The Design Mechanism is always keen to work with freelance writers, new or established, on its games and supplements. From time to time we actively seek submissions and always welcome proposals for new books to add to our catalogue. At the moment, we are actively looking to produce more adventures and expansions for the following titles:
- Monster Island
- Mythics Britain, Rome and Constantinople
- Luther Arkwright
- Thennla
- After the Vampire Wars
- Worlds United
We're interested in scenarios primarily, but will also consider expansions to the campaign settings (such as new regions of Monster Island, new parallels for Arkwright, new Mythic Britain kingdoms and so on) too.
We welcome first-time writers, and we have an experienced and highly supportive team of editors here at TDM to assist those who might be thinking about writing for the first time.
Submissions should be between 9,000 and 23,000 words in length (about 16-42 pages of 8.5x11 letter, single-spaced, 10pt font in Word or Pages). Note that we're not looking for submissions for Classic Fantasy: we have a full pipeline for the CF range. We are looking to support and expand our other settings. Also, we're not, at the moment, looking for submissions for books already in progress, such as Lyonesse, Mythic Babylon or Mythic Polynesia.
If you're interested, here's what to do.
1. Before sending us anything, take a look at how we do things in our various scenarios and publications. Look carefully at how things are structured and how we present them. Don't rush with your idea; do some research and take your time. Play test your idea at least once. Make sure it works and makes sense.
2. Send a proposal email to submissions@thedesignmechanism.com. Outline your idea or proposal clearly and in no more than 2-3 short paragraphs. If a scenario, tell us which publication from the above list it is for, and briefly what it's about. If its a setting expansion, explain what it aims to do and where it is set.
3. Be patient. It may take some weeks before you hear from us. Be prepared for us to ask for more information. Be prepared for us to send a polite rejection. If we turn your idea down, don't take it personally; you can certainly submit other ideas. If we accept your idea, we may ask you to do some more work on it and resubmit.
4. Make sure your idea is original. We do not want things you've submitted to other publishers that have simply been changed slightly for Mythras. Your submission should not have seen print elsewhere. We prefer original content, and content that fully showcases the Mythras rules and the settings listed above.
5. If accepted, continue to be patient. It can take up to a year (sometimes more) for an accepted scenario to see publication. We may decide to incorporate your idea into an anthology of linked pieces, (such as Book of Quests, for example), and this can take even more time.
We do pay for submissions that we publish, and the amount varies depending on experience and the nature of the proposal. It may be a flat fee, or it may be an amount per word. We will discuss this with you if your proposal is accepted.
If you're interested in contributing but your idea is outside the above, by all means enquire first. If something is fun, original, and interesting, we will consider it.
If we like what you propose, we will send you our Submission Guidelines which tell you more about what we want to see and how we want to see it. Some Submission Guidelines are tailored to a particular release and some are open-ended. We will send the most appropriate based on our discussions.
DO NOT SEND US UNSOLICITED MATERIAL. You might have that perfect 30 page scenario, playtested and neatly written-up, but we may not have time to read it. It may not fit with our plans. It is far better for you to contact us first, as outlined above. If we really want to see material you've already prepared then we'll ask for it at the appropriate time.
