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A handy summary.

To summarise then, here are some handy do's and don'ts:

• Be sure you know the worlds and characters of Buffy and/or Angel inside-out.
• Don’t send a full manuscript to start with. A breakdown of the plot and a sample chapter or two will suffice.
• If you submit a proposal, don’t hassle the editor for a response for a while. They get hundreds of submissions, and whilst they do read all of them, it does take a while. You should check once to see if Simon Pulse have received it safely, but back off after that.
• Don’t tell the publisher that you know best when it comes to the characters in Buffy and Angel. They do. Trust us.
• Come up with original ideas, not just reworkings of, or sequels to, previous episodes or books.
• Make sure your submission makes good use of the shows’ characters. Don’t sideline them and spend excessive time on your own creations, however cool they may be.
• By the end of the book, make sure your regular Buffy or Angel characters are in the same state you found them in at the start. Killing Willow or having Spike run off with Tara doesn’t fit with ongoing continuity, so don't try it.
• Exploit the fact that you have an unlimited special effects budget. Create monsters as tall as skyscrapers. Blow stuff up. Open the Hellmouth if you want to.