WANT TO BECOME A SUMMERSDALE AUTHOR?

Please read all of the following information carefully before submitting your proposal

 

Hey there! So you’d like to become a Summersdale author? Well, luckily we have all the information you need to make a submission right here. Please do read these guidelines in full before you make your submission – they have been honed over years of publishing fantastic books, so we know it’s what works for us. The most important thing of all, though, is that you show your work in the best light possible. We want to be wowed by your book proposal, so this is your chance to do whatever you can to convince us we should work with you.

 

Please familiarise yourself with our online catalogue or look at our books in a bookshop before you make a submission. We specialise in travel, memoir and narrative non-fiction, health and well-being, parenting, children’s mental health and gift and humour. Please do not send fiction or poetry. Unless you are an established writer we will not commission an unfinished book.

 

We do not respond to emails asking if we would like to see a book proposal (just go ahead, be bold!).

 

Unfortunately, we cannot accept hard copy submissions.

 

PLEASE NOTE: From July 2025, we will not be accepting unsolicited proposals for travel, memoir and general interest narrative non-fiction.

 

 

To submit a gift, humour or health & well-being proposal

 

Please put the title of your submission in the subject line of your email (this helps us keep track of things and sets you apart from all the ‘re: book idea’ emails we get – win–win!) and in the file names of any attachments.

 

Please include a covering letter within the body of your email – no need to send a separate document – which should give us an immediate idea of what the book is about, who you are, and why we should publish your book. This is where you can really grab our attention and stand out from the crowd.

 

Please include the following as a Word (.doc) file (not a PDF or embedded within your email).

 

  • a synopsis explaining the aims and scope of your project and with an overview of the content
  • an indication of the audience to whom you think your book will appeal and details of any relevant competing titles (and how yours is different)
  • an author bio, any pertinent information about your platform or existing audience (links to relevant social media accounts/blog follower stats/public speaking experience etc.) and an overview of any ideas you have for promoting your book
  • the first two chapters of the work (or equivalent amount of sample material from the start of the book)

 

Please send your submissions to:

 

Health, well-being and parenting: vie@summersdale.com

 

Children’s mental health and well-being: CMH@summersdale.com

 

Gift, humour, general interest or anything else: submissions@summersdale.com

 

For agents

 

For travel, memoir, general interest narrative non-fiction titles, we only accept submissions from literary agents. Please send your proposals to travel@summersdale.com. Your submission must meet the following criteria in order to be considered:

 

  • World rights in all languages must be on offer.
  • The story must have taken place within the last 3 years (and it must have already taken place – we do not commission writers for forthcoming or incomplete journeys/adventures).
  • Ideally the author has a platform from which to promote their book, such as social media accounts with at least 10,000 followers, or regular public speaking events.
  • We are not currently looking for stories of renovating a property abroad, walking the Camino de Santiago, sailing adventures or general ‘moving abroad’ tales – sadly these markets are saturated so we are only on the lookout for fresh, standout stories with a unique hook.
  • Please familiarise yourself with our recent narrative non-fiction titles before submitting. You’ll be able to get an idea of the kinds of books we’re interested in, and which we do well with. NB we only take on a handful of titles in these areas per year, so spaces are limited.

 

 

What happens next?

 

Please allow two to three months for us to get back to you. We reply to submissions as quickly as possible, but the sheer volume we receive means that there is, inevitably, some delay. Please do not call the office as it is often impossible to track down a manuscript immediately. You should assume that if you have not heard from us within four months that, unfortunately, on this occasion you have been unsuccessful.

 

If we reject your submission, we are not usually able to provide detailed feedback, or to recommend other publishing companies you could approach, because of the huge amount of material we receive. There are many reasons why books are rejected, so please remember that this is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the work. As a small publishing company the number of books we can accommodate on our list is limited: many promising manuscripts are rejected because they simply do not fit on our list, or because we have already published – or have plans to publish – something along similar lines.

 

Please also note that we are unable to arrange meetings or phone calls to discuss submissions due to time constraints – it would mean less time for us to spend assessing other manuscripts and would not be fair to our other potential authors.