SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
NOTE: DX Varos is no longer accepting submissions.
We only accept a few new authors each year. So make sure your query to us stands out in its professionalism. Although we will fully edit your work, it will behoove you to make sure what you submit to us shows your better than average knowledge of the English language and that you can tell a good story.
One of the things we take into consideration is how much we think the author will promote their own work. Because our primary market is the United States, and we expect you to make public appearances here, such as book signings, will we not be accepting submissions from authors living outside of North America.
We only accept electronic submissions. However, due to email virus concerns, all of your materials must be in the body of the email. ANY SUBMISSION SENT WITH ATTACHMENTS WILL BE DELETED UNOPENED. All queries should be sent to queries@dxvaros.com. We try to respond in 1-2 weeks.
Please include the following:
-
COVER LETTER: Short and sweet introducing you and your work, should be no more than 3 paragraphs.
-
AUTHOR INFO: Not your life story. Let us know if you have been published or have self-published before and what kind of social media presence you have.
-
FIRST CHAPTER: Please don't double space, it makes the email too long.
After we have read the query and first chapter, we will inform you either that we are not interested or we will ask to see the entire manuscript. If we request to see the whole thing, that is not an offer. It merely means we were interested enough to not reject it from the start. On average, we only accept one out of every twelve or so manuscripts we request, and we might request manuscripts for only 1 or 2 out of the dozens of queries we get a week. I say this not to discourage you, but to give you realistic expectations and drive you to make sure your writing and your query email are the best they can be.
If we do decide to accept your book, you will be offered a publishing contract. For more information about what we offer in our contracts, please see our EXPECTATIONS page.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We pride our selves on publishing "Exquisite Fiction." These are the types of books we would be proud to submit for awards. Now that we accept all genres of fiction, here are some general guidelines:
1. We do NOT accept short stories, collections/anthologies, poetry, screenplays, theatrical plays, or "fan fiction." We are only looking for novel-length (min. 50,000 words) works of original fiction. We do not accept unsolicited requests to take over previously published works.
2. For us to accept your work, there has to be something unique, or at least different, about your story. For example, teen-aged girl falling in love with a vampire has been so over-done, such a story would likely not get past the query stage. However, say a middle-aged man falling in love with a youthful-looking vampire whose bite will restore his own youth, might be worth looking at. Or better yet, avoid vampires altogether, they're getting over-worked.
3. Other subjects that should probably be avoided: formula romances, excessive blood & gore, war stories that focus heavily on the minutia of the militia, and zombies (if you want to write about zombies, send me a political thriller focused on Congress).
4. We are also seeking authors who are at least somewhat social media savvy and willing to promote themselves and their books. As a publisher, we can hawk your book until we are blue in the face, but if you are not willing to promote yourself, your books are not going to sell. If your books are not going to sell, then we have no reason to publish them.