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submit to us

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adventure

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publishing is an

Publishing should be full of excitement and joy and peace, not trepidation and anxiety and stress. Publishing should be beneficial to you, the author, and not like making a deal with a greedy mobster. Publishing should be like a dream come true. Publishing should be focused on God and pursuing Him.

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We're here to make publishing great again. (Okay, that was cheesy. LOL.) But seriously. Unlike politicians and businesspeople, we're not making empty promises or trying to benefit ourselves. We're here to bring God back into publishing, authors back into publishing, excellence and beauty and passion back into publishing.

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So submitting to us starts with one simple thing:

prayer

Before you do anything else, take a breath and talk to God. Lift your desires up to Him and let Him handle all your worries. And let us handle the rest!

        We're bringing ease and peace back to publishing by minimizing the stress authors have to take on (from financial stress to handling all the crazy legalities to dealing with rejection) and by offering something few other publishers can: the knowledge that we're for you, your convictions and beliefs, your passions, your story, your benefit, and not our own profit or status in the industry. We're here to give you an experience you can enjoy every moment of, adjust to your schedule, and be completely confident in.

        Consider us your tour guide on your publishing journey. And the first stop is submissions!

We've taken the confusion and guesswork and stress out of querying, creating a proposal, the whole nine yards. You can download our guide to submitting your story by clicking the button below or the text above. The guide covers each step in detail + examples, so you don't have to worry or scour the internet for tips on writing a query letter or proposal. We've cut out the middleman and made it simple for authors of all ages and stages to get their story on our desk. All you need is a finished manuscript and an email address!

step #1: query

Craft your query letter per our guidelines (see the guide above!) and email it to our acquisitions editor, Grace A. Johnson, at skysthelimitpress@gmail.com! Make sure the subject line is "Query for [Book Title] by [Author Name]", then hit send and kick back and relax! You should hear back from us within 3-5 business days...and you'll receive one of two responses. If we were intrigued by your query and want to know more about your story, we'll ask you send us a proposal! But if we don't think your story is a right fit for us, we'll let you know. The last thing we want is for you to be stuck with the wrong publisher, so even if we don't feel right publishing your book or like it's time for you to start pursuing publishing, we'll work with you to get to there!

step #2: send the proposal

If we request to send your proposal, you'll email us a document that gets us intimately acquainted with your story, from the writing to the overall plot to the story behind the story, and with you! This is your chance to share why you write and what this story means to you—and why that matters to us!

       Creating a proposal can be hard, but that's why we've broken down the steps to making one + included an example proposal in our submissions guide so that you don't have to do any googling or stressing. 

step #3: send your manuscript

If we like your proposal and sample chapters, the natural next step will be to request your manuscript. Now, we don't take this decision, or any of those involved in this process, lightly. We prayerfully and carefully consider the submissions we receive and make our decisions based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If we believe this is the place for your story, we will ask you to send in your manuscript and will send you a contract. If you have any questions about what the contract contains, feel free to contact us and ask!

       We do have formatting guidelines for your manuscript that make it easier for us to review your manuscript and prepare it for publication, so please ensure you follow them before sending in your story!

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As a rule, if you have a project you love and think would be a perfect fit for Sky's the Limit Press, we want to know! But we do have preferences and specific kinds of stories we're looking for, so it's worth considering what we stand for and intend to publish before you submit.

        We're looking for stories of light and life. Beauty and passion. Hope and truth. As Christians, we're instructed to set our minds of heavenly things, things that are praiseworthy and pure—and here, we apply that to writing. So what exactly does such a story look like?

content that's authentic & edifying

Content, from the characters' internal struggles to the heavy topics addresses, should be honest and realistic rather than sugarcoated, glossed-over, or contrived. We want stories that tackle the tough stuff in a healthy, helpful way. We want stories that open the line of communication rather than cut it off, by encouraging questions and consideration and fostering biblical convictions. We want readers to walk away from the books we published feeling uplifted, enlightened, and turned toward Christ rather than away from Him.

belief that's believable

Flannery O'Connor stated in her essay “The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South” that it is the novelist's job to "make belief believable." We've been tasked with offering something real and true and life-changing to our readers: faith in God. Stories that capture the essence of the Christian walk, the beauty of Christ's love, and the divine purpose of life aren't flimsy cardboard cutouts; rather, they possess additional layers that support their themes and messages. We want to see stories that invite readers to journey along with the characters and grow in faith, that explore the depths of Christianity, that make God tangible through their words.

biblically correct over politically correct

The publishing industry these days is dominated by trends and political ideology. Submissions are judged by the author's race and sexuality rather than their skill, and novels are used to preach political agendas instead of weaving intriguing tales. The desire to be "politically correct" has trumped the true purpose of literature: to entertain and explore. But we're not politically correct. We're here for your diverse cast—as people, not diversity points. We're here for your discussions on sexuality and gender—from a biblical perspective. We're here to discover truth alongside you in your writing.

a higher form of excellence

A few bad apples have given Christian or faith-based fiction a bad rap. Instead of being the leader of the literary industry, CF has been pushed to the margins for being cheesy, preachy, cookie-cutter, legalistic, etc. Christian writers are abandoning the genre altogether to pursue secular fiction under the belief that Christian = poor quality. Well, we're not going to complain about the poor quality CF books out there now. We're here to make the changes we want to see in the genre. We believe that a Christian perspective and themes of faith can and should enhance your story. Christian media should reach a higher form of excellence because the Creator of the universe Himself is guiding and equipping us. Of course, excellence isn't attained overnight; it's a journey, one we want to take with you. But we do strive to publish books that reach for that higher excellence, that reflect our God-given talents, and that glorify God.

Now, as for the specifics...we're actively looking for Christian and faith-based novels in a variety of genres. Novels should be between 60k and 300k (yes, we are willing to tackle your giant epic!) in word count. 

        We are open to the following genres in the adult, NA (new adult) and YA (young adult) markets:

  • fantasy

  • historical fiction

  • contemporary fiction

  • suspense

  • mystery

  • slice-of-life and literary fiction

  • women’s fiction

  • speculative

  • romance in any genre (historical, contemporary, fantasy, etc.).​

        We’re not looking for trends, fandom fodder, or overly tropey stories. (Bring on the tropes, please, but ensure your story has a lot going for it beyond the labels!) Instead, we’re looking for stories that have unique, well-executed premises; engaging, developed characters; poignant themes; and quality prose. Your story should speak for itself.

        We are not actively looking for MG (middle grade) books or children's books; however, if the right story comes across our desk, we'll certainly consider it!​

        We're also not currently looking for nonfiction submissions; however, we will consider Christian nonfiction such as devotionals, Bible studies, or other books relating to Christian living. We currently do not accept memoirs, self-help books, biographies, essays, or other forms of nonfiction.

        If you're uncertain if your story would be a good fit for Sky's the Limit Press or if this is even the route you want to go, you're welcome to contact us or schedule a discovery call! You can learn more about our submission guidelines and what kind of content we will/won't accept here.

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