What We’re Looking For:
At Aethon Books, we’re open to all genre fiction, with a focus on Science Fiction and Fantasy. We don’t care what sub-genre you write in. Hard Sci-fi, Epic Fantasy, Romantasy, Space opera, LitRPG, Military SF, Alt/History, Time Travel and more, our main concern is story, story, story. We are also now open to Thrillers of all types, though with an emphasis on Action, Political, and Military Thrillers.
A compelling narrative should pull us through your world, rife with three-dimensional characters, urgency, and enough conflict to keep things interesting. Make us think, make our heart race, but never forget that the most important thing to us when it comes to fiction, is the plot itself.
We are only looking to publish novel-length work that can either stand-alone or are part of a greater series. No novellas or short story collections at this time. No poetry or plays, graphic novels, or anything else that is plainly not a prose novel.
Some other aspects we feel are crucial to a memorable novel:
• A strong “voice.” Whether written in the 3rd or 1st person, this is crucial in helping readers connect with a character.
• Good pacing. A story should feel neither rushed nor drag. At the end of every chapter, keep us wanting to flip the pages.
• Characters that feel like they could really exist and aren’t simply plot devices that change when it suits the storyline. They love, they hate, and they are consistent.
• Being completely original seems impossible these days, but your universe should feel unique. World-building is crucial in fantasy and Science Fiction, and we want our readers to be transported to an entirely new time and place.
• Not all twists are created equal, but we strive to put out books that aren’t predictable. Shock us… if you can.
If you are selected for publication, we will do everything in our power to get your book in front of readers. We’re not here to deceive or claim we can do the impossible. Our focus will be on crafting a dedicated marketing plan that will take advantage of the power of e-readership. When launching a new book, it isn’t about how many copies you sell out of the gate, but who you sell them to. We will identify where your book best fits in the market, and start out by targeting those readers to give your novel a solid platform of fans on which to build off before expanding.
Our books will be published in all English-language territories – notably the US, Canada, UK and Australia – so we’ll be buying rights to cover all those. It is our goal to bring all our books to eBook, Print, and Audiobook formats. What do you get by signing with us? We try and do it all as a full-service publisher, so that you can focus on what you do best—writing. That means editing, Covers, Scheduling, Casting Narrators, a dedicated Advertising / Marketing plan for your specific book, and so much more.
***Aethon Books is committed to the publication of works by writers of all genders, ethnicities, color, orientation, nationalities, and religious or political beliefs. We are concerned only with the quality and commercial viability of the works submitted to us, and not on the personal backgrounds of the authors.
Email us with a cover letter pasted in the email and the first 50 pages of your manuscript to submissions[at]aethonbooks.com as a .doc or .docx attachment. Again, at this time we are only seeking novel-length submissions.
If you have any further questions? Contact us.
Note: Due to the volume of submissions that come along with an open door, we are not able to respond to each submission individually. Please feel free to reach out after 90 days if you’ve not heard back from us.