Submission guidelines:
Middle Grade manuscripts should be geared toward kids ages 10-13. The main characters’ ages should be between 12-13. The manuscript length should be between 50,000-65,000 words.
Young Adult manuscripts should be geared toward kids ages 14-17. The main characters’ ages should be between 16-17. The manuscript length should be between 75,000-100,000 words.
Adult manuscripts should be geared toward adults ages 18 and up. The preferred age of the main characters should be at least 19. Manuscript length should be between 80,000-120,000 words.
*please note: as of 7/7/2023, we will be closed to submissions unless you have met us at a conference*
Do you write speculative fiction for upper middle grade, young adult, or adult audiences?
Mountain Brook Fire was created out of our team’s love for speculative fiction and our desire to read quality fiction containing a quality message. Manuscripts need not be explicitly “Christian”–in fact, we prefer general market. However, we’re looking for fiction that is clean. Books having a Christian worldview without having a faith thread are appreciated.
We are actively seeking stories in the following genres and/or that contain the following elements:
Fantasy
Diverse worlds
Contemporary
Epic with a unique flair
Fairytales
(In short: we’re pretty open to fantasy!)
Science Fiction
Futuristic
Unique tech
Other Speculative Themes:
Supernatural
Superheroes
Steampunk
Etc.
While we are not actively seeking the following genres and/or themes and/or aesthetics, we are open to considering proposals that fall into these categories:
Wizardry or magic (if not too dark.*)
(*What counts as “too dark” is left up to publisher’s discretion.)
While we won’t automatically reject your proposal if it falls into one of these categories, we are not interested in these topics and/or genres and/or aesthetics at this time:
Post-apocalyptic/End times
Space Opera
Dystopian
Listen, we get it. “Speculative fiction” leaves the door open for a huge number of imaginative worlds and subjects! However, please don’t send us proposals for books in the following genres and/or containing the following themes and/or aesthetics. This just isn’t our brand, and your book won’t find its audience with us.
Witchcraft
Zombies
Paranormal
Vampires and werewolves
Horror
What We Need from YOU:
Please send a Word Doc with a proposal containing:
- A short bio
- Contact info
- Any writing/publishing credits
- Length of book (word count)
- Category/genre (and whether Christian or general market)
- Number of books proposed in the series
- How many manuscripts are complete (if any)
- A 1-2 page synopsis
- A complete overview of your marketing platform, including social media and newsletter numbers, etc.
- The first three chapters
Send as an attachment, with a short query letter in the body of the email.
If you are previously published, please include book titles, publishing company of each title, and how many books have sold of each title.
Please do your research on a professional proposal and send your best work, as that reflects on you.
SUBMIT YOUR QUERY/PROPOSAL TO
submissions@fire.mountainbrookink.com
w/ “Last Name – Book Title – Genre” in the Subject Line
We do not require an agent, but we do require you follow directions as they are laid out here, or we’ll need to reject your proposal.
Thank you,
The Mountain Brook Fire Acquisition Team