If you’ve got ever dreamed of weaving grimdark tales of the Imperium and its many foes, or have already got a secret folder stuffed with your Fabius Bile x Belisarius Cawl fanfic, your time is now. Black Library—the house of Warhammer novels—has as soon as once more flung open its doorways and put out an open name for pitches.
All you’ll want to do is ship them a scene of a brief story you would like to jot down (not more than 500 phrases) and in the event that they prefer it, they could fee you to do the total factor. From there, something’s potential—quick story writers for Black Library usually go on to jot down full Warhammer novels. No different references or portfolios are required, so it truly is open to completely anybody who thinks they have the chops to take a crack.
There are some restrictions in your story, nonetheless. The theme this 12 months is the assembly of two iconic characters. So your scene has to function two named figures from both Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, each of whom have had a miniature sooner or later of their historical past. If that is not an invite to make your two favorite Space Marines kiss I do not know what’s, however I suppose you would additionally write a few cool battle or a tense trade of phrases or one thing, if you wish to be all prudish about it.
A barely odder restriction is that the scene has to happen in one in every of a handful of areas. For 40k it is Vigilus (an Imperial planet underneath siege by mainly everybody), Commorragh (the nightmarish house metropolis of the Drukhari), or Armageddon (a world identified primarily for its countless wars with the Orks). It does really feel like that limits your choices a bit—Vigilus is pretty generic, however I’m unsure what story you’d write in Commorragh that is not “Drukhari being snippy with one another” or “a man getting tortured”, and equally Armageddon appears like the perfect backdrop for “man fights Ork” and little else. But I’m positive followers extra inventive and lore-savvy than me may have concepts effervescent already.
The choices are a bit extra attention-grabbing for Age of Sigmar, not less than. The first is Hammerhal Aqsha (one half of a multicultural metropolis that is stretched throughout two dimensions), the Eightpoints (the nexus between the realms, at present lorded over by the forces of Chaos and the setting of numerous tribal skirmishes within the sport Warcry), and Shadespire (the unique setting of Warhammer Underworlds—a cursed metropolis stuffed with ghosts, trapped inside a mirror, that lures heroes of each faction right into a surreal and deathless battle for magical artifacts). Between these three you’ll be able to most likely put anybody you need collectively, although Age of Sigmar definitely has much less established named characters to attract on.
It most likely goes with out saying, however Games Workshop felt the necessity to add it anyway: you’ll be able to’t do a crossover between the 2. No making Sigmar meet the Emperor—Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar are nonetheless separate universes.
If all that is sparked any inspiration for you, it is time to begin prepping your submission now. You’ll solely have the ability to ship it in between February twenty second and March ninth (particulars to return on Warhammer’s official website on the twenty second), so do not dawdle. Only one entry is allowed per individual, too, so ensure that it is good.
I’ll be getting cracking myself on my epic story of Archaon the Everchosen and Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead, awkwardly bumping into one another within the queue at their native deli. Just as you assume they is likely to be able to bury the hatchet, they uncover solely one in every of them can have a BLT as a result of there’s an surprising scarcity of tomatoes. Original concept, please don’t steal.
