Tyrannosaurus Press is staffed primarily with authors and aspiring authors. We understand the frustrations of the submission process, and we do our best to minimize them. However, Tyrannosaurus Press is also staffed primarily with volunteers. We do not have the manpower to review and make decisions on queries as quickly as we would like. We ask for patience, and for prospective authors to follow the submissions guidelines outlined below to streamline the submissions process, and to prevent everyone from wasting their time.
Tyrannosaurus Press DOES accept simultaneous submissions. This is a privilege we extend to our prospective authors so that our delays do not affect your ability to sell a work. This privilege will be withdrawn if abused, so if you have sent us a simultaneous submission and place your work elsewhere, please notify us immediately.
If you have a manuscript ready for publication, please follow the steps below. Significant deviation from our submissions process will result in your work being immediately rejected.
Step One: Determine If Your Book Is A Good Fit For T-Press
1) Tyrannosaurus Press Only Publishes Speculative Fiction Books
Speculative Fiction includes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Alternate Reality, and a number of other sub-genres. If your book is not speculative fiction, and particularly if it is non-fiction, then we are not the right publishing house for your work.
2) Tyrannosaurus Press Only Publishes Original Works
If your work has already been published by another publishing house in any format, then we will not be interested in publishing it, even if all rights have reverted to you. If some or all rights to your work have been granted to another publishing house, then we will not be interested in publishing it, even if the rights we generally request are still available. If your work has been posted online, in part or in it's entirety, then we will not be interested in publishing it.
3) Tyrannosaurus Press Does Not Publish Fan Fiction
Even though satire and parody is protected, we will generally not publish any material that so much as skirts the fringes of another author's intellectual property. This is solely to protect T-Press from any possible litigation.
4) Is Your Work Part Of A Series?
If your submission is the first book in a multi-volume series, it does not guarantee that we will reject the manuscript, but it will make acceptance more difficult. If your book is part of a multi-volume series but other books have already been published by another publishing house, then we will not be interested in your work.
5) How Long Is Your Work?
We are fans of epic fantasy, and so have no firm word count. We feel that a book (or series) should take as long as it needs to be written properly. That said, the longer your work is, the more difficult it will be to get acceptance for your manuscript. That is just an unfortunate reality of the publishing industry.
Step Two: Send a Query Letter
Queries should be straightforward. We do not want detailed synopses or large chunks of manuscripts pasted into queries. Queries should contain the title, word count, target audience, and a concise description of the work. All queries should contain the author's complete contact information and any pertinent writing experience. Queries SHOULD NOT contain any form of attachment. Our email filters are set to filter out unapproved messages that contain attachments. If your query contains an attachment, we will most likely not see it.
E-mail queries to Info@TyrannosaurusPress.com in plain text, with no attachments, and with the subject line QUERY For Publication. If you prefer to mail your query letter, send it to:
Tyrannosaurus Press LLC
Attn: Submissions
5486 Fairway Dr.
Zachary, LA 70791
We try to respond to all queries as quickly as possible, but as our submissions advisory panel is a volunteer group, we can offer no guarantees on turnaround. In general, expect a response within three months.
Step Three: Submit Sample Chapters
If your query is accepted, we will request sample chapters and a synopsis of your work. Synopses should be complete and consie. Do not leave any cliff-hangers or hooks. This is not the time to 'tantalize' us with unanswered plot points.
We typically will request the first five chapters of a manuscript, but we recognize that authors know their works better than we do, especially at this stage. If chapter five isn't the best place to cut off a submission, authors are encouraged to send a little more or a little less. Be warned: abuse of this privilege will count against you. If we wanted to see your entire manuscript, we would have asked for it.
Submissions should be attached to an email as a Word (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf) file. Submissions should be double-spaced and in a 12pt font. If you are submitting your sample via regular mail, authors are allowed to print on both sides of the paper, provided there is no bleed-through. If you want a submission returned (we advise against it), please include a SASE with appropriate postage. Make sure full contact information, including email address, is included on the attachment.
We review samples as quickly as possible, but again can offer no guarantees regarding turnaround time. In general, it takes us between three and six months to make a decision. We urge authors not to call or write during the review period, at least until are posted "average wait time" is reached. As a small independent press, we have limited staff and resources. The more time we have to spend responding to author inquiries, the less time we have to review manuscripts.
Please direct all inquiries to Info@TyrannosaurusPress.com
Step Four: Submit Your Complete Manuscript
If your sample is approved, we will request your entire manuscript. For all full manuscript reviews, we attempt to provide a few constructive comments, even if we ultimately reject a work. However, our editors do not always have the luxury to perform this service, so if a rejection arrives with no explanation, please do not take the rejection to heart. Many factors go into our final decision, and only a fraction of those factors actually related to the author and the work.
A Few Final Suggestions:
1) Edit... Edit... Edit
Carefully review your manuscript before submitting it. Better yet, have somebody else do it. Editing your own work is difficult. We expect to find a few errors in every manuscript, but a well-written and well-crafted work has a far better chance of publication than one riddled with mistakes.
2) Include All Contact Information (and notify us of changes)
While to many it may seem common knowledge to include contact information in e-mails, more than a few submissions have arrived with only a reply button.
