As writers ourselves, we know how many hours and how much of your soul goes into producing your work. We feel strongly that equal partnership is the way to go.

Royalties are split 50/50.

-Times New Roman 12pt font

-Double spaced

-1/2" tab indent

-Aligned left

-Single space after periods

-Page numbers in the bottom right footer

-Chapter headings (even if just a number) centered & bolded

-" instead of ' for dialogue.

If the work in question is currently or has ever been published on Amazon, most likely not. Amazon is extremely thorough and sensitive when it comes to plagiarized works, and will flag our account if we publish a work previously listed, even if it has been taken down. Getting flagged can result in Shadow Spark’s Amazon account being permanently deactivated.

If the work has been published for free on a site like Wattpad or Storyapp…possibly. The work would have to be scrubbed from the internet in its entirety well before publication with Shadow Spark. The House would retain the right to cancel our contract with the author if we are flagged for plagiarism.

-Covers are made in House by Jess. You are free to submit commissioned art for the cover if you wish, provided you hold distribution rights for said art.

-90 days or less from approval of final edits to publication, including a 30-day pre-order period if desired.

-Free marketing advice from Mandy to help you develop your strategy, and exposure on our socials.

-One author copy will be sent to you free of charge upon publication.

-A community of writers. We have an active Discord server where you can chat with our other authors on any number of subjects, from marketing strategies to craft talk, to House suggestions. We even have a complaint department channel, in case you need to vent about something, as well as a playlist where we share what music inspires us, a panic room, a place for questions, and a check this out channel, where you can brag about your successes. There’s also a general channel, where our authors chat about whatever crosses their minds.

-Secret Santa! Participation is voluntary, and the price point is set at $50 USD. We draw names in October and notify each author to let them know who they are buying for that year. Jessica and Mandy also participate! Unboxing is done over a shared Teams call, and is great fun!

Scheduling for the entirety of your contract is done in advance, and is agreed upon by all parties. Once dates are set, they are non-negotiable. We publish many novels each year, and will not push another author’s work back in order to accommodate you. In the case of an unforeseen life event, we may be able to work something out, but as a rule, we are firm in our scheduling. Once you agree to your dates, we expect you to hold to them. We will do the same. That being said, if an author is disabled and/or chronically ill, we will develop a more flexible schedule that works for both the author and the House.

Once your start date for editing arrives, send your manuscript to us via email. You will get a confirmation of receipt email. We do two rounds of edits, so after we have completed our first pass, your manuscript will be sent to you. Send us a confirmation email so we know you have it, and complete all edits within the specified time according to your schedule. Send it back to us on the correct date. The process will repeat, typically with a second editor.

When you submit your final edits, we also require the back blurb, a dedication or acknowledgments (if you want one), keywords you’d like used, a content warning (if needed), your author photo and bio, cover art (if you have it commissioned), & anything else you want to be included in the final novel, such as interior maps or artwork.

Once final edits are returned to us, Mandy takes over formatting, while Jess creates your full and ebook covers, which are submitted to you for final approval.

Ebook pre-orders, if you want them, go live one month prior to publication. Paperbacks and ebooks are available for purchase on our website, as well as on Amazon and other major platforms.

If you are an SSP author and have questions, concerns, or anything else, feel free to email Jess and/or Mandy at the House email. We will respond as soon as we can.