Deadline: July 31st, 2020
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Dark Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Fantasy, or Thriller.

We are now open to novel and novella subs for only the third time in our eight years of publishing. This submission window will be open throughout July. We only ask for a one to two page, detailed synopsis, an author bio, and the first three chapters (we will ask for the full manuscript if our interests are piqued). Accepted titles will be published throughout 2021 and early 2022. No reprints. Only one submission per author. Simultaneous subs allowed.

Here are some more details on what we’re looking for:
Length: 30,000 to 120,000 words
Genre: Dark Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Fantasy, or Thriller.
Subgenres/Tropes: We love them all, although we’re more interested in dark, suspenseful fiction than just outright horror. Our readers want to go on an emotional rollercoaster of fear, fright, sadness, joy, loss, and the beauty behind every character’s story.

What we’re not looking for:
Romance/Erotica (although they can certainly be used in subplots)
Anthology pitches
Short stories
Short story collections
Poetry
Screenplays
Young Adult

Submission guidelines:
Email your CV, synopsis, and sample to [email protected]
The subject of your email should be ‘Open subs 2020’.
We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if you’ve subbed it elsewhere, and be sure to withdraw it in case it’s accepted elsewhere.
Only one submission per author, so make it count.
In the body of the email, be sure to mention the title of your book and the total word count of finished manuscript.
A one sentence tagline that encapsulates your main plot.
No reprints/previously published or previously self-published.
Your novel/novella needs to be at least 80% finished when you submit your first three chapters.

As attachments (or one attachment containing all the required info):

• a one or two page, detailed synopsis (including plot twists and denouement)
• the first three chapters (or 10,000 words if you don’t use chapters) in .Doc, Docx, RTF formats, with your name and email on the manuscript, top right corner.
• Your writer’s CV with a summary of previous publications, awards, etc.

Response Time:
Receipt of your submission will be acknowledged within 2 days of receiving it. At the end of every month we will send out batches of rejections or requests for the full manuscript—until all submissions have been read. After that we will send out rejections as we handle each submission (with feedback where possible). We will do our best to announce our final choices by the end of November.

Rights and payment:
We are looking for Worldwide English rights for paperback, eBook, and audio. Authors will be paid 40% royalties for net eBook sales and 20% on paperback sales. A contract addendum will be drawn up in the case of audiobooks, depending on third party licensing. We ask for four years exclusivity, after which the rights return to the author. The Crystal Lake version of the book will however remain in print unless agreed upon by publisher and author. We have our own cover artist and in-house editors and proofreaders, and the author is not expected to pay for any of these services. Please note that we are a print on demand publisher. Our books will always remain in print, never run out of stock, and always earn you money even after the rights have reverted to you. Our books are available on Amazon and bookstores/libraries across the globe.

We look forward to reading your work.

Best of luck,
Joe Mynhardt
Founder & CEO

Via: Crystal Lake Publishing.