First and foremost, we are looking for great books. We love to be surprised, engaged and inspired. We love fresh new voices. And we love books that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of Australia.

Please bear in mind that we are a trade publisher: this means we sell our books into general retail bookshops and variety stores that stock books, so we are not equipped to handle academic or specialist niche titles.

We publish into all categories of adult fiction, other than science fiction and fantasy.

We have a strong interest in well-written narrative non-fiction, and we enjoy books that shed new light on topics that will interest our readers.

We occasionally publish illustrated titles, but we are very selective in this area of the list.

We are not currently publishing for children.

We are also not publishing scripts, plays or religious texts, and we would be unlikely to acquire short stories or poetry.

We ask all our authors to submit using the submission form. To do this, you will need to have the following information ready:

• A synopsis. This is a short summary of the plot, including the way your book ends (we don’t mind spoilers!), the target audience for your work and 2–3 comparative titles.

  500 words max

• If your work is non-fiction and includes illustrated material, you will also need to include a chapter outline (max 10 pages, double-spaced) and high-resolution samples of 6–8 relevant illustrations/photographs.

• A short biography that focuses on your writing history and credentials.

  250 words max

• A maximum of 20 pages of your manuscript, DOUBLE-SPACED. (File name: Full Name_Manuscript Title)

We know that you would like us to read your entire work, but these guidelines are designed to allow us to manage the large number of proposals that we receive and still have time to publish the books of those that we accept.

Non-complying submissions will therefore not be accepted and you will receive an email asking you to resubmit in the correct format.

We understand the elation that you feel when your manuscript is finally ready for submission, and we know that waiting for an answer can be frustrating. But please bear in mind that we receive a very large number of proposals, and we want to make sure that we give every one of them our full attention. This takes time. We will acknowledge receipt of your submission, but depending on the number of proposals we receive, it can take months for us to assess your work and make our decisions.

So please be patient.

We will either request the full manuscript if we are interested in reading further or let you know if your submission has been unsuccessful, but we are not able to provide you with feedback. Please don’t try and ring to hurry us along as we will be hard at work reading.