Tips for pitching a Science Fiction novel

Hi. I just wanted to fill you in on a few Dos and Don'ts when pitching Science Fiction to an editor or agent. While these are only suggestions and won't guarantee acceptance, it will help make you look like a pro on the page.

DO -- Tell in the first paragraph of the query the year that the story takes place and over what period of time.

DON'T -- List too many names of places or characters, because it makes it harder for the person reading the query to remember. I should also note that several query letters for Science Fiction were accepted that never mentioned the main character's name, but rather referred to him/her as, "protagonist."

DO -- Spend only one paragraph describing the setting, and an additional paragraph describing the plot.

DON'T -- Use abbreviations for the word "Science Fiction" in a query letter.

DO -- State your age if you are a first-time writer. This does not apply to pitching works in other genres. The reason for telling your age is that most editors assume a person's study of science ends after high school. So, it's probably easier to get a first Science Fiction novel published by a younger writer.

DON'T -- Tell your inspiration for writing Science Fiction. "I was watching Discovery channel one day and..." This will mark you as an amateur.

DO -- Have a great opening line, relating in some way to the Science Fiction genre. In my pitch for a series of books called Rising Planet, I started with the line, "It is better to give than receive... especially when the gift is enough explosive power to destroy a galaxy."

DON'T -- Assume that the editor knows such technical terms as "Plasma Projectile" and "Parsecs".

triceretops said:

Do you know anybody who might be interested in a science fiction series

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I think any editor in their right mind would consider a series if the writer has any previous short stories or novels in the same genre published to back them up. But you should decide how you would deliver the series to a publisher. For example, do you have the manuscript for only one or two books? Do you have the manuscripts for all the books in the series? Those are questions a person should ask theirself before proposing a series.

Anyway, from my experience I find it best to only casually mention that the pitched book would be part of a series in a query letter. You wouldn't want to worsen the chances of getting published by laying on information too quickly. When my editor asked for a proposal is when I proposed the Rising Planet series.

When you have a series with only one book written, the publisher will generally give you a large advance that is split into several parts -- with Rising Planet, my advance was to be paid in five parts -- the first upon signing the contract, the second upon an acceptable manuscript for the first book, and each of the other three checks upon acceptance of each one of the remaining books in the series. The downside to this is the chance that something will happen with the publisher before the deal is completely finished -- my publisher was sold before the fourth book was released, and it was never published.