Submission Information

Publish or Perish Logo While I’ve oft repeated that it is the writer’s job to focus on the content and the creative, you should have some vision of your audience. This is your opportunity to sound off and tell me what your thoughts are. I can then have a better handle on which house, indeed which editor, would be a proper fit. Please complete and submit the following submission questionnaire FIRST.

This will help us both understand the potential market for your work. Most of the questions on this form are going to be asked by any publisher anyway, so it good to have the proper “pitch” ready to present your work. I have spent my years in publishing in bookselling and sales. This questionnaire helps me focus on how I might present a book proposal to a potential publisher. And even if I am not able to agent your work, you should be able to present the information that I ask here to any agent or editor. The more information you can provide, the stronger the pitch. You may have read books about publishing that tell you editors want a pitch letter. Well, yes... they do. But that’s really best left to the agent (me), not the writer (you). This questionnaire takes the place of that mythical pitch letter.

After you complete and submit the questionnaire below, email, AS A SEPARATE ATTACHMENT no more than sixty (60) pages of your manuscript (send to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with the subject "YourLastName_submission_BOOK TITLE". If we move forward, I will invite you to send along your full manuscript later with instructions. You will want to answer each question below as thoroughly as possible but if there are questions that are not applicable, mark "N/A". Some of the questions may seem a little odd...(like why do I want to know where you went to high school? [it's for publicity reasons]) There are sales and marketing reasons for everything.

Each weekend (usually by Sunday night) I post on my blog (on this website) my query and manuscript queues.
This will give you an idea on when to expect a response.

To begin the submission process, please fill out and submit the questionnaire form below.
Please note that fields marked (*) are required fields.

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Publish or Perish Agency Submission Form

1 - AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION

a. Author Name (required)
Enter your full name *

b. Author Email Address (required)
Must be a valid email address (will be validated) *

c. Author Phone Number (required)
We need to know how to call you *

d. Author Website URL?
If author has a website, enter the URL here

e. Author Street Address
(Optional) Provide an address if you wish

f. Author Street Address (2)
(Optional) Provide an address if you wish

g. Author's Residence City, State, Zip
City, State (province), Zip (Postal Code)

h. Author's Current Country of Residence (required)
Where does the Author currently reside? *

2 - HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT OUR AGENCY?

a. Referred by:

b. Linked from this website:

c. Heard you speak at

d. Saw a listing for the agency in

3 AFFILIATION AND AWARDS

a. High School Attended
What High School did the author attend?

aa. Year Graduated High School
If so, what year was graduation?

b. College Attended
What college did the Author attend? (If none, "N/A")

bb. Year Graduated College
If so, what year was graduation?

3c Graduate School
What Graduate School did the author attend? (If none, "N/A")

cc. Graduate School Year Graduated
If so, what year was graduation?

d. Please list any degrees author holds:

e. Please list any distinguishing honors the author holds:

f. Please list any business or social organization or associations of which Author is a member

g. State your current and previous occupations (indicate institution or organization; include faculty rank and department, job description and/or title)

4 - DO YOU HAVE PREVIOUS WORKS?

a. List your previously published books. Indicate whether they were fiction of nonfiction; include cloth and paperback publishers, publication dates and approximates sales figures.

b. Are there any editors with whom you have previously worked that you would like to have an opportunity to see your work?

c. List any book club, motion picture, first or second serial, or foreign rights sales.

d. List any reviews you may want to include.

e. List any magazines, newspapers or websites to which you have previously contributed in the past. Include title, subject, and publication date.

f. Are you currently a contributor to any television, radio, magazines, newspapers or web sites?

g. If so, what is your current viewer/listener/readership.

5. TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BOOK...
Summarize your book in 250 words or less. That is about the amount of space devoted to flap copy on a hardcover books. What do you want to say to the person that is going to pick up the book at the bookstore or read the blurb online? (From textarea Field Template)

6. WORKING TITLE OF THE BOOK

7. WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?
Who will want to read your book? What demographic group do you see as the primary and secondary buyers? You may not have had any marketing experience. That is okay, but you must have thought while you were writing and/or developing your book a base of readers you think will be interested in paying money to own your book. Get as specific as you can. Tell me about your local media and their demographic audience. What other media or group of people will talk about your book in their network? For fiction, what is the setting of the story and its population; hobbies or interests you or your characters have that might be of interest. If I were a bookseller, tell me two or three distinct reasons as to what about your book will attract the attention of the media, or will be talked about that will drive customers into my store (or online) to buy your book.

8. WHAT IS YOUR COMPETITION?

a. Identify your retail competition
Go to the bookstore and/or library and imagine where your book would be placed on the shelf. What books are on the same shelf, in the same subject area, that are already published? List those books and explain why your book is different or better or more important

b. Identify your online competition
Go online to amazon.com, bn.com, powells.com and other bookseller websites. Type in the title and/or subject of your book. List the books you find and explain why your book is different.

9 WHAT IS THE STATUS OF YOUR PROJECT? (You must check one)
a. One page outline only b. Full proposal including table of contents c. Full manuscript ready d. Partial manuscript ready

If you answered (d)...
If a partial manuscript is all that is ready, how long will it take to complete the full manuscript?)

e. Has this project been submitted to any other agents? *

If you answered yes to (e) above...
Please list the names of any agents who have already received this proposal.

f. Has the author ever been represented by any other agents? *

If you answered yes to (f) above...
If you wish, please list the names of any and all agents who have previously represented this author. (This info is not required, but helpful. No contact will be made with any other agents.)

g. Has this project already been submitted to any publishers? *

If you answered yes to (g) above...
Please list the names of any and all publishers who have previously received this proposal.

DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?
If so please enter them in this text area. It can be resized to accommodate your entry.

One last thing...
Please include the name, email address, and phone number of any recommending bookseller, librarian or publisher's representative that helped you find us, or referred you to us.

BEFORE YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM - SAVE ITS CONTENTS!

Take a moment and click the "Preview" button. Correct any form errors that are reported (items shown in red).
Items displayed in green appear to be correct to our form processor, but double-check spelling, names, etc.

After you complete and submit the questionnaire, email us no more than sixty (60) pages of your manuscript.
Please send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject "YourLastName_submission_BOOKTITLE".

IN CASE YOU HIT OUR SPAM FILTER

Because Internet forms are subject to spam submissions from robots, our form aggressively checks to see if your submission is coming from a valid (non-spam) source. On occasion, it mistakenly blocks a valid submission.

If you are blocked by our spam filter, we apologize, and suggest you PRINT the filled-out submission form as a PDF (if you can) and email that to us directly ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) , or contact us directly for an alternative submission approach.

Thanks for understanding.

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Publish or Perish Agency Submission Form