Submissions

Guidelines for Sending Manuscripts to Frontenac House

The submission process for Frontenac House is ongoing. If you have a poetry manuscript, follow the guidelines for submission below. At present, we are looking for manuscripts for Quartet 2013. There is no due date for submissions; when we have chosen four manuscripts we will consider any new submissions for 2014.

If you have a manuscript other than poetry, please send a letter of inquiry with a 20 – 30 page sample of your book, as it says in the guidelines. We prefer this to answering queries on the telephone, or by email, due to limited resources. Email queries, especially, can be very time consuming and, as our slowness in answering can be extreme, it would be better just to send along your submission.  Please look at our website and in bookstores to see what we publish. That will give you an idea of the kinds of manuscripts we are looking for. Please note that although we have published a children’s book we are not at this time looking for more books for children.

General information

• We welcome submissions from Canadian citizens or persons who have Permanent Residence status in Canada.
• All persons sending manuscripts Frontenac House must confirm that the writing is entirely their own work, does not contain material that has been copyrighted by other writers unless written permission has been obtained, and has not been published previously in book form (prior publication of individual poems in journals, etc., is welcomed).
• All manuscripts should be submitted by Canada Post regular mail service – no couriers or expedited service please. We regret also that we are unable to take email submissions at this time.

Preparing, sending manuscripts

• Manuscripts may be sent to Frontenac House at any time.
• Manuscripts should be prepared as follows:
  • Typewritten or computer-generated in an easy-to-read typeface (e.g, Times Roman), single sided, on white 8½ x 11 paper.
  • Each page must have a page number and the book title as a running head or foot.
  • For prose and non fiction we prefer a query with a sample of roughly 20 – 30 pages.
  • For poetry please send only complete manuscripts, not partial manuscripts or samples.
  • Please include a short bio and publication history.
  • Please send only one manuscript at a time.
  • Be sure to keep your own electronic or hard copy of the manuscript.
• If you wish to have your manuscript considered you must include one of the following:
  • a self addressed stamped envelope so we can mail it back to you;
  • or, if you wish it to be recycled, a letter size self-addressed stamped envelope. We will not consider your manuscript if one of the above is not included.

Hearing from us:

• All manuscripts will be acknowledged within four weeks of receipt; authors who have not received an acknowledgement by that time should contact Frontenac House.
• After that it may be several months (possibly up to six) before you hear from us. Please do not contact us during that time. Our process may seem lengthy to you but you may be assured that all submissions are give a thorough appraisal. We are grateful for your submission and understand the need to keep your manuscript circulating. We therefore urge you to send your manuscript to other publishers as well. If another publisher picks up your work please let us know.
• An express condition of sending manuscripts to Frontenac House is that Frontenac House will not be responsible for lost manuscripts.
• Due to the volume of manuscripts received, we regret that editorial comment, either by Frontenac House or the judges, will not be available for declined manuscripts.