Submissions

*Update* We are closing submissions until the beginning of 2012.

Anything sent in now will be immediately deleted. Please hold until further notice in early 2012.

 

We publish novels about regular folks having to deal with the repercussions of crime and the toll it takes on people. Sometimes there is a mystery element. Sometimes there is not. Our books tend to focus on the small scale world of individuals and not the international high stakes of populations. No ticking clocks. Though it’s old, this article kinda explains more about what we’re looking for.

Some guidelines for you:

  • Typically we don’t publish books featuring protagonists that work for initialed government agencies like the FBI, CIA, NSA, TSA, local PD, the DA’s Office, etc.
  • If there is a serial killer in your book, it probably isn’t for us.
  • If your book would require all sorts of cash for a special effects budget when it (inevitably) gets turned into a movie because of car chases, elaborate laser security work, science fair mushroom clouds, missile launches, high tech building set design, etc.—It’s not for us.
  • Ghosts, werewolves, vampires, spirits, gnomes, unicorns, aliens, fairies, chupacabras, angels, and mermaids aren’t typically part of the extended Tyrus Books Universe. We don’t do horror, western, sci-fi, fantasy, gopher lit, erotica, or paranormal. If you’ve created a new genre, we might be interested in hearing about it, but it needs to be a Tesla type invention, not Dyson.
  • If one of your selling points is “My book is sooooo violent” or “My novel has ten issues worth of Fangoria feature stories in the first 35 pages,” we’re happy for you. But the book? It ain’t for us.
  • We care more about the guy driving the car then we do about the car chase.
  • Books about organized crime aren’t our thing.
  • 60,000 – 100,000 words would be a nice range. But you know your story. It should be as long as it needs to be and not a word longer. Your book should be done. That doesn’t mean you’ve reached the last word, it means that it has been edited and re-edited and is your fifth draft. You’ve got one shot, make sure it’s the best one you can take.
  • We accept agented and unagented queries.
  • Even if your book isn’t for us, it’s not a personal thing. We’re just one publishing house that does what it does, just like you’re a writer doing what you do. We can still be friends even if we’re not business associates. We respect the hell out of you for writing and encourage you to keep honing your craft and writing the best book you can.

Ok, now that you’ve had a chance to see who we are and what we are looking for, feel free to email a query to us. Don’t attach or embed pages. Just drop us a “Hey, this is me and this is the book I wrote” introduction and we’ll proceed from there. Email address is submissionsATtyrusbooks.com (ATTN: SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED UNTIL 2012)