commentaries on fulls, but I think it's time for one last hurrah.

 

[EMaree]

Best of luck APM and RLTDavis!

 

[thothguard51]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong...

The E-book thing should not be a deal break for a unpublished author. Why do I say that?

1...The publisher is not a run of the mill start up. They have the backing of their parent company, and the experience, as well as the ability to get your book into more places than the typical self published or very small Indie publisher can.

2...If the sales start showing promise, then more than likely they will publish bound print editions. As their submission guidelines suggest, they reserve the right.

3...Even if they decide not to publish a print version, the fact that an unpublished writer would have a legit publishing credit works in their favor, over a self published credit.

Anyway, that is the way I see it and I am considering this but still need to do some more research to see if what I am thinking of submitting fits in with their lines...

Best of luck to all who submit. It should be interesting to hear the results later...

 

[EMaree]

thothguard51, you've basically got it. Point '2' is a little up in the air, the guidelines are a bit vague and come across as "look, we might do a print run, maybe, possibly, if we feel like it". But the fact that's giving people pause is your 3rd point.

For most writers, because it's difficult to exhaust every agent and publisher available for queries, it's not a choice between an e-book only deal and self-pub. It's a choice between e-book only deal or to continue querying in the hopes of a print and digital deal.

What's holding me back is the 'what if' -- what if I do this and my book only ever comes out as an e-book? What if I lose my chance to see this project in print?

But make no bones about it, Harper is huge. I just have an attachment to print books and would prefer a print deal. But I think I will give the submission window a try. Carpe diem and all that.

 

[thothguard51]

Emaree,

Don't get me wrong, I think most writers dream of walking into a book store and seeing a print version of their work on the shelves. I have had this dream for a long time.

But for a unpublished writer, having a known publisher take the chance, even if its only an e-book credit, is still a credit that agents and other publishers will pay attention too in the future.

That is all I am saying.

Of course, there are other things to consider with E-publishing such as how long the publisher holds the rights to e-publish since with e-publishing a book could sit on the virtual shelf forever...