Writing for Black Library – Open Submissions January 2023 Part 1: Pitching

Every year or two, Black Library announces an Open Submissions Window – a short period of time during which anyone can pitch a short story to the BL editorial team. Towards the end of 2022 BL announced that its next open subs window will begin in January 2023, with a specific theme of stories exploring Space Marine successor Chapters. In previous years I’ve put together articles and interviews full of advice from Black Library authors on how to pitch and write short stories, but it’s been a while since I’ve done that so now seems like a good time to do another one. Or, to be precise, another three! If you’re interested in writing for BL in general, and submitting to this open subs window in particular, I think you’ll find a lot of interest in these articles.

For this subs window I reached out to nine Black Library authors who have very generously shared their advice and observations on three topics – writing short story pitches, what makes a great Space Marine story, and general advice on writing short stories and putting samples together. My original plan was to put together a single article combining all three questions, but there was so much great content that in the end I decided it would be best to split things out into three articles – one for each of those topics. For this first article I’ve focused on writing short story pitches; check out Part 2 for a discussion of what makes a great Space Marine story, and Part 3 for advice about planning short stories and putting together writing samples.

The authors who have agreed to contribute to these articles are: Jonathan D. Beer, Sarah Cawkwell, Marc Collins, Denny Flowers, David Guymer, Gary Kloster, Jude Reid, Nicholas Wolf and Rob Young. Of those nine authors, seven actually came through previous open subs windows – Jonathan, Sarah, Marc, Denny, David, Nicholas and Rob – while Gary and Jude took slightly different routes (you can read about Gary’s route in his Author Spotlight interview). I’ve included quick bios for all nine authors at the end of the article, so do check those out if you’re not familiar with any of them!

Before we get into the good stuff about writing pitches, a couple of caveats. Firstly, I’m not an author myself (for Black Library or anyone else), so I would never claim to have any direct insight into how to write for BL. What I can offer, however, is access to lots of actual authors’ advice, ideas and guidance, all helpfully put together in one place! Secondly, it’s important to be clear that while what follows is really interesting advice, it’s categorically not gospel. There’s no one right way of doing things, and some of this advice may feel contradictory, but that’s the point. Use this to help guide you, but ultimately your story is unique to you.

Finally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Nicholas Wolf who really instigated these articles and motivated me to put them together. If you get anything useful out of them (and I’m certain you will), make sure you let Nicholas know and say thanks!

Pitching to Black Library

Part of the criteria for every Black Library open submissions window is that you need to pitch your story to the editors with a 100-word summary. If it sounds tricky to condense your story into just 100 words, then don’t worry – as David Guymer says, “you’re in good company! A lot of writers I know consider this to be harder than writing the actual story.”

Gary Kloster agrees: “I generally approach writing pitches with consternation. It’s not easy to condense a story into a handful of words.”

So what’s the key to writing a good pitch? Well, as you’ll see throughout this article the simple truth is that there isn’t one. I’ve certainly spoken to loads of BL authors over the years and everyone takes a slightly different approach.

There might not be one right way of doing it, but what advice can our nine BL authors offer regarding pitching? Well first of all, think about what the purpose of a pitch is and isn’t. Guymer describes it like this: “a pitch summary isn’t the same thing as a blurb. Its job isn’t to sell a book or to tease, it’s to inform an editor exactly what you’re going to be writing.”

It’s “a mission statement”, as Marc Collins says.

To Jonathan D. Beer, it’s something you use to “generate interest and intrigue – what is it about your story that is going to make the editor say, ‘Well, I have to know how this turns out!’?”

While a pitch is different to a blurb (i.e. the descriptive summary on the back of a book), a few of our authors suggest that blurbs can nevertheless give you a sense of, as Jude Reid puts it, how to put together “a strong idea of what the story’s going to be like, and hook [the reader] with the key question underlying it”.

“Think of it as a taster to whet the appetite before you dish up the main course of a fully plotted story,” suggests Sarah Cawkwell. “Bait the hook, wait for the fish to bite and then reel them in before revealing the rest.”

What can you fit into a 100-word summary?

You might be surprised at how much you can actually get across in 100 great words, but there’s no question that it won’t feel like a lot when you’re trying to describe a whole story. As Reid puts it, 100 words is “just enough to get the core idea of your story over and get whoever’s reading it interested.” Sounds simple, right? Of course it isn’t simple at all, but the one theme that all of our authors talk about is this being succinct.

Be “clear, concise and sharp,” says Collins.

“[It] doesn’t have to be a full synopsis, so don’t try and get the full plot summed up in 100 words,” suggests Rob Young.

Kloster agrees: “It’s not easy to condense a story into a handful of words – there’s no way to capture it all, and I think that’s the key. Don’t try to sum up everything, instead focus on the most important things.”

“There’s no real magic to it,” Guymer says wryly. “You just want to be succinct, precise, and hit every major plot and character moment whilst leaving out all extraneous details. Easy, right?”

But how do you go about condensing all of those key moments into 100 words and figuring out which details are extraneous? Well, the other recurring theme is about focusing on your characters – which sounds obvious, but is probably something that’s easy to lose track of when you’re in the midst of actually writing your pitch. We’ll come back to this point a little later on, but first…

Know your story

It might seem obvious, but as Cawkwell says, “writing a pitch is easier if you actually have a fully formed idea written down to start with.”

Denny Flowers agrees: “the pitch is a good test of whether you really know your story. It’s easy in the planning stages to get absorbed in devising cool characters, or dramatic twists and reveals, but sometimes by doing so you can lose sight of the plot. With a short story you don’t have the space for anything that doesn’t serve to move the narrative forward. So initially focus on the bare bones of the story: what is the situation your characters find themselves in?”

“It sounds glib,” Cawkwell continues, “but you need a beginning and an end. The middle is just stuff that happens in between those anchor points. I have a standing joke with some of the other BL authors that the ‘middle’ can always be summarised (outside of an actual pitch) as “shenanigans ensue” [which I love – I’m 100% stealing that to include in a review at some point – ToW]. But if you can say ‘character A finds themself in X situation; they have to deal with Y in order to survive before Z occurs’ and keep it succinct, you should be on to a good thing.”

Something that’s worth noting here is that most BL authors (and editors) I’ve ever spoken to have recommended focusing on one story and one pitch, and making it as good as you possibly can, rather than taking a “shotgun approach”, as Nicholas Wolf puts it. “I spent roughly seven years pitching to the Black Library before I was finally asked to write my first short in 2019,” Wolf says. “I had an unfortunate habit of throwing sometimes two, three, or four ideas at the wall rather than incorporating the most interesting ideas, settings, and arcs into a single submission and consolidating my efforts behind that.”

Putting it together

So you’ve got your great idea, and you’ve figured out the narrative beats that you want to happen. What’s next? How do you turn that into an actual pitch?

“Start small,” suggests Flowers. “Don’t try to cram your story idea into 100 words. Instead try writing a sentence, as short as you can, which summarises your plot. If you want some examples, have a look on IMDB. Each movie has a logline that outlines it in about twenty words. This is your initial goal. Once you have this you can expand on it, introducing the most important information.”

“Generally it’s the who, what, and where,” says Kloster. ‘Who’ being the main character, ‘what’ being the conflict that’s happening in the story, and ‘where’ being the setting.”

“You should probably name your protagonist unless it is an ensemble piece,” continues Flowers, “in which case you might just refer to ‘Squad Artemis’ or ‘the crew’. The setting might warrant a passing mention, or might be vital to the plot. If the crew are trapped in a sinking vessel surrounded by man eating hyper-sharks that feed on fear you might want to mention that, but if they are pinned down in a fortified bunker that’s probably all the information the editor needs.

Kloster agrees: “setting is variably important – sometimes it matters hardly at all, other times it’s critical. But the character and the conflict, and the relationship between the two, that’s the real meat of it.”

So again, it comes back to characters. “Make your character’s motives clear”, says Flowers. “At their core stories are about desiring something, whether it’s a lover, validation, victory, or survival. Do your crew want to steal the Lost Gem of MacGuffin, or do they just want to hide out and survive the night? Perhaps they are on shore leave and only desire a good time… until they start vanishing one by one. Or get eaten by vampire waiting staff. You get the idea.”

“Introduce your character(s) and what they’ll be facing in a way that makes the reader really want to find out more,” suggests Young.

“You’ve got enough words to introduce your protagonist and their ‘normal’ situation, the core conflict of the situation that they’re about to get embroiled in, and what’s at stake should they fail”, is Reid’s advice.

“On that note,” says Flowers, “the antagonist(s) should warrant a mention in the pitch too. This might be by name if they are a worthy foe (perhaps an honour duel or assassination target). But perhaps the threat is less clear; a dark shadow, and impending disaster, or a betrayal which tears the group apart.”

“Don’t feel that you need to describe in detail all the challenges your protagonist will face,” says Beer, “but do make it clear that something is preventing your hero from reaching their goal, and ideally touch on what it will cost them to overcome that barrier. Be upfront with your protagonist, and what is motivating them. Why do the events of the story matter to them? What will keep them pushing against the obstacles the plot throws up? “

“Finally,” says Flowers, “how does it end? Make it clear whether your tale concludes with a final confrontation, a race against time, or a doomed last stand. You do not need to say exactly how it will happen, or even exactly who survives, but your pitch is not a blurb; you do not need to be coy about the ending.”

What about an example?

So far, so theoretical, right? Well, over to David Guymer. “Let’s try it with an example that most people here will have read: Horus Rising.

“Horus Lupercal is one of the Emperor’s eighteen superhuman sons, tasked with leading His Space Marine Legions in the conquest of the galaxy. When the Emperor retires from the Great Crusade to return to Terra, Horus is the heir apparent to succeed him. But, when Horus is mortally wounded on the mysterious planet, Davin, he is visited by the Chaos Gods who trick him with visions of a future in which the Emperor is worshipped as a deity and Horus has been erased from memory. Horus turns his back on the Emperor and prepares for civil war.

“There you go. One whole book summarised in 94 words.”

I’d say that nicely covers the who, the what and the where!

“It is very hard to reduce your idea to a 100-word pitch,” reiterates Flowers. “You feel like all nuance is being taken out but don’t worry; everyone is in the same boat in that regard. What you want to be left with is a very clear story outline. Don’t worry if it feels a little dry; a pitch is more about clear communication than flowery prose.“

I think that’s an interesting point, about clear communication. There’s no question, your pitch is about selling your overall story more than your actual writing. At the same time though, as Beer suggests, ”don’t miss the opportunity to demonstrate your flair for prose. Ideally, the outline of your story should be just as engaging to read as your writing sample.” To me, from an external perspective, I think both points are right – don’t focus on making your pitch read beautifully, but all the better if you can.

Lastly, be patient

So this last section is less about the pitch itself and more about how to approach the overall process of pitching and submitting stories. Everything I’ve seen over the years that I’ve been chatting to authors, and following the progress of various BL open submissions windows, suggests that writing and submitting stories can be a tough process, with no guarantees of success. Nicholas Wolf makes what I think is a very important point: “my advice, which won’t really impact what you write but will impact your mental state, is to be patient and cultivate a thick skin.”

As Wolf mentioned earlier, it took him a fair few years of submitting before he had a story accepted, and I’ve heard similar stories from countless other authors. It’s impossible to say with any certainty why a particular submission might not make the cut, but there are some likely possibilities. “If I had to guess I’d say that my unsuccessful pitches were either too similar to what had been done before, or too different from what had been done before [see the ‘shotgun approach’ comment earlier – ToW].”

Rob Young agrees: “a lot of it is pitching the right story at the right time, and something that they don’t already have.”

When I chatted to Wolf he offered some fascinating insight into the realities of life as an author, which are worth including here in full. “From the time I submitted my pitch for my first story Reborn to the time I received my very first response was around nine months, so much so that I actually had to be reminded of what I’d submitted. Thankfully, I’d already been in the world of publishing long enough to know how slowly the wheels move (to paraphrase the late, great Douglas Adams, it’s like trying to cook a steak by having a succession of people come up and breathe on it), so I knew better than to be relentlessly refreshing my inbox for months on end waiting for an answer that may or may not even come.

“Also thankfully, I knew from my experience that being a successful author means being able to hear no, after no, after no, after no and somehow summon the will to move onto the next submission with the same confidence and vigor as the very first. This isn’t to say that you should go into this expecting failure, but you should have realistic expectations, starting with that writing is an extremely subjective field and your success or failure may have little bearing on the quality of your writing or your skill as an author.

“If that makes the process sound capricious and unfair, that’s because it is. But that’s also how the publishing industry (and really most creative industries) works.”

We’ll come back and talk a bit about this topic again in a later article, but I think it’s worth repeating. Writing and pitching can clearly be pretty tough, but don’t let that dissuade you! If you want to write for Black Library, put the work in and give it a go – just go in with your eyes open.

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So that’s it for this first article, looking at writing the 100-word pitch for a Black Library submission. I hope you found that useful! Even as someone who’s just interested in the publishing industry rather than an active author, I know I found a lot of that absolutely fascinating.

Massive thanks to all nine authors for taking the time to talk to me, and for contributing such fascinating insight! Now that you’ve finished this first article, check out Part 2 (what makes a great Space Marine story) and Part 3 (short story planning and writing samples) for more great advice and ideas.

The three topics in these articles are obviously directly related to the 2023 open subs window, but I think the answers are going to be relevant under any circumstances really, so do refer back to them even if you’re looking at this after the window has closed. Similarly, the vast majority of the earlier ‘Writing for BL’ articles and interviews I’ve put together are still very much worth reading and thinking about, so make sure you check those out too. You can find all of them on the Writing Resources page.

In particular, there’s loads of really useful advice on writing story pitches in the two Pitching Warhammer Horror articles – parts one and two.

About the authors

Jonathan D. Beer is a science fiction and alternative history writer, whose stories for Black Library have appeared in the anthologies Broken City and Sanction and Sin, and in the Warhammer Crime Week 2022.

Sarah Cawkwell is a freelance writer based in northeast England. Her work for Black Library include the Silver Skulls novels The Gildar Rift and Portents, and the Architect of Fate novella, Accursed Eternity. For Warhammer, she is best known for her stories featuring the daemon princess of Khorne, Valkia the Bloody.

Marc Collins is a speculative fiction author living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. Grim Repast is his first novel for Black Library. He is also the writer of the short stories Ghosts of Iron, Respite’s End, and Champions, All for Warhammer 40,000, and Cold Cases for Warhammer Crime. When not dreaming of the far future he works in Pathology with the NHS.

Denny Flowers is the author of the novels Fire Made Flesh and Outgunned, the novella Low Lives and several short stories. He lives in Kent with his wife and son, and has no proven connection with House Delaque.

David Guymer is a scientist and writer from England. His work includes many novels in the New York Times-bestselling Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes, notably Headtaker and Gotrek & Felix: Slayer, and the bestselling audio drama Realmslayer. He has also contributed to fantastical worlds in video games, tabletop RPGs, and board games.

Gary Kloster is a writer, a stay-at-home father, a librarian and a martial artist – sometimes all in the same day, seldom all at the same time. He lives among the corn in the American Midwest and his short fiction can be found in Analog, Apex, Clarkesworld and others. For Black Library, he has written the Necromunda novella Spark of Revolution, and a number of short stories.

Jude Reid lives in Glasgow with her husband and two daughters, and writes in the narrow gaps between full-time work as a surgeon, wrangling her kids and failing to tire out a border collie. In what little free time she has, she enjoys tabletop roleplaying, ITF Tae Kwon Do and inadvisably climbing big hills.

Nicholas Wolf is an author, artist and occasional musician. He’s written science fiction for several publications, and his work includes the Warhammer 40,000 short stories Reborn and Negavolt for Black Library. He lives and works in Arizona, with his family.

Rob Young is a copywriter and graphic designer from Lancashire. When he’s not reading or writing, you’ll find him working on his latest Warhammer project. The Roar of the Void is Rob’s first story for Black Library.

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