At Choice of Games LLC, we’re looking for authors to write interactive novels, that is, multiple-choice games, in the style of Choice of the Dragon and Choice of Broadsides. Our games are like “choose a path” gamebooks, but longer, deeper, and richer. They are written according to a distinctive set of game design principles.

Our games are written in a simple programming language called ChoiceScript which is used for designing multiple-choice games. Writing games in ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for writers with no programming experience.

Who We’re Looking For

Experienced writers in all genres for our Choice of Games label (read on)

Experienced romance writers for our new Heart’s Choice label (click here to learn about Heart’s Choice)

(click here to learn about Heart’s Choice) Hosted Games label (click here to learn about Hosted Games) Folks new to writing for our

Writing for Choice of Games

Writers can query our editorial team to write for the Choice of Games label. We seek applications from authors with published works:

Ideally, an applicant will have short stories in publication, a published novel, or an academic thesis.

If you have experience writing tabletop RPGs, narrative games, but not fiction as such, we’d be glad to consider you as well.

Game designers with little experience writing narrative or additional experience writing fiction, are not a good fit for what we do, but we encourage such applicants to try our Hosted Games label.

Our games, their design, and our company values are inclusive and egalitarian. We encourage applications from writers who are women and other marginalized genders, LGTBQ, disabled, and persons of color.

We currently have limited capacity for taking on new writers and projects.

If you’re a writer interested in writing under the CoG label, you’ll go through a process of consideration with our team, which may lead to you developing and writing a game. That process has several steps and the first one is to email us your CV at cog-submissions@choiceofgames.com. Be sure to mention how you heard about us.

Choice of Games Editorial Process

If your CV demonstrates sufficiently your background as a writer, we will invite you to submit a writing sample. Otherwise, we’ll invite you to write for our Hosted Games label, or let you know we’re currently at capacity instead. (Due to the nature of email, sometimes emails don’t get through; if you don’t hear from us at all within a month, feel free to reach out to us again.)

If your writing sample works for us, we will invite you to submit concepts written against a guide to writing concepts that we provide.

If one of your concepts works for us, we’ll invite you to submit a full pitch for a game, in the form of an outline, again, written against a guide to writing an outline we’ll provide to you.

If we accept your outline—most go through several rounds of revision with our team—we’ll offer you a contract to write a full game.

Once you’ve signed a contract with us, we’ll review your work and give you editorial notes and feedback at a number of word-count milestones. Your game will have a lead editor who will support you and your work throughout the writing process, as well as other staff who will contribute editorial input at various milestones. Most games take a year to 18 months from initial query to release to develop, write, edit, and produce.

Do not send us a pitch, game idea, writing sample, or game concept before we ask for one, even if you have a really great idea. Just begin by sending us your CV. At any time in the process we may decide something about your writing sample, concepts, or outline isn’t working for us–we don’t have any contractual relationship with you (and you don’t have any obligations to us) until we have a signed contract. If the process doesn’t work out for whatever reason, we’ll invite you to write your game for our Hosted Games label. You can apply to write for our Choice of Games label again in 12 months.

Choice of Games Contract

If we accept your outline, we’ll offer you a contract, under one of the following terms:

25% Royalties Against $7500 Advance: 25% royalties, and we’ll pay a total of $7500 over a series of milestones. Authors retain IP.

$7500 Contract Milestones

Outline accepted: We’ll pay $500 when we accept your outline.

First chapter: We’ll pay $1,000 when we accept your first chapter.

Second chapter: We’ll pay $1,000 after we accept your second chapter, at least 10,000 words of ChoiceScript.

Fourth chapter: We’ll pay $1,000 after we accept your fourth chapter.

Sixth chapter: We’ll pay $2,000 after we accept your sixth chapter.

Completed game: We’ll pay $2,000 after we accept 150,000 words/a completed game, usually 10 chapters.



10% Royalties Against $10,000 Advance: 10% royalties, and we’ll pay a total of $10,000 over a series of milestones. Authors retain IP. (Not all game concepts qualify for this plan, so please let us know early on which plan you’d prefer.)

$10,000 Contract Milestones

Outline accepted: We’ll pay $500 when we accept your outline.

First chapter: We’ll pay $1,000 when we accept your first chapter.

Second chapter: We’ll pay $1,000 after we accept your second chapter, at least 10,000 words of ChoiceScript.

Fourth chapter: We’ll pay $1,500 after we accept your fourth chapter.

Sixth chapter: We’ll pay $2,000 after we accept your sixth chapter.

Completed game: We’ll pay $2,000 after we accept 150,000 words/a completed game, usually 10 chapters.



90 days after publishing: We’ll pay $2,000 90 days after the release, or 150 days after acceptance of the completed game, whichever is first.

This is a short, non-binding description of our contracts. Contracted authors–please read your full contract for the legal details.

A Note about Intellectual Property

Under all of our current contracts, the author retains all intellectual property rights to their games, except for portions of their games contributed by Choice of Games or Hosted Games (such as the ChoiceScript engine and artwork paid for by Choice of Games). Authors are welcome to use other IP that they own–such as a setting developed for pre-existing novels, short stories, comics, or games–in developing their games to be published by us, and our contracts do not threaten authors’ ownership of that IP or ability to continue using it in other formats. Authors are also welcome to develop additional works using IP that they developed for a Choice of Games publication.

Occasionally, authors wish to use IP that they do not own in their games–for example, creating a licensed work using IP owned by another author. That can work, but only if the author is in a position to secure a license to use that IP for a Choice of Games or Hosted Games publication. Neither Choice of Games nor Hosted Games can publish games that rely on intellectual property owned by someone other than the author or us without a valid license.

Choice of Games Publishing Details

Choice of Games is a qualifying professional market for SFWA membership. Writing an interactive fantasy, science-fiction, or horror novel with us will qualify you for Active Membership, including the right to vote in the Nebula awards.

We’ll provide cover art.

A professional copyeditor will review your work.

We’ll advertise your work online.

Only Choice of Games label games are highlighted on the landing page choiceofgames.com

“ More apps by this developer.” On the App Store, when users view “more apps by this developer,” Choice of Games label games appear there; Hosted Games do not.

When we publish your ChoiceScript game, we’ll make it available in the following ways: Our website Our Choice of Games omnibus app in the App Store, for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Google Play Store Steam Amazon Kindle Fire (Amazon Appstore for Android)



Other Issues/Frequently Asked Questions about Writing for Choice of Games