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NOTE: We are not considering new submissions at this time. |
FOR AUTHORS . . .
EquiLibrium Press is an independent
publisher. We are very finicky about the books and authors we take on. We hope to spend many years together, so we need to like both of you a great deal!
Please review our mission
statement for a description of the types of works we are looking for.
Before contacting us about your book, please read the following.
How We Work
We can’t pay large advances.
We can’t send our authors on tour, flying first-class and staying in fancy hotels.
We can’t promise a booking on national TV.
So why should you publish with us? Because we can -- and do -- make this commitment:
With your
help, we will promote your book in every
appropriate way to every appropriate audience.
And we will keep doing it for years to come.
- Did you know that big publishing houses lose money on most of the books they publish?
- Did you know that they often base marketing plans on the author's fame, rather than the book's merit?
- Did you know that they promote most books the exact same way, regardless of content?
- Did you know that most of their books have just a few months to succeed before they're pulled off the market?
It's true. Far too often, major publishers choose a book that shouldn’t be published
– or fail to promote it in the right way to the right market
– or give up on it before it has a chance to reach its audience.
EquiLibrium can’t afford to operate that way. That’s why we sign only authors with manuscripts we truly believe in, intended for audiences that we know how to reach. We design the book, inside and out, with that audience in mind. While the book is in production, we're continually watching out for promotion and marketing opportunities.
After publication -- with our authors' help -- we'll use every reasonable means at our disposal to let the world know about the book. And we'll pursue subsidiary rights sales (such as book clubs, foreign rights, audio rights etc. etc.) in every appropriate format and venue, around the world.
Sound
good so far? Then read on . . .
Submission Guidelines
As our mission statement says, EquiLibrium’s area is wellness and health for women. There is no possible way to list all of the topics that might interest us. If your book has anything to do with well-being of one type or another and is intended for an upscale, educated female audience, we want to hear from you!
The submissions that are most likely to get our attention are those that:
- Help women deal with an important issue in their lives
- Are different than anything on the market
- Are well-researched and well-thought out
- Are well-written (don’t forget to spell-check!)
- Are NOT on a "fad" issue. We prefer books that have the potential to sell well for years to come.
Your book MUST offer something more than a personal account. Before submitting your proposal on "how I beat a dreaded disease" ask yourself – honestly – whether anyone other than your loved ones would want to read the book. If you can confidently answer "yes" to that question, and can tell us what makes it better than every other book on the topic, then by all means contact us.
We don't mean to sound harsh or uncaring, but "my story" books, without something else to distinguish them, are rarely successful unless the author is well-known.
How to Reach Us
We gladly consider brief queries submitted by email (authors[at]equipress.com). Please do not send an entire proposal by email, either as an attachment or in the body of the message. For the continued health of our computer system, we do not open attachments that we are not expecting. And sending a lengthy message is simply bad form.
You also may mail a proposal with 1-3 sample chapters, including the introduction. When querying or submitting a proposal by snail mail, please include a SASE. Without return postage, we will be unable to respond to you.
Please do not fax queries or, heaven forbid, an entire proposal.
Your proposal should include the following:
- A concise (1 to 1-1/2 pages) description of the book
- The specific intended audience(s). "Women of all ages" is not a helpful answer!
- A chapter-by-chapter outline, with a brief description of each chapter
- A discussion of other books on the topic and what makes yours different from each one: it's newer, it's a fresh perspective, you're better-qualified to write it, it's in a different format, etc. In other words, why would someone browsing in a bookstore pick up your book instead of another one?
- The names of opinion-makers or organizations that might endorse the book. If you have a personal connection to any of them, be sure to let us know (even if they are your second cousin's neighbor's sister-in-law's best friend).
- Your credentials for writing the book, including your experience with public speaking and availability to travel.
- Your plan for marketing the book. How will you find the intended audience to tell them about it? Are there associations, groups, professional organizations, etc. that would be interested in it? Which publications might review it? Would it make a good topic for radio and/or TV? What other ways (outside of bookstores) can you think of to sell it?
- And, most
critically,
your plan for promoting the book. What are YOU going to do to
make this book a success? Will you make personal appearances? Go on radio
and TV? Travel to conferences that relate to your topic? Participate in
online discussions on your topic? Submit articles to magazines and
newspapers? When a breaking news event relates in some way to your
topic, will you drop everything to make yourself available to the
media?
Please do not contact us unless you are willing to make promotion of your book a top priority. After all, you are the one who wrote it. You clearly have a passion for the subject, and believe in what you've written. If you aren't willing to make an all-out effort to help your book reach its audience . . . . why should we?
Be sure to enclose a SASE with adequate postage for any materials that you want returned. Sorry, but we can not respond to queries and submissions unless return postage is provided. Do not send a complete manuscript unless we ask you to do so.
Please note: We can not accept fiction, poetry, or erotica.
Simultaneous submissions are OK, but please let us know if another publisher offers you a contract.
We look forward to hearing from you! Contact EquiLibrium