Thriller Press is a small publisher specializing in a narrow niche of fiction.  We are not looking for new authors at this time.  Please keep this in mind if you send us a submission and don't get a response from us.

Having said that, in the interest of our long term goals we will consider submissions in the following format.  

You may send us ten pages in the body of an email.  We will not open attachments.  The email address to submit to is submissions@thrillerpress.com.

Your ten pages should consist of a one page letter with the remaining nine pages the opening of your novel. In your letter, please summarize your novel in 2 or 3 sentences.  Also include any information about how you could help sell your book.  (A critical part of selling books in today's market is author's own marketing efforts. i.e., if your job is being a Talk Show Host, let us know!)  Please do not submit more than ten pages.  If we're not hooked on your story by then, we won't respond anyway, no matter how great the rest of your novel may be.

We pay small advances, preferring to concentrate our resources on fantastic cover design, website marketing and direct contact with bookstores.  If a book is successful it will earn royalties.

If, after reading our novels, you believe you have an intelligent, action-based thriller or mystery that would suit us, then please submit as described above.

Thank you,

Tyler Larsson 

CAVEATS

Please take a moment to consider that the typical successful fiction writer has done all of the following BEFORE submitting their work to agents and  publishing companies:

-Taken multiple creative writing courses with a focus on fiction. You will find a range of courses at your local community college or through a university's extension program.

-Enthusiastically read and studied an enormous volume of work in the genre, i.e. mysteries and thrillers.  If you don't read them voraciously, don't try to write them.

-Had their work scrutinized by a professional in the writing/editing field whether a writing teacher, a  friend in the business or an editor hired from an ad in Publishers Weekly.  Ask for referrals and check them out.  When you find one who comes well recommended, pay the few hundred dollars and see what you learn. Remember, you don't want someone who flatters you, you want someone who will pick apart every aspect of your writing, plot line, character development, dialogue, syntax, grammar, the works.  

-Attended several writing conferences and submitted his or her work to multiple critiques.  There are hundreds of writing conferences available throughout the year.  You can find them on the internet, or advertised in Writer's Digest and other writing magazines.  Pick three or four one week conferences and sign up for all of them.  Bring your completed novel to the first one.  After the conference is over you will have a thousand ideas of how to improve your work.  Rewrite accordingly, then take the result to the second conference.  At each stage you will see improvement that you didn't think was possible.  After taking your novel through four conferences, four complete rewrites, a dozen minor rewrites and a year or two of extra polishing, you'll be amazed at what you learned. Furthermore, you'll be glad you were spared the embarrassment of sending your work out earlier.

Every editor can tell you a thousand stories about writers who weren't prepared.  Here are some telltale signs that immediately show an editor that the writer is not a professional.

1. The writer's cover letter  calls their work a fiction novel, an embarrassing  redundancy.

2. The writer makes mistakes in grammar and spelling.

3. The writer's novel lacks a compelling hook or setup.

4. The writer's work has "purple prose" (excessively fancy writing) and does not demonstrate economy of words.  Mark Twain said, "Never use a quarter word when a nickel word will do the job."  E.B. White said, "Cross out any word or sentence that doesn't develop character or advance the plot. And eliminate all adverbs." Study Hemingway for writing economy. 

5. The novel doesn't start off with an immediate problem.  Fiction is all about conflict and resolution.  Read any good novel, whether a commercial "beach read" or a serious literary work or a fairy tale and you'll find that the story starts with a problem. 

Here is a short, very simplified example of typical rising plot curve. Note that these characteristics apply to most fiction, be it Moby Dick or Jurassic Park or The Old Man In The Sea or Harry Potter or Star Wars.  

The novel starts with a problem. Our hero (the protagonist)  tries to solve the initial problem, but the problem gets worse. The protagonist takes a different approach, but the difficulties multiply until the problem is overwhelming.  Eventually, our hero has an epiphany about how to solve the dilemma.  He or she gears up to take on the problem in a final do-or-die climactic battle, engaging the antagonist/bad guy on his own turf. The climax is followed by a short wrap-up/resolution. 

 Note that the "problem" can be Captain Ahab's whale or genetic manipulation of extinct dinosaurs which are now running amok or the old man's fish or the evil professor or Darth Vader. Also, every aspect of the novel can be literal or metaphorical.

Being that writers are so book oriented, it makes sense that a writer turn to books for information on the craft of writing.  You can learn anything from books, so why not writing?  

With that in mind we asked our writers to tell us which writing manuals they found most useful.

In reviewing them, we think that every writer, no matter how accomplished, can learn something new by reading what the masters of the craft have to say about the process.  

Buy these books listed to the right, read them, study them and then, after you have written a novel or two,  read them again.  

CLASSIC THRILLERS

In addition to books on writing, there are the classic thrillers. Ask any fan and they will rattle off a couple dozen great thrillers and mysteries. There is no better way to learn the craft than to live, eat, breathe and sleep the novels of the masters. 

Send us your list of the Top Five thrillers of all time to tyler@thrillerpress.com and we'll count up the votes and post them on an ongoing basis.

Our nomination for the best?  The best all-time-knock-you-
over-and-keep-you-up-all-
night thriller?

Thomas Harris's SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

Agree?  Disagree?  Email us your favorites and we'll post the results.

There are many dozens of books on writing. 

Here are two books about how to use words. The first you must have your collection. The second you should have in your collection.  

Strunk and White's THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE.  (by William Strunk and E.B.White) Although this book does not tell how to construct a plot, this is the bible of English usage.  At less than 100 pages it contains more information on professional writing than you can find anywhere else.  An absolute must.

THE WRITER'S ART by James J. Kilpatrick. This is another gold mine of wisdom about how to string words together.  It is even fun to read. 

The following books are in no particular order except, perhaps, the first one.

ON BECOMING A NOVELIST by John Gardner is simply the most comprehensive look at what it is to write fiction.  This book is no instruction manual, yet every page is filled with wisdom about how to think about fiction.  

HOW TO WRITE A DAMN GOOD NOVEL, books I and II by James N. Frey.  These books are more like instruction manuals and damn good ones at that.  Like taking an entire college major in fiction, Frey's books explain not only how fiction works, but how to write it.

ON WRITING by Stephen King. This is an instant classic by the master of the popular novel. It is inspirational to all writers and, to a lesser extent, instructional. A must for any writer's library.

HOW TO WRITE BEST SELLING FICTION by Dean R. Koontz.  As you know, Koontz knows whereof he speaks.  There are few substitutes for advice from someone who's been on the best seller list more than almost anybody.  Although this book is 20 years old, his advice still resonates.

FICTION WRITER'S HANDBOOK by Hallie & Whit Burnett. These two editors of Story Magazine published the first works by Norman Mailer, J.D.Salinger, Joseph Heller, William Saroyan, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote among others.  Credentials don't come any loftier and this standout manual on writing fiction lives up to its billing.

THE ART OF FICTION, another book by John Gardner, focuses more on the craft of creating stories.  How they work.  Why they work.