North Atlantic Books

Below are some prompts for a successful proposal, regardless of what format book you plan to submit to NAB. You are welcome to format the proposal in whatever way best represents your writing style and book content, though it should be saved as a PDF or Word file–do not paste a proposal directly into an email body. The proposal should include as many of the following elements as possible:

1. A cover letter introducing yourself and your book, and why you are interested in publishing with NAB. 
2. A short statement (~300 words) describing the book’s narrative arc and intention. Your thesis should be clear from this statement. 
3. What is the word count of your manuscript? Is the manuscript complete? If not, what is your goal completion date?
4. Your qualifications in this area, including education and career. What makes you uniquely qualified to write this book? We are interested in both lived and learned experience.  
5. Your platform: Where are you best known? What do your online networks look like? What about your offline networks? Have you published before, and where? Please feel free to share links to articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos, and any other media. What do you do to make your work well known? Where have you connected with the readership of this book previously?
6. An overview of a marketing plan describing how you will reach your book’s potential audience: interviews, journals, magazines, social media channels, etc. Who is the book for? How will you help promote your book? What plans do you have to travel, to speak, to teach? What organizations are you counting on for their support?
7. Audience review: Who do you expect to read your book? Be as specific as possible. What are the three recent or well-known books to which your book could be compared, or which your book is in conversation with? How does your book build on the arguments of these books, and how does it differ from them?
8. Table of contents with subheads listed, ideally with chapter summaries or synopses. 
9. If you plan to include photographs or illustrations in your book, please provide high-resolution examples and let us know how many you intend to use. All images must be approved by our art team to be included in a possible book. If you intend to take photographers or have illustrations commissioned, please share the portfolio of any artists you hope to work with. 
10. One to three sample chapters from the book. Send something that will best convey your writing style and the variety of the book’s content. Be sure to send a sample that supports your thesis, as well as samples of any unique content within the book. For example, if you plan to include any step-by-step exercises, reflective prompts, or plant profiles, make sure these are represented in your sample material.

We will do our best to respond to your proposal within three months of receiving it, though due to the quantity of submissions we receive, we cannot respond to every proposal individually. North Atlantic Books does not accept phone calls, faxes, or other inquiries regarding unsolicited submissions. Please do not mail us submissions.

Please note that we are not currently accepting submissions for:

• New fiction or poetry
• Children’s books

At this time, we cannot review submissions for these types of books, and we are not responding to submissions in these genres. Additionally, if your proposal does not adhere to our guidelines or is for a topic outside of our publishing scope, we may not review the submission.

MISSION AND SUBJECT MATTER

In brief, NAB books are those that promote healing of self, spirit, and society. Our books suggest methods for systems change, connecting and reconnecting to the body/mind, nurturing the earth and all who call it home, and more. We aim to apply an intersectional lens to our publishing and reject bigotry and oppression in all forms. 

NAB has always published diverse subject matter. If you are unsure whether your book idea fits in with our publishing program, please review our most recent and upcoming publications.

TRADE NONFICTION

These are books intended for an audience without a specific professional affiliation. The text should be clear and free of excessive jargon. Generally under 300 pages, these books may be about a social or political movement, an overview of a healing modality or new idea, or a self-help guide.

NARRATIVE NONFICTION AND ESSAYS

Rarely, we accept narrative nonfiction books or essay collections, which blend a personal narrative with reflections on a social or global issue, or use a memoir style of writing to shed light on a larger issue. We have a limited capacity for supporting these types of books and thus can publish at most one per season. Thus, in addition to the publishing guidelines listed below, we have additional criteria for proposals for narrative nonfiction or essay collections:

A narrative nonfiction proposal MUST include:

• A detailed marketing plan, including a list of potential endorsers for the book
• Information about an author’s network and social engagement, including social platform
• Three chapters of written sample material
• A statement that explains how this essay collection/narrative prose relates to themes separate from the author’s own life, and how a reader might relate to, learn from, or seek meaningful action based on the text.

SPECIALIZED NONFICTION 

Specialized nonfiction is written for a professional or niche audience. These books may be longer than our typical trade books. Readers of specialized nonfiction generally have an advanced degree or are looking for training materials or continuing education materials for their careers. Books that might fall under specialized nonfiction include guidebooks for specific therapy modalities, training programs for specific branches of yoga, physical therapy guides for a type of injury or a specific body part, and more. We expect these books to be well referenced and clearly organized. We also expect these proposals to be easy to understand, as we would for any proposal, even if the vocabulary and organization may be more complex than those in a trade book.