We are delighted to announce that the Angry Robot Open Submissions Period will be happening once again! Our submissions will be open from the 21st to the 28th of February 2022 to SFF/Horror writers without agent representation.
The AR team are very excited to see what fantastically weird and spellbinding SFF novels you submit. In the past, our Open Submissions have led to the publication of many of our well-loved books, including both our January publications, ‘Deep Dive’ by Ron Walters and ‘Obsidian’ by Sarah J. Daley! This is your chance to wow us with your manuscripts. We’re looking for new and exciting stories, and particularly encourage writers of colour and LGBTQ+ authors to submit. Send in your stories – we promise to take care of them.
The Submission period will run for one week, from Monday the 21st of February to Monday the 28th February 2022, closing 11.59pm GMT on the 28th. We don’t prioritise early submissions, so take the time you need to polish your documents before you send them in!
To apply, please email openthedoors@angryrobotbooks.com and send us:
– A sample that consists of the first three chapters of your work (or first fifteen pages if the chapters are short).
– A synopsis of the full work in a separate Word document.
– An elevator pitch and author bio in your email.
We are looking for:
– Novel length works.
– Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
– Adult fiction.
– Finished manuscripts.
We are NOT looking for:
– Short story collections or novellas.
– Young Adult Fiction.
– Works in Progress.
– Works that have been submitted to our Open Submissions before – unless they have had a significant rework (rewritten or structurally edited completely).
– Previously published works, including self published.
If we like your submission, we will get in touch to request the full manuscript and go from there! Only one submission per author, and remember that the Open Submissions period is exclusively for authors who do not have an agent. Submissions sent before 21st February will not be considered.
We can’t wait to read your amazing stories!
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57 Responses
When do the 2023/24 Submissions Start for Authors without Agents?
We don’t currently have a date, but please continue to check our socials and website for when we announce
Any updates on whether you’ve completed reading from this open call?
Yes, we announced on our Twitter feed in November – https://twitter.com/angryrobotbooks/status/1595803740325531649?s=20
I see you had an open submission period in February, this year (2022). Do you expect to do the same this year?
It’s always our intention to have an open submission period once a year, but the time that the doors open will vary. Please check our website and social media for when the dates will be revealed.
Any update on this?
We are still wading through the entries, but we will announce on our socials when all communication has been sent out. If you haven’t received an email by then, I’m afraid it’s a pass this time.
Do you all plan to send out rejections, or are we to understand that no response means no? Just trying to calibrate my expectations! Thanks so much!
We are still wading through the entries, but we will announce on our socials when all communication has been sent out. If you haven’t received an email by then, I’m afraid it’s a pass this time.
Thank you for this fantastic initiative.
Do you consider manuscripts that are currently out on submission to other publishers? What is the timeframe to receive a positive or negative response? Cheers. Mike
Yes, that’s fine as long as you don’t currently have an offer for that book. We’re looking to get back to everyone within 6 months.
I only put the synopsis in a separate word document, the rest is in the body of the email. Should/can I send another email with the chapters attached in a separate word document? or will it be alright the way I sent it?
Hi! Can you clarify what you mean by self published? Do you mean a complete book sold via online stores? Or are you including things like posting in online workshops and sites like Wattpad?
Yes, anything that has been sold online or in stores. Wattpad is fine.
So no query length letter, just an elevator pitch and bio? Sorry anxious writers, like to make certain.
That is correct, yes.
Is there another way to submit other than email? I’m getting a bounceback to my email submission, saying the contents are potentially harmful. I think that’s because the premise of my novel involves a futuristic cyberweapon, and the email provider doesn’t like one of the keywords in the body of my email.
Hi Steve. In this case, please include the submission in the email with an explainer at the top. We will keep our eyes open for it.
Hi, please can I check if the sample/first 15 pages should be double spaced or not? Thank you very much!
Regularly spaced pleased.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Angry Robot. A quick question from my side just prior to submission: as an unpublished novelist of a few books, for your own preferences, would a pure, high fantasy novel or a Victorian fantasy novel be more in keeping with your tastes? I do feel the latter of mine is the stronger, however, I did want to check to see which is your perfectly preferred penchant ;D Many thanks.
We don’t have a preference. Just submit whichever you believe is strongest.
Thank you so much, Angry Robot, the response is most appreciated.
Do you want a one-page (single spaced) synopsis?
Yes please
Hello! Do you usually send an email to acknowledge receipt of the submission? I fear I may have emailed too early due to the time difference in my part of the world.
If we have received it safely, you would have had a confirmation email come through.
Hi. I sent my submission on 22nd February at 14.06 but have not received an in accordance with the guidelines but have not received a confirmation email. Should I be concerned? The submission is for The Visitors by Owen W Knight. Thank you.
Yes, your submission has been safely received
Do you want the first 3 chapters pasted in the body of the email or included as an attachment, and if the latter, can/should that attachment be the same file as the synopsis, or a separate file?
As an attachment please. One for the synopsis, one for the chapters
I submitted before seeing this comment. I’ve pasted the chapters into the body of the email, will that be okay? or should I resubmit?
That’s fine. We will look out for it.
Just wanted to double check, are you accepting YA Sci-fi? Or no YA at all? Thanks
Hello, we are not accepting any YA as we do not publish YA fiction.
Just to clarify, you are not accepting queer young adult fantasy novels?
Hello, we are not accepting any YA as we do not publish YA fiction.
I’m looking forward to submitting this week! Do you want the first three chapters attached as a word doc or pasted in the email?
Attached as a word document please!
Should the three submitted chapters be included in the body of the query letter, or sent as an attachment? Thanks.
As an attachment please
When you ask for an “elevator pitch” and a synopsis, do you mean a 1-2 line pitch and a traditional synopsis of 1-2 pages attached to the submission?
Or is one of these intended to include/be the pitch section of a standard email query, of the type that agents typically request (i.e. 150-350 words)?
Thank you.
The elevator pitch that is 1-2 lines should be in the body of your email. The synopsis should be attached separately.
Hey, this looks awesome. Excited to see what comes up. I do have a question though. What is your wordcount floor for novels?
We’re looking for novels between 80K and 120K words
So, I am excited to submit, but it doesn’t say just how to send you the stuff you wish to see. Will there be details once the 21st is reached? Or do we just send an email?
We will be releasing details of how to submit to us nearer to the time.
This is beautiful!! I read the regulations, but please allow me to ask: a premature version of my book ‘Warjuna: Book One’ was self-published in 2017 to test the waters. And I’d sold a few copies too, but I took it off the shelves within a few months to revise it. Now it’s a different book and I’m seeking publishers. Could I get the opportunity to submit?
We’re not able to accept any self-published materials I’m afraid
Looking forward to sending my submission in, just polishing up my query letter and synopsis.
Hi. I have a literary agent in Australia, who represents me exclusively for my children’s books. I do not have a UK agent, andI am planning to submit my adult Science Fiction book. Would this be acceptable? Thanks.
I’m afraid this submission period is for un-agented authors only
I have 4 books currently published under the free fantasy section on Inkitt. They are rating so far at 4 stars out of 5 across the board and I have some positive reviews. The first one is the one I’d like to submit but the first 4 chapters form more of a prologue to the main story. So do the chapters have to be sequential? Or can I submit the preface, chapter 1 and chapter 5? I can supply the Inkitt URL if you would prefer to see the whole thing.
The first 3 chapters or first 15 pages will be fine.
What a great initiative. I do have an adult Horror manuscript currently undergoing revisions, but sadly it won’t be finished in time for this deadline. Is this a one-off thing you’re doing or will you consider repeating open submission windows in the future?
Hi Stephen, we run it semi-regularly, our next one after this is likely to be sometime in 2023.
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