FaQ
More items will be added to this as new questions are asked. If your question is not answered here, you may contact us directly.
Sales and Ordering
Q - What are the benefits of pre-ordering?
A - Most pre-orders not only give you access to a product before it goes live (typically a week or more), but products available for pre-order typically are on sale. A typical pre-order sale is 10% off.
A - Most pre-orders not only give you access to a product before it goes live (typically a week or more), but products available for pre-order typically are on sale. A typical pre-order sale is 10% off.
Q - Why pre-order? Why not just wait until I see you at a convention?
A - Pre-ordering, along with the benefits listed above, help us out greatly, as it gives us a better idea of the number of copies to bring with us to conventions. It also helps to more immediately pay for things like cover art, initial advertising, and (in the case of anthologies) author/editor payments.
A - Pre-ordering, along with the benefits listed above, help us out greatly, as it gives us a better idea of the number of copies to bring with us to conventions. It also helps to more immediately pay for things like cover art, initial advertising, and (in the case of anthologies) author/editor payments.
Q - Is <insert pre-order title here> going to be released as an ebook? Can I pre-order the ebook?
A - While we can't guarantee that we'll be given the digital rights to every book we publish in paperback form, you can assume that the title will indeed come out as an ebook! Ebooks get released on the official release date for a book. For example, if we open paperback pre-order on April 5th for a book being released on June 1st, the ebook will come out on June 1st.
Due to limitations with our website software, we cannot do pre-orders on any digital product, which includes digital music albums. With all of our digital projects, a download link gets emailed to you automatically once a purchase is complete. If an item isn't released yet, the software has no way of doing that.
A - While we can't guarantee that we'll be given the digital rights to every book we publish in paperback form, you can assume that the title will indeed come out as an ebook! Ebooks get released on the official release date for a book. For example, if we open paperback pre-order on April 5th for a book being released on June 1st, the ebook will come out on June 1st.
Due to limitations with our website software, we cannot do pre-orders on any digital product, which includes digital music albums. With all of our digital projects, a download link gets emailed to you automatically once a purchase is complete. If an item isn't released yet, the software has no way of doing that.
Q - I would like to sell your books at a convention. How do I go about that?
A - Check out our Become a Distributor page for more information.
A - Check out our Become a Distributor page for more information.
Q - I see a title has a certain Bite Level, but I'm still unsure what sort of content warnings I should expect. What should I do?
A - Feel free to contact us with your concerns. If you have any specific items you're looking to avoid, as sometimes topics that aren't sensitive for some are for you, please make sure to mention those in particular. We want to be as transparent as we feasibly can.
A - Feel free to contact us with your concerns. If you have any specific items you're looking to avoid, as sometimes topics that aren't sensitive for some are for you, please make sure to mention those in particular. We want to be as transparent as we feasibly can.
Q - Why buy ebooks from you versus Amazon/other booksellers? Why allow other people to sell them at all?
A - When you purchase an ebook from us, you get all of the available formats for the ebook, which means if you, for example, currently have a Kindle, and get tired of that, you can use another format to put the same book on a different, non-Amazon device.
Also, we get the full retail price for the book, and thus we can pay our authors their full royalty rates. This may require you looking up how to add a book to your device of choice manually, but it ensures everyone that worked so hard to bring you the final product gets compensated. When you purchase the ebook from another source, while us and the author still get compensated, it's at a lesser rate, since the entity you purchased the book from will want their own cut, but at least it's a sale, we get money, and you get to enjoy your book.
A - When you purchase an ebook from us, you get all of the available formats for the ebook, which means if you, for example, currently have a Kindle, and get tired of that, you can use another format to put the same book on a different, non-Amazon device.
Also, we get the full retail price for the book, and thus we can pay our authors their full royalty rates. This may require you looking up how to add a book to your device of choice manually, but it ensures everyone that worked so hard to bring you the final product gets compensated. When you purchase the ebook from another source, while us and the author still get compensated, it's at a lesser rate, since the entity you purchased the book from will want their own cut, but at least it's a sale, we get money, and you get to enjoy your book.
Q - Can I create an account? I don't remember what books I have/haven't purchased.
A - With the limitations of our software, customer accounts are not a possibility in the foreseeable future (unless we can manage to move to a new software). If you have a question about your orders, send us an inquiry with the name (or names) you've used to place orders in the past, and we'll give you a list of all the books you've purchased. Like all of our emails, it will likely be answered within 24 hours, but will definitely be answered within 48 hours. We apologize for the inconvenience, and if a better solution becomes available, we will certainly be looking into it.
A - With the limitations of our software, customer accounts are not a possibility in the foreseeable future (unless we can manage to move to a new software). If you have a question about your orders, send us an inquiry with the name (or names) you've used to place orders in the past, and we'll give you a list of all the books you've purchased. Like all of our emails, it will likely be answered within 24 hours, but will definitely be answered within 48 hours. We apologize for the inconvenience, and if a better solution becomes available, we will certainly be looking into it.
Q - What happened to free USPS Media Mail shipping?
A - Due to the rising costs of USPS shipping, we are unfortunately no longer able to offer free shipping. The $3.00 flat rate we're charging is still less than actual shipping on most orders, but on some of those orders, $3.00 is nearly our entire profit margin, which we can't afford to put towards shipping if we plan to continue existing.
A - Due to the rising costs of USPS shipping, we are unfortunately no longer able to offer free shipping. The $3.00 flat rate we're charging is still less than actual shipping on most orders, but on some of those orders, $3.00 is nearly our entire profit margin, which we can't afford to put towards shipping if we plan to continue existing.
Q - I'm having trouble figuring out what I like. Can I message for recommendations?
A - In a resounding voice, ABSOLUTELY! One of the biggest joys we get to have at conventions is to talk about how much we love our titles, as well as the work both our authors and our team have put into them, and we would love to do the same thing online for you!
We do ask, however, that you provide a little more information than, "I can't decide what to buy. What should I get?" Give us some of your interests or things you're look for/looking to avoid in a book. Maybe link us to other books you want similar content to. Something that can give us a little guidance. If you are worried about specific content warnings in a book, or wish to ask further about the content of a certain book, you can also ask that!
We recommend you either message us about this through our online form, or via a direct message on Twitter @goalpublication or @fangedfiction.
A - In a resounding voice, ABSOLUTELY! One of the biggest joys we get to have at conventions is to talk about how much we love our titles, as well as the work both our authors and our team have put into them, and we would love to do the same thing online for you!
We do ask, however, that you provide a little more information than, "I can't decide what to buy. What should I get?" Give us some of your interests or things you're look for/looking to avoid in a book. Maybe link us to other books you want similar content to. Something that can give us a little guidance. If you are worried about specific content warnings in a book, or wish to ask further about the content of a certain book, you can also ask that!
We recommend you either message us about this through our online form, or via a direct message on Twitter @goalpublication or @fangedfiction.
Submissions and Queries
Q - I see you aren't open for submissions, but I really want to send you this story anyway! Should I?
A - No, 100% not. Our submission guidelines (including dates of when certain markets are open) act not only as guide to prepare you story for us to read, but they also act as a test to see if you can follow directions (and thus work with an editor). Ignoring any part of the guidelines, especially something as major as submitting to us when we aren't open, not only will ensure your story doesn't get read, but might make us consider not reading your work in the future.
A - No, 100% not. Our submission guidelines (including dates of when certain markets are open) act not only as guide to prepare you story for us to read, but they also act as a test to see if you can follow directions (and thus work with an editor). Ignoring any part of the guidelines, especially something as major as submitting to us when we aren't open, not only will ensure your story doesn't get read, but might make us consider not reading your work in the future.
Q - I want to submit this story, but I don't know if it adheres to your content guidelines. Will I be faulted for submitting if it doesn't?
A - 99 times out of 100, you will not be. The most common case of this is the question, "Does my story fit the anthology theme?" If you can sell us upon submission that you believe it does, we'll look at it. Who knows? Maybe we are super into your loose interpretation of the theme, and it can be a standout in the collection.
That 1 time out of 100 would likely mean we asked for you to specifically not include a topic (hate against a specific group of people, rape (which includes sex with those that can't consent), etc.) and you included it anyway. Then we would indeed hold that against you. So don't do that.
A - 99 times out of 100, you will not be. The most common case of this is the question, "Does my story fit the anthology theme?" If you can sell us upon submission that you believe it does, we'll look at it. Who knows? Maybe we are super into your loose interpretation of the theme, and it can be a standout in the collection.
That 1 time out of 100 would likely mean we asked for you to specifically not include a topic (hate against a specific group of people, rape (which includes sex with those that can't consent), etc.) and you included it anyway. Then we would indeed hold that against you. So don't do that.
Q - I'm under 18 years of age/am a legal minor in my country, and I want to send you a story! Can I do so?
A - You can, but please note that to accept the story, we must be able to sign a legally-binding contract with you. This means we'd have to have your parent or legal guardian sign the contract, with all rights involved to alter the contract when you become a legal adult, reverting rights to you. Under no circumstances will we allow your parent or legal guardians to retail ownership of your contract after you become a legal adult.
A - You can, but please note that to accept the story, we must be able to sign a legally-binding contract with you. This means we'd have to have your parent or legal guardian sign the contract, with all rights involved to alter the contract when you become a legal adult, reverting rights to you. Under no circumstances will we allow your parent or legal guardians to retail ownership of your contract after you become a legal adult.
Q - My story is only partially completed, but I want to send it to you before submissions close. Am I allowed to?
A - If your story is a short story for an anthology, the answer is no. That must be complete before submitting. If you're sending a novel/novella (over 15k words), then yes. If you've completed at least the first 50% of your story, then you may send it over. If you you do this, please include an estimated date on when you might complete the story, as if we accept your story, we'll want a hard deadline. We understand that in the process of writing, you may not know exactly what "50%" means in terms of word count. Whatever you think 50% might mean, make sure there's a little more written, and send that in. We typically have a good idea of whether we want to accept or reject a story in the first 20 pages anyway, but this gives us more to work with.
Due to length, we are currently unable to extend this to Pocket Shots.
A - If your story is a short story for an anthology, the answer is no. That must be complete before submitting. If you're sending a novel/novella (over 15k words), then yes. If you've completed at least the first 50% of your story, then you may send it over. If you you do this, please include an estimated date on when you might complete the story, as if we accept your story, we'll want a hard deadline. We understand that in the process of writing, you may not know exactly what "50%" means in terms of word count. Whatever you think 50% might mean, make sure there's a little more written, and send that in. We typically have a good idea of whether we want to accept or reject a story in the first 20 pages anyway, but this gives us more to work with.
Due to length, we are currently unable to extend this to Pocket Shots.
Q - My story was rejected. Are you okay with me asking why?
A - The short answer is not particularly, no.
The longer answer: while we won't hold it against you for future submissions for asking why (unless you're rude in your reply), if we do reply, we're likely to give the same/a similar answer to all: "The story just wasn't right for our market at this time." Most markets outside of a tight-knit community like furry will indeed hold it against you for responding to your rejection at all (even something like, "Thank you for your consideration and good luck with the project"). Our editors have attempted to give detailed rejection letters in the past, which often ends up as an argument of something like, "You just didn't understand my story well enough," or, "well I can fix those things and resubmit, right?".
We really do appreciate your submissions, as without submissions, we wouldn't have new content to publish. Please understand there are a lot of factors involved when deciding whether or not to accept a submission, and while your story may not be a good fit for the market it has been submitted to, it may be good fit for another market of ours, or a market that's not ours.
A - The short answer is not particularly, no.
The longer answer: while we won't hold it against you for future submissions for asking why (unless you're rude in your reply), if we do reply, we're likely to give the same/a similar answer to all: "The story just wasn't right for our market at this time." Most markets outside of a tight-knit community like furry will indeed hold it against you for responding to your rejection at all (even something like, "Thank you for your consideration and good luck with the project"). Our editors have attempted to give detailed rejection letters in the past, which often ends up as an argument of something like, "You just didn't understand my story well enough," or, "well I can fix those things and resubmit, right?".
We really do appreciate your submissions, as without submissions, we wouldn't have new content to publish. Please understand there are a lot of factors involved when deciding whether or not to accept a submission, and while your story may not be a good fit for the market it has been submitted to, it may be good fit for another market of ours, or a market that's not ours.