Submission Guidelines
Warning: Please do not submit your manuscript until
you have read all instructions carefully in order to:
- Demonstrate that you are the kind of author we can work with
- Optimize the first impression that your writing skills receive
- Provide tangible evidence of your attention to detail
Quicklinks
What we are looking for
Proposal Guidelines
Preparing your Manuscript for Submission
What we DO Accept:
- Non-Fiction: Writings in history, science, testimonials, expository, word pictures and studies, edification, daily inspirational, Bible studies, memoirs, poetry, psalms, music, self-help, how-to, creative nonfiction, life-style, health, and learning
- Fiction: High Quality works of romance, mystery, crime, suspense, thriller, alternate history, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, action adventure, and young adult
What we DO NOT Accept:
- Unfinished works
- Erotica, or materials of a sexually explicit or violent nature
- Anything expressing extremist racial, political, or religious views
- Anything in languages other than English
- Graphic or profane language
- Works with emphasis on tabloid science
What we are looking for in your work (genre specific):
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Historical Fiction: Historical fiction requires the author to skillfully intertwine the historical timeline with the fictional timeline. If you have done the necessary research, it will be apparent and will greatly enhance your story (and chances of being published)
Acceptable Manuscript Word Count: 120,000 maximum -
Mystery: We will consider all mystery genres, sub-genres, and cross-overs. However, your story must include a crime element. We are willing to consider, but may not publish, some minimal graphic language, violence, and light sensuality that is truly meaningful to the storyline.
Acceptable Manuscript Word Count: 120,000 maximum -
Science Fiction: If the story has a scientific basis, the story should at least be a logical extrapolation from what is currently known scientifically today. Tabloid “science” is NOT acceptable. The emphasis should be on the human element and the impact caused by the extraordinary advances in science.
Acceptable Manuscript Word Count: 120,000 maximum -
Fantasy: If the story contains magic, it should have rules. The emphasis should be on the human element and the impact caused by the extraordinary magic or mythical creatures.
Acceptable Manuscript Word Count: 120,000 maximum -
Romance: Stories must contain strong elements of crime, suspense, history, science fiction, or fantasy woven within the romance threading. The story should contain no more than three viewpoint characters and be written in first person viewpoint or a tight third person. Sensuality levels should be light and meaningful to the storyline.
Acceptable Manuscript Word Count: 80,000 maximum -
Other Submissions: If you have questions or concerns regarding other standards for submissions, please email our Acquisitions Editor at info@livingoracles.com.
Acceptable Manuscript Word Count: 120,000 maximum
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What we are looking for in your overall work (general examples):
We are looking for non-fiction works that are thoughtful and substantive, that are accurate and of high quality. In fiction works, we are looking for good, wholesome entertainment that our readers can have no concerns or worries in buying for their family and friends. Works may be allegorical or fantastical, and need not be “over-the-top” and “in your face” obvious as to its Christian storyline. However, we do feel that a Christian spiritual dimension or struggle is enriching and attractive. We do not require that your work have a happy ending. However, we will evaluate the overall marketability of the work, and the author’s skill in writing it, before making a final determination whether to publish a particular work.
Begin at the beginning: Query Letters.
Whether your book is a work of fiction or non-fiction, begin by dropping us a short (i.e. one page) inquiry of our interest for the project. There is absolutely no need for a formal letter unless you prefer it. Just email a query to us at queries@livingoracles.com. Ask us whether we are interested in pursuing a work on a particular subject. This query need not be as extensive as a full proposal, but it should give us enough information to determine: what the book will be about, what makes you the person to write it (skills and experience), and what target market you believe the book will serve. When emailing us, it is a good idea to include in the subject line enough specifics for us to direct the email to the proper acquisition editor. For example, rather than leaving the subject line blank, or typing “book proposal,” tell us specifically: “QUERY: (Name of Author): (the genre category).” Regarding the selection of genre category, this guideline spells out the different genres we will consider for publication. On the subject line of your email, insert “action-thriller,” “Christian edification,” “romance-suspense,” or whatever best describes your book. Don’t make us read your entire email to find this out. It makes our acquisition editors grumpy. If we are interested in your work, we will issue you a “Project Identifier” and give you instructions on how to proceed.
Simultaneous submissions are not accepted.
There is “good” news and “bad” news regarding this topic. The bad news is we don’t accept simultaneous submissions. It is too confusing and adds levels of complexity that we do not want to deal with. We will be straight-up and honest with you and we expect the same from our authors. That leads us to the good news. We never let you wait for longer than two or three weeks at any point in the process and the process is rather transparent. You can track the progress of your project through our publication system from our webpage. Once you submit a query letter, your work is assigned a “Project Identifier” and this is sent by return email to you. Once you have this identifier you can log onto our website and monitor the progress of our analysis. It is that simple. Because of this system, we do not think it is too much to ask for an exclusive right to look at your book. If we turn it down, you have only lost a matter of days, not months. We think this is a fair exchange.
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Non-fiction Proposals.
If we are intrigued by your non-fictional project, we will invite you to submit a proposal to us. You should submit your proposal to proposals@livingoracles.com. This proposal need not be overly formulaic or formal. We do not look for a particular format. Above all, what it needs to do is inform and convince us of three things: (i) that your proposal is worth publishing, (ii) that you have thought the project through, and (iii) that you are the person to do it. Exactly how you do this “convincing” is up to you. However, it should begin at the top of the page with the author’s name, working title of the book, and the estimated page count for the book. Once that is done, you can wing it, or use the following general sections that reflect what we are primarily looking for in your proposal:
- Section One: Audience and Purpose. We want you to present to us a clear presentation of what you intend for the reader to get from your book. What market is it directed to? After reading this section, we should know precisely what you want to achieve with this book, and why your reader will be interested in buying it. We are not asking for detailed analysis with statistical support, but a frank discussion of whom it is you think you are writing to. Please keep forefront in your thinking, that while we are not asking to be buried in numeric detail in this section, we do not want to slog through a discussion about an audience in the abstract. A good discussion of the purpose of your book will integrate what you perceive is the needs of the audience. A useful aid for writing this section is to pretend that you are responding to a question from a prospective reader who wants to know why the book is right for them.
- Section Two: Market Analysis. We are aware that the market analysis seems perplexingly close to the previous section on audience and purpose. In this section, we want to learn about ancillary factors that you believe will affect the market for your book. Are there any competitive books already in the market, or soon to be published, which directly compete with your book? If so, what makes your book different? Why would a reader buy your book instead of your competitor, or choose to by both. Are there any positive or negative trends in the marketplace (or related industry environments) that you recognize will have a bearing on the potential for your book’s success? Here is the place to share with us any statistics you might have of the size or demographics of the market.
- Section Three: A Book Outline. Now is the time for specifics. Leave the generalities back in the query letter/email. This section gives us an idea of the book in exceedingly precise terms so we can determine whether to proceed with its publication. We prefer that you use a narrative format and that you provide a chapter-by-chapter summary of the books content. You may use bullet points or other outline aids, but this should follow a description written in narrative form. Part of the reason for this is we are trying to determine whether you have the skills necessary to write the book successfully. Each chapter narrative should inform us what the purpose of the chapter is and a break down of the contents for that chapter. In aiding this effort, you may find it helpful to begin your outline with a section that describes the overall rationale for the organization you have chosen for the book. Another section that discusses any challenges you foresee, like requirements for special illustrations, unusual formatting, use of internal color, hard-to-get (or out of print) illustrations, or anything requiring special or unusual resource commitments.
- Section Four: Writing Schedule. We are not unfairly concerned with how you put words on paper, the so-called “art” of writing. Some like to plan extensively and follow in a linear fashion from the beginning chapter until the book is complete. Others are more integrative and work on various chapters at the same time, improving them all as they go. Still others write the ending so they know where they are heading. What interests us is the fact that you have given thought to how you are going to “attack” the project of writing your book. This is necessary for us to know if we, in turn, are to be realistic with our production schedules. It is important for you to be as objective and honest as you can for this discussion. Include in your plans that vacation you have scheduled and those trips to the relatives for holidays. If you have competing work demands, allocate between all of these demands carefully. Don’t be Pollyannaish with this schedule. It will not benefit you. Eventually, you will have a delivery date in the contract and that date must be realistic.
- Section Five: A Personal Writing Sample. When we begin with a new author it is usual for us to ask for a writing sample. This is particularly important in non-fiction works. It should be your writing, not that of an editor friend; let’s say 99.8% yours. One good suggestion is to write all, or a potion of, one of the chapters from the book you are proposing. This gives us a better idea, not only of your writing competency and style, but how you envision the presentation of material for the book. The closer the sample is in style to what you are proposing for your book, the better. However, this is not something rigid. Just a few pages of double space copy will suffice.
- Section Six: Tell us about yourself. This section is likely self-explanatory. However, we are not asking for a complete resume. Just share with us a brief description of your qualifications relevant to the book you are proposing. We want to know why you think you have the ability to deliver a manuscript on the topic you are proposing. Beyond the obvious, that you have a necessary expertise or interest in the topic, we are also looking to understand whether you are a person who can “connect” with the reader through the proposed project.
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Section Seven: Ask us your questions. Here is a section just for you. If you have questions or comments about anything related to the proposal of the project, feel free to ask those questions here. “Points” will not be deducted from your proposal evaluation whether of not you include questions in your proposal. You are always welcome to email questions to us at any time. We include this section simply to assure you that questions are permissible and no question is too dumb or elementary.
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The above set of guidelines is for your assistance. Again, the goal of your proposal is to do three things: (i) convince us that your proposal is worth publishing, (ii) demonstrate that you have thought the project through, and (iii) establish that you are the person to do it. Exactly how you do this convincing is up to you.
What we expect you to do for ALL SUBMISSIONS:
Once you have completed the query letter process (all fiction and non-fiction) and the proposal process (selected fiction and all non-fiction), if we wish to continue to analyze your work for possible publication, we will call for a submission of the work to us. Unless we specify otherwise, or request some other presentation or format as dictated by the nature of your work product or the format of the work itself, the following is the standard for all submissions to us at Living Oracles:
- Send only complete manuscripts
- Each manuscript MUST INCLUDE A COVER PAGE (see Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission)
- Send your manuscript to submissions@livingoracles.com. Only electronic submissions are accepted.
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In the subject line of your email, type:
SUBMISSION: (Author’s name): (the genre category)
- Manuscript must be double spaced, in 12 pt. Times New Roman or New Courier typeface with document to print on only one side of the paper.
- Manuscript must be all in one file. If you created separate chapters, combine them into a single, continuous file. The easiest way to do this is create a new computer word document and copy each chapter into the new document.
- Manuscript must be sent as a Microsoft Word document, version 2003 or earlier. If you use a later version, simply store the document as a 2003 version before submitting it to us. That allows us to share it among editors and staff without problems
- Begin each chapter on a new page in the manuscript
- Include a header: AUTHOR LAST NAME/Title Page #
- Do not include footer. All information shall go in header section only
- If your computer is set to block spam, it is your responsibility to add our email to your “allowed list” so our response can get through to you.
What you can expect from us after you submit your work:
- Confirmation of receipt within 48 hours
- Transparent monitoring of process through Project Identifier from website
- Personal contact with the assigned Acquisitions Editor within six (6) weeks of receipt of manuscript
- A fair and honest analysis at your manuscript
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Acceptance or rejection with 3 months of receipt of manuscript
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Preparing your Manuscript for Submission:
Please follow the following format when submitting your manuscript to us for consideration. Each heading should begin on a new page:
- Author’s Name
- Street Address or P.O. Box
- City, State, Zip Code
- Phone number
- Email address
- Alternate email address if you have one
- Full title of you manuscript
- Approximate word count (use word count from your word processor and round up to the next 100)
State the genre(s) that best fit(s) your manuscript
(choose 1 or 2 from the following list)
Fiction
- Mystery
- Crime
- Suspense
- Thriller
- Alternate History
- Historical Fiction
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Young Adult
Non-Fiction
- Christian oriented History
- Science
- Testimonials
- Memoirs
- Expository
- Word pictures and studies
- Edification
- Daily Inspirational
- Bible Studies
- Poetry
- Psalms
- Music
- Self-Help
- How-to
- Creative Nonfiction
- Learning
Title Page
Title of your Manuscript (Bold/Centered)
Name of Author
Synopsis
(Bold/Centered)
Your synopsis should be no longer than four (4) double-spaced pages. Shorter is preferred.
Body of Book
All Chapter Titles (Bold and Centered)
Begin each chapter on new page
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