Rules for Submitting
Novels & Novellas
Dragon Bone Publishing is excited to announce its first ever open submission period! We're looking for YA, NA, and Adult novels and novellas that fit into speculative genres, particularly bold science fiction and fantasy that bend and combine genres, like cozy fantasy/sci-fi, horror fantasy/sci-fi, etc. At this time, we're looking for novellas between 15-50k and novels between above 50k. We're most interested in novels that are below 100k, so if you've got a long novel, you'll have to work harder to sell it to us.
You do not need an agent to submit to us.
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Below is our detailed list of rules for submitting your works for consideration.​ Please read the entire page before submitting. Any entries that do not adhere to the rules will automatically be disqualified. ​​
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Thank you for your understanding! We're so excited to read your entries.
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FULL LENGTH NOVEL AND NOVELLA SUBMISSIONS OPEN FEBRUARY 1ST, 2025
Rules for Novel/Novella Submissions
Submissions are not accepted by first come first serve.
We will select candidates by careful review of if they align with procedure and the quality of their content.
Submission Deadline
Submissions open to the public February 1st, 2025.
Cutoff date TBA (this mainly depends on how many submissions we receive. We're currently looking at a window of three months: from February 1st to the end of April)
Final Word Counts
Novels between 50k and 100k words.
Novellas between 15k and 50k words.
Please contact us directly if you have a novel that is longer than this.
Submission
Length
Please send the first 5 chapters of your book (may also include a prologue if applicable)
[Please exclude any extra content like dedications, title pages, table of contents, etc.]
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We REQUIRE authors include a 1-2 page summary/pitch at the beginning of their submissions PDF. (This is a full arcing summary of your book and the highlights of what you think makes it desirable. This is your chance to sell your story and its importance to us.)
Formating
We will only accept PDFs
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Title of the document must include the name of the work, the author name, and the type of work (novel or novella)
All entries must be double spaced and Times New Roman 12pt font.​​
Genres
All novellas and novels must fit into the science fiction or fantasy genres, though they can mix in other genres.
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Please contact us by sending us a DM on social media, through the contact page on this website, or via email at dragonbonepublishing@outlook.com if you have any questions about your story's content.
Content
We are not interested in graphic smut or extreme horror.
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We are currently looking for Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult stories.
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Please contact us if you have questions about your story's content. We are more than happy to review it to see if it's acceptable.
No AI Content
We will absolutely not accept any submissions that were generated or assisted in creation by Artificial Intelligence. All submissions must be original work created by a human and owned by a human. By submitting to our company, you automatically pledge that the work you are submitting is your own and that you did NOT use AI to create it.
Number of Entries
At this time, we are taking one novel or novella submission per author.
Where to Submit
Please fill out our submission form and answer each question carefully and thoroughly.
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Submission Form for Novels and Novellas
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We will not be accepting submissions or pitches sent directly to our email, social media DMs, or via the contact sheet on this website.
General Information
Our Deadline
We could take up to six months to respond to your query. Don't worry if you don't hear from us for a while. It will take us time to read through all the submissions and make our decisions. We want to ensure that each submission gets a fair shot.
Once we decide on a verdict with your submission, we WILL send an email stating its acceptance or rejection.
Full Manuscript Requests
Have a PDF of your full manuscript ready to send at our request. As we work through the initial submissions, we'll be sending off full manuscript requests for the ones we want to read more of.
Previously Published Works
We are not currently interested in books that have been published previously.
Simultaneous Submissions
You can send us a book that you've sent to other publishers. We ask that you let us know as soon as possible if it's accepted by someone else so we can remove it from our list.
International Submissions
Because we're a small company and this is our first time opening for submissions, we've decided to limit this submission window to authors currently living in Canada and America. We are a North American based company and need more time before we branch out to international submissions.