Nonfiction Submissions

EBP is currently closed to book proposals. If, however, you subscribe to Elephant’s Bookshelf Press (via that little button on the right), you will receive EBP updates, calls for submission and publishing news in your inbox as information is released.

Nonfiction submissions require a bit more work than a fiction submission. To make a good case for why you are the best person to write and promote the book you want us to publish, you need to research your market.

  • Who is your audience?
  • What new information does your book have to offer?
  • Why should they read your book over other similar titles?
  • What are those similar titles and how is yours different?
  • What are your plans to promote your book?
  • How big is your platform, and what are your credentials?

Additionally, EBP follows standard formatting on all manuscript submissions. If you’re unsure of what that looks like, keep reading.

  • Use Times Roman;
  • 12 pt. type;
  • 1″ margin all around;
  • Double-spaced lines;
  • Do not add extra line between every paragraph;
  • When you want to denote a scene break, please use a single “#”;
  • Paragraphs indented 0.5″. Please use the autoformat settings on Microsoft Word for paragraph indentations rather than manually inserting a tab or individual spaces. This feature is found under the ‘Paragraph’ format window;
  • Use a SINGLE SPACE following a period at the end of a sentence, NOT two spaces;
  • Use STRAIGHT QUOTES rather than SMART QUOTES. This is an autoformat/autocorrect feature in Word that, if checked, turns straight quote marks and apostrophes into ‘curly’ quote marks and apostrophes. This can cause formatting issues when the text is converted to a final font and style for publication. Under WORD OPTIONS, click on PROOFING, then on AUTOCORRECT OPTIONS, then make sure the line that says ‘Replace straight quotes with smart quotes’ is UNCHECKED.

Should you choose not to adhere to these guidelines, your story will still be considered. It’s a potential annoyance and challenge for some of the e-publishing formats, but it’s not a deal breaker. We’ll work with the copy. But the more you can do in advance, the faster the editing process will go and the cleaner and more consistent the final published book presentation will be.

Because that’s part of what we’re looking to create, too – a clean, consistent book that readers enjoy by authors whose work they want to read again and again. Ideally, you’ll discover that Elephant’s Bookshelf Press produces books and anthologies that entertain the reader and keep them thinking – and when appropriate, laughing too.