Tor.com Opening to Novella Submissions

Isilya

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Aquarianhelix

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A good spot as they've been closed to subs for so long. Good luck to anyone going for it.

(Afraid it's not for me, as when I checked their latest stories, I found the science fiction ones too retrospective in content or style for my taste.)
 

Kjbartolotta

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*takes deep breath*

*drops everything*

*lets out warrior's cry skyward*

I think I might try for the July one.
 

Justobuddies

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*eyes post*

*clicks link excitedly*

:gaah I think I'll have to sit this one out.

*eyes Sisyphus story*

The only thing I've got close enough is going to take more revisions than I have time for to get it done before the July sub.

*fights the creeping depression*
 

Kjbartolotta

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*eyes Sisyphus story*

Heh. Tempted to drop mine on them in May. Perhaps it will illicit a mild chuckle from those poor overworked readers, at least. But I shudder to think at what it would be like to convert that thing into a MS.
 

Justobuddies

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I figure I'm only about 7k from the minimum word count and there were a couple of scenes I really wanted to put in but didn't get it done. Should bring me up to ~25K, and I need to fix the ending since it was so abrupt. Then ask all those nice folk that asked for it to become beta readers.

There goes my BP thinking about getting all that done in about 3 months.
 

Siwyenbast

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O_O I want to submit, I just need to finish revising Psycat and see if that length will hit their minimum. I'll probably hit the July one because of that.
 

llawrence

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The only novella I have that's ready (and not horror) is one I already submitted to them early last year. Although I didn't see anything specifically forbidding a second submission, I doubt they'd want to see the same thing again.
 

Aggy B.

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The only novella I have that's ready (and not horror) is one I already submitted to them early last year. Although I didn't see anything specifically forbidding a second submission, I doubt they'd want to see the same thing again.

If a publisher has already rejected a MS don't try and resub it. It's generally considered bad form, whether they say "Don't send us something we already rejected" or not.
 
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PastyAlien

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Pretty sweet timing. My SSSFFSS novella is going through a round of betas and might just be ready for May. Does anyone know what they require in way of a submission package? Query? Synopsis? Had a look through their guidelines, and they don't say (or at least I couldn't find it).
 

Undercover

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Does it have to be speculative horror, or can it be straight up horror too? If that's the case I have a horror novella that might work.
 

Taylor Harbin

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Well nuts. The only thing of novella link I can claim as my own is 40,000 words of first draft oh-look-at-me-i’m-trying-to-be-all-creative-with-my-narration. They’d probably reject it faster than Clarkesworld rejected my last short story.
 

Aggy B.

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Yeah, you're right, looking at them more closely. BUT I think I can turn it into speculative horror, but on the fence about it still.

Some of their stuff (Seanan McGuire's Down Among the Sticks and Bones frex) is tagged as Horror Fiction, but only as the third or fourth tag. They strongly prefer stuff that is speculative.
 

deafblindmute

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I'm gonna try to write something, then! Stuff like this always gets me excited, and I have enough time to write something that's 20K words, I think. :)
 

tnfalpha

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Damn, I should really have something to submit. I remember thinking this in 2016.

Lol, 2020 it is then!

All the best to everyone scrubbing/writing away.
 

Sparverius

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I submitted my novella. 225 in queue. :) They require just the manuscript and a "cover letter" for the submission.
 

Isilya

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I submitted my novella. 225 in queue. :) They require just the manuscript and a "cover letter" for the submission.
So excited for you! It was a wonderful story. Fingers crossed.
 

Siwyenbast

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Cover letter? Should that be a query type letter or a synopsis pitch? *hasn't done many submissions before and wants to make sure everything is polished*
 

Aggy B.

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Cover letter? Should that be a query type letter or a synopsis pitch? *hasn't done many submissions before and wants to make sure everything is polished*

Cover letters are simple. "Dear Editor (if you know the name of the editor(s) it's fine to put those here or just leave it as "Editor"), Attached for consideration is my <insert genre> novella, "The Awesome Adventure of a Wheel of Cheese in Space/Forest of Doom/whatever", of <insert word count here>.

I have <insert publication credits here if any>. OR I am <insert occupation>. OR LEAVE THIS PART OUT.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
<Your Name Here>"

Don't make jokes or self-deprecate. It's okay to not have any publication credits. If you do have any only list 3-5, preferably those that are newest or the most impressive. It's okay to briefly introduce yourself, especially if your work has anything to do with the subject of the novella, but it's not necessary to introduce yourself. (Especially if you find yourself making a lot of jokes or self-deprecating.)

Cover letters do not require a "pitch" so don't stress about that. And best of luck.