Thread by @JMReynolds

Let's have some fun. For every retweet, I'll tweet out one pitch of mine that Black Library rejected in the past ten years.

WHF short story. Dwarf captain hunts a dangerous merwyrm through the Sea of Claws. Climax involved a diving suit and rune-marked harpoons.

Blood Bowl audio drama. Cuts between commentators and gridiron action, with commercials.

Knights Panther. Sequel to Knight of the Blazing Sun. Set in Talabheim. Goetz and a new ally must face a deranged necromancer and a newly awakened (and very angry) Tomb King.

W40K Fabius Bile short story. Fabius teaches the children of his New Men about their purpose in life by letting them hunt down a captured Space Marine.

Gotrek and Felix short story. Gotrek Vs Mordrek the Damned in Tilea. Felix is nearly turned into a spawn. Gotrek punches a donkey.

Gotrek and Felix novel. Gotrek and Felix join an expedition to Norsca and run afoul of the plans of an exiled Chaos Dwarf sorcerer and his Norscan allies.

WHF short story. Canto the Unsworn assembles a team of notable Chaos champions to plunder the treasure vaults of a floating city in the Chaos Wastes.

AoS novel. Mannfred Von Carstein, Agent of N.A.G.A.S.H. Mannfred becomes involved in the byzantine politics of a free city, and battles a Chaos cult as well as the Sigmarite church.

Another Blood Bowl audio drama. This time, its Any Given Sunday, except with Blood Bowl managers.

Blood Bowl short story. Blood Bowl version of The Longest Yard. After a team is wiped out by a fluke accident close to the championship game, manager scrambles for replacements from the local prison. Hijinks ensue.

Lukas the Trickster short story. Lukas is assigned to the Wolfblade on Terra. Really, he's there to f*ck up the schemes of an Inquisitor trying to get dirt on House Belisarius.

WHF novel. Gorthor the Beastlord's rise to power. Like Bran Mak Morn, except a beastman.

WHF novel. Heinrich Kemmler and Krell buddy cop novel. They fight one of Kemmler's ancient rivals in an attempt to regain a lost artefact.

WHF novel. Based on a bit from an army book. Arkhan the Black and Khalida invade Sylvania. Sh*t happens. Whole bunch of vampires die.

WHF novel. Arkhan the Black and the Wars of the Dead.

WHF novel. Apophas Warhammer Heroes novel.

WHF novel. Settra Warhammer Heroes novel.

WHF novel. Gotrek and Felix go to Nagashizzar and fight ghouls. It was called Ghoulslayer.

40K novel. Mentors Legion. Five marines are dispatched to a minor war-zone in order to aid Imperial forces in diverse ways.

40K novel. Ecclesiarchy novel. Not a Sisters of Battle novel. Full on look at the Ecclesiarchy, how it functions, etc. Cannibalized some of the ideas for Apocalypse.

AoS novel. Dispossessed clan journeys to Aqshy to reclaim an old hold, now controlled by Fyreslayers. Initially hostile, the two groups must learn to work together as a Chaos horde lays siege to the hold.

WHF story. Ghorros Warhoof drunkenly defeats a challenger, and is approached by Archaon to join his forces. Ghorros implies Archaon is his illegitimate son, leading to a fight.

WHF novel. Boris Todbringer Warhammer Heroes novel. Twinned with...

WHF novel. Khazrak One-Eye Warhammer Heroes novel. In the Boris book, Boris takes his eye. In the the Khazrak book, Khazrak returns the favor...

WHF novel. Grimgor Ironhide Warhammer Heroes novel. Would have involved his escape from the Chaos Dwarfs and rise to prominence. Like Spartacus, but for Orcs.

WHF novel (series?). Time of Legends. Gorbad Ironclaw's invasion of the Empire.

WHF short story. Zavant Konniger investigates a Slaaneshi cult in Altdorf. Vido plays dice with a daemonette - and cheats to win.

Aos short story. Zephacleas Beastbane visits his descendants in Ghur and mediates a conflict between enemy tribes in order to stymie an encroaching orruk horde.

AoS short story. Gardus Steelsoul delivers the baby of an Azyrite noblewoman during a siege, and fights off would-be kidnappers looking to use the child for political ends.

AoS short story. A disparate band of Dispossessed adventurers search for one of the lost shrines of Valya, and run afoul of an army of malformed, spidery grots.

HH audio. Endryd Haar and co. smash their way into the upper reaches of an orbital spire-city, take the ruling family hostage and attempt to rob a stasis-vault in order to steal the ancient weapons within.

WHF audio. Gotrek and Felix run afoul of trouble during a harvest festival in the Mootland. Think the Wicker Man, but with halflings.

WHF novel. Azhag the Slaughterer Warhammer Heroes novel.

Blood Bowl short story. A third Middenplatz Manglers story, this time involving a high-altitude game over the Sea of Claws on a magical pitch.

Necromunda novel. Follows on from the Topek Greel short stories. Greel and co. organize a kidnapping in order to gain access to a high-speed mag-train carrying a fortune in Guilder merchandise.

WHF novel. Balthazar Gelt Warhammer Heroes novel.

40K novel. Lamenters novel. Exploration of culture, bad luck, etc.

40K story. Mentors Legion. Character from "Cadre" organizes slave revolt on ork-held factory world. Must earn the trust of rebels and fight Kommandos.

WHF story. Canto the Unsworn repays an old debt and finds himself at the mercy of an ancient rival. Canto gets swallowed by a toad-dragon in the process.

WHF novel. Gotrek and Felix seek to learn the true fate of Karak Vlag, and Gotrek must battle a Slaaneshi daemon in order to free the souls of his lost kin.

WHF novel. Gotrek and Felix go to Mousilion. Hijinks ensue.

40K story. Chaos cult romance story. Two cult members fall in love, one is promised to a daemon as a sacrifice. They try to escape and fail...or perhaps not.

40K story. Fabius Bile and co. capture a Genestealer Patriarch for research purposes. Things go...poorly.

WHF story. Gotrek and Felix visit the Altdorf Zoo. It goes badly for everyone.

WHF story. Zavant Konniger investigates a murder committed by a man dead for over a century, and gets involved in a case of inheritance fraud by vampires.

WHF story. The rediscovery of a lost play by Detlef Sierck prompts several individuals to attempt to claim it by any means necessary, including a Lahmian agent, a wizard, a halfling bounty hunter and a dwarf accountant.

Taking a pause to feed the ravenous goblin-child. I'll continue with the rejected pitches in a bit.

I should say at this point that all of these ideas were rejected for what were good reasons at the time. They were possibly too similar to something already in development, didn't fit the schedule, wouldn't have sold or were considered to be against the IP.

Anyway, back to it. WHF story. Gotrek and Felix are pursued by bounty hunters - turns out Gotrek owes back taxes and dwarfs take that sort of thing seriously. Gotrek must defend himself in court.

WHF story. A young knight must seek out and tame a demigryph before being made a full member of his order. Sort of a play on Androcles and the Lion, involving a Chaos beastie rather than a thorn.

WHF story. Knights of Manann story. Dubnitz must protect an obnoxious High Elf merchant from assassins during a tense economic negotiation.

AoS story. A follow up to "Auction of Blood", involving a banned grimoire purportedly telling the true story of the Pantheon.

Blood Bowl story. A halfling 'fixer' is brought in to find out who shaved a dwarf star player's beard right before a pivotal game.

WHF novel. Gotrek and Felix go to Lustria. Gotrek yells at a Slann and Felix is accidentally transported through time. Also, Luther Harkon shows up.

WHF flash story. A woman attempts to save her child from enemies, only to be rescued by a mysterious knight. The woman is a cultist, the child is a mutant and the enemies are witch hunters. The knight was Canto Unsworn.

WHF novel. Follows the adventures of a steam tank crew.

Blood Bowl story. Someone tries to steal the Stromfels Cup, unleashing a hurricane on the pitch. Also ghost-sharks. Our halfling 'fixer' must try to placate the god before the game is rained out.

WHF story. Gotrek and Felix in Sartosa, fighting pirates.

WHF story. As Marienburg is rocked by plague, the Knights of Manann must unravel a sinister conspiracy involving a spore-covered walking corpse.

Taking another break. I've only got a few rejections left in my notes and like thirty more retweets, so I might have misjudged people's interest in this sort of thing. Whoops.

And I'm back. Again, a reminder - these pitches were rejected for a variety of reasons. Some took the IP in directions BL wasn't comfortable with, some weren't easily marketable, some were too much like another pitch, and a few were just plain never going to sell.

One of the reasons I'm sharing them now - other than for my own amusement - is I figured it might be what could charitably be called a teachable moment.

One of the first lessons you have to learn in this game is that good ideas are a dime a dozen. To sell something, you need a good idea + the right time + the right person.

More goes into pitching a book or a short story than just coming up with a plot. You first have to *sell* that plot to an editor. To convince them that (a) its a good story and (b) you're the person to write it.

You have to be willing to come up with new ideas on the fly. And to change an idea to suit an editor or fit a new brief.

Rejection is a part of the game. It happens, even to those of who us who were lucky enough to be regularly published by BL. And it often has no bearing on your skill as a writer. Something to keep in mind, perhaps.

Anyway, back to the rejected pitches.

WHF story. Thyrus Gormann deals with the fall out from his defeat by Balthazar Gelt and takes his frustrations out on a fire-worshipping Chaos cult.

40K story. A coming of age story about a Purestrain genestealer and its cultist cousin. Like a Boy and his Dog, only more depressing.

40K story. Sly Marbo Vs. Boss Snikrot.

40K story. Trazyn the Infinite character study. Trazyn 'frees' a display piece in order to study them in more detail, and gets more than he bargained for.

40K story. Mercenaries in Commorragh rob a minor Kabal's fortress. Like the Wild Bunch, but with aeldari, human and xenos criminals taking on drukhari.

WHF story. A knight of Morr reluctantly joins forces with a Blood Dragon in order to end the growing threat of a Necrarch and his disciples.

WHF story. Gotrek and Felix seek out a mist-haunted tomb and battle the Firmir.

WHF story. Dubnitz and the Knights of Manann confront a rival order of knights in a shipboard tournament in order to decide a matter of honor.

40K story. Fabius Bile versus a younger clone of himself in a fiendish test devised by a drukhari haemonculus.

40K novel. Space Marine Battles: Skalathrax. Three POVs: World Eater, Emperor's Children, and a prisoner aboard the EC vessel.

40K audio. Lukas the Trickster mocks the Harlequins with a performance of his own.

And that's all of them. Or at least all of them I have notes on. There were others, of course. Some I can't mention, for obvious reasons.

A good many of these also wound up having bits and pieces of their structure cannibalised for other, more successful pitches. The Gotrek and Felix ones especially.

Some I could have tweaked and probably sold, but decided it wasn't worth the effort for various reasons.

Others were long shots that didn't pan out. All of them were learning experiences. That's another thing about rejection. It can teach you something, even if that something is to never pitch a story involving skaven to a particular editor.

Anyway, this has been my half-assed TED talk about rejection. Enjoy your Saturday night, and thanks for playing.