Manuscript Guidelines
INFORMATION FOR WRITERS
Thank you for your interest in publishing with The Crossroad Publishing Company.
We receive proposals from various channels--current authors and people recommended from current authors, current readers of our books, book agents and people we meet at conferences, as well as authors approaching us for the first time through unsolicited manuscripts.
We welcome unsolicited proposals. We do our utmost best to get back to you in six to eight weeks. However, due to the frequently high volume of manuscripts received we cannot commit to a certain time frame, and the corporation is not responsible for the return of any manuscript (whether sent electronically or by mail), nor do we guarantee a response. Further, in receiving a submission, we do not assume any duty not to publish a book based on a similar idea, concept or story.
The first and most important thing before you send a submission is to do your own research about publishing in general and about the potential market for your specific proposal. The Internet offers many opportunities to learn about the publishing industry (e.g. Writer's Market, Publisher's Weekly and online bookstores) and your subject matter (online discussions, books, reviews etc.)
Establish who your ideal reader is (try to be a s specific as possible e.g. age, profession, income, family status etc.), and what the market is like for your book. Are there already other books similar to yours available, how are they selling? (The rankings of online bookstore while not a scientific measure can give an indication of a book's sales.) The more research you've undertaken into the market, in addition to the processes involved in selecting and publishing a manuscript, the better chance your proposal (and book if later published) will have.
The following are basic guidelines for submitting your proposal to The Crossroad Publishing Company. The ideal proposal offers the following elements:
- Proposal title
- Two- to three-sentence short description/sales pitch of the project
- Two-to three paragraph description of the project -- no longer than 1 page
- Table of contents
- Approximate length (must be word length, not page length)
- A mostly finished manuscript (while we do at times accept proposals for unwritten books, changing industry standards and sales practices require a finished text at a very early stage in the publishing process.)
- Evaluation of what is unique about the book (e.g., takes a unique stand on a particular issue, introduces material not readily available, explains in accessible language material that has previously been discussed in technical language). Please also include a discussion of other published books in the field and the way your work relates to them.
- Intended Audience. Discussion of who you think will buy and read (e.g. groups of people as defined by a common denominator, readers of a specific book and/or magazine, members of associations etc.), discuss and review (e.g. reviewers, newspapers, journals) discuss, and buy the book.
- Resume or c.v. with cover letter. This should explain why you are the best person to write on this topic.
- Articles you have written and/or courses/talks/workshops you have given. If you have an audio or video or yourself giving an address please let us know that it is available.
- While the ideal submission comes in by email to editor@crossroadpublishing.com , if you prefer to send print-out please include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Please do not send mass emails as we can only attend to emails personalized to the editors at Crossroad.
- The Crossroad Publishing Company publishes hardcover and trade paperback originals, and trade paperback reprints. We average 30 titles a year. We pay standard royalty and publish an average of 12-18 months after acceptance. We are a low-advance house as we prefer to invest into the development and marketing of your book first. Simultaneous and agented submissions are okay.
- Please do not send original art, photographs, recordings or other unique materials. We do not assume liability for such materials and cannot guarantee the return of original art, recordings, and photographs.
Please keep in mind that while the review of manuscripts is an assessment of the value of the ideas and writing, we must also, in fairness to you and your work, evaluate if we are the most suitable house for your manuscript's intended audience, given our current publishing plans.
Frequently asked questions:
- “Do I need an agent?”
No. Many of our bestselling and best-reviewed titles have come to us without agents. - “May I email my submission?”
Yes, if the submission follows the guidelines outlined above and is specifically addressed to the editors at Crossroad. Email submissions can be sent to editor@crossroadpublishing.com with the word "submission" in the subject line. Email submissions not specifically addressed to Crossroad will be deleted. - “May I fax my submission?”
No. - “Whom do I call to talk about my manuscript idea before submitting a proposal?”
As a nearly universal rule, don’t call unless you have been in conversation with us in the past regarding your manuscript. It’s difficult to get a strong sense of your project over the phone, and only when we see something on paper that we can assess whether your specific approach to a topic is viable for our market and readership. - “May I submit to more than one publisher simultaneously?”
Yes, we encourage you to do so. If, however, we begin serious discussion with you about publishing your book, we will ask that you put any other discussions on hold. - “Are any book topics off-limits at Crossroad?”
As a publisher deeply rooted in 200 years of independent family publishing, we are able to evaluate each manuscript on its own terms. No religious, theological, spiritual, or wellness topics are in principle off-limits, though market considerations may make some topics more or less attractive from season to season. Much more relevant is the question of genres of books. We virtually never publish poetry or all-art books, and we rarely publish fiction. - “Do you release CDs or DVDs?”
We do release a select number of CDs and DVDs in conjunction with our books, usually as part of the book package itself. We do not release CDs or DVDs that are not directly tied to our books. - “My book was declined by Great Big Famous House. Should I feel bad?”
GBFH sometimes declines terrific books that go on to sell well and bring prestige to their authors. Take all declines (including ours, if that should happen) with a grain of salt, and press ahead with your message. - “What is the Herder Young Theologians program, and how may I join?”
The Herder Young Theologian program, the most successful initiative of its kind in the U.S. today, is designed to foster the writing of early-career Catholic constructive theologians. The goal is to use Herder & Herder’s identity as an international and independent house to let theologians do what they do best – think, write, and teach--without having to worry about where they will find a publisher for their next book. Participants in the program are drawn from authors whose manuscripts have been accepted for publication in the Herder & Herder academic imprint--there is no separate application process. - “Just between you and me, what’s the Next Big Thing in religious publishing?”
A glance at our new titles list will always give a good indication of where we believe publishing is going and what we believe are the strongest growth fields.