Archive of the Odd

With the publication of our first novella, Cat Voleur’s Revenge Arc, we’ve gotten more interest from authors looking to publish longer standalone works with us, from novelette to novel, short story collection and chapbook. Previously, all of our information was on a by-query basis, but with increasing interest comes increasing transparency! We’d like to share a bit about what we’re looking for by way of longer fiction proposals.

CAVEAT: We are a small team (three people, with two focusing on the written aspect, the final on graphics) with a very limited budget. Our publishing process, given the extensive formatting and artwork, is involved and requires care, attention to detail, and most importantly, time. We are liable to be selective about what we choose to publish because we have limited time and resources. A rejection does not indicate that we don’t think your work is quality. We cannot publish as many pieces as we’d like.

Some things we like in a long fiction proposal:

• Found fiction, ergodic fiction, or otherwise fiction involving bespoke formatting, greater reader involvement, and/or elements that would be a challenge for traditional publishers (e.g. Having postcards, separate letters, or other ephemera being included as a part of the story).
  • This is, at the moment, our focus. We are not currently looking for pieces that are not, or do not heavily include, found or ergodic elements.
    • That said, if you are uncertain about whether your piece may count, or if you feel that it otherwise requires layout/design elements that other presses cannot provide, please query! We would be glad to discuss further.
    • Short story collections with a mix of found and traditional elements will be considered, as long as a major portion of the work is found.
  • For examples of found fiction, consider:
    • Revenge Arc by Cat Voleur (of course)
    • Epistolary pieces such as Dracula (Bram Stoker), This is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone)
    • The Disappearance of Tom Nero by TJ Price
  • For ergodic fiction, consider:
    • S. by Doug Dorst
    • House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
    • Bats of the Republic by Zachary Thomas Dodson
    • (All three could also be considered found fiction!)
• Consideration of the reader experience of the work
  • Found fiction, more so than other narrative styles, requires an understanding of how the reader may interpret the work. Used to your advantage, this can make your work even more engaging and drive your story home.
• Elements of mystery, suspense, or uncertainty.
  • Found fiction excels at giving the reader information without telling them how to piece it together. Use of “white space” is encouraged.
• Micro/macro-worldbuilding
  • We love universes that feel “lived in,” even with no upfront speculative elements. Even a throwaway line about a fictional movie or a character lamenting their 8am teleportation class can make a world feel so much bigger than what’s on the page.

We are currently open to various lengths and genres, although our focus is on genre publishing, as opposed to literary or general interest. This includes (but is not limited to!) science fiction, fantasy, horror, Weird, gothic, mystery/thriller, and associated subgenres. In the past, our focus has been on horror and dark fiction, but while this is an indication of our tastes, we are not exclusive to the genres.

Almost all contract terms are negotiable. We are happy to figure out arrangements that work best for all parties involved. Described below is our standard offer, without modifications.

• We are currently offering 70% net profit on digital copies, and either 70% net profit or 15% list price (whichever ends up being consistently higher) on physical copies.
  • Net profit is here defined as revenue (all money in from sales) minus the production cost for any given copy of a book.
    • Example 1 (digital): Your book is listed for $5, but the online storefront takes a 10% cut, meaning we (Archive of the Odd) receive $4.50 for every book sold. This is the net profit. For every copy, you would then receive $3.15 in royalties.
    • Example 2 (physical): Your book is sold for $15 in paperback. Every copy costs $7 to print and be shipped to us (Archive of the Odd) to send out. Net profit is $8. You receive $5.60 in royalties for every book sold.
    • Net profit does NOT include administrative costs such as web hosting, software, or anything else outside of direct production costs.
  • The reason this is higher than many small presses is because we are a micropress with limited reach and bookstore distribution. If you have questions about our current distribution system, don’t hesitate to reach out! It’s always evolving, as we work to establish new bookstore relationships and ways to bring your work to readers.
  • We do not currently offer a signing bonus or advance as part of our standard contract, although we would be happy to discuss this.
•  We do not request audio, film, or other adaptation rights. If we do gain a capacity for these later, we will be clear in our discussions ahead of time, and pay for these separately.

Submissions

Please send all submissions to archiveoftheodd@gmail.com.

• Please send a query letter with the title and length of your piece, as well as a synopsis. For works under 50,000 words, send a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file with the work in its entirety (name removed to remain sight unseen).
  • For pieces whose formatting is required to understand the story, or with extensive artwork, .pdf is also acceptable.
• We will respond with an estimated reply date, which will vary depending on our current workload, but will never be longer than 6 months. Generally, if you submit during our short fiction open period, we will start reading after our story selection for the zine, which occurs approximately a month after closing date. After that, please give us at least another month to respond (two months after closing date total). Expected wait for submissions between open periods varies depending our current workload, but is generally shorter.
  • If our workload entails a wait time longer than 6 months, we will close long fiction submissions for the time being, and announce when they are open again.
  • Reading is done sequentially, with one editor reading and deciding whether to move it to the next editor before a decision is made. We will let you know if your work has been sent to a second editor, as this may extend wait time somewhat.
  • Please query if we do not respond by the estimated time.