Call for Submissions

Spindle House is rolling out a new line of horror novelettes—single-author works that are longer than a short story but not quite a novella. These novelettes will be published individually as Kindle exclusives through Amazon; authors will be paid out of royalties earned.

Requirements: Using the Google Form linked below, submit one complete manuscript of original and unpublished fiction between 7,500 and 20,000 words in length. This is a firm word count limit. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please immediately withdraw your submission if it is accepted elsewhere. Format your submission using modern Shunn format, no mailing address required. Your submission must be a MS Word file (.doc/.docx) or a Google Doc.

Genre: Your novelette submission must be horror, ideally within the gothic, cosmic, or folk horror subgenres. We also enjoy a good psychological horror or urban legend. Not sure what we like? Check out our influences page, browse past issues of The Deeps, or read about the particular tastes of our editors.

Rights: We are seeking first worldwide English language rights to publish your work in a digital format, for which we are asking absolute exclusivity as long as your novelette is enrolled in KDP Select. Copyright remains with the author. A contract will be provided. Please note that your legal name is required for contract purposes and will be kept confidential. You are welcome to use a byline (pen name/pseudonym) that differs from your legal name.

Compensation: Accepted authors will be paid royalties from the sale of their novelette. We are offering 17.5% royalties, an even split of Amazon’s standard 35% royalty rate for eBooks. Other royalty payments from Amazon (such as payments based on “pages read” in Kindle Unlimited) will also be divided evenly with the author.