Book Hug Press

Full details

Book*hug Press is a Canadian independent literary publisher specializing in contemporary literary fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, literature in translation, and drama. Please note that we do not publish children’s literature, genre fiction, cookbooks, or self-help books.
We seek to acquire books that are bold, contemporary and innovative; work that feels necessary and urgent. We are especially interested in work that challenges and pushes at the boundaries of cultural expectations. We are deeply committed to building a more inclusive CanLit by publishing culturally diverse voices whose work has been historically underrepresented in the publishing landscape. We strongly support feminist writing.
When acquiring manuscripts we carefully consider questions such as: whose voices are missing and who are the storytellers that we need most right now? We aim to ensure ensure that our catalogue is reflective of an inclusive and multicultural Canada. We especially welcome work by Indigenous writers, writers of colour, LGBTQ2S+ writers, deaf and disabled writers, and women.
At the moment we are not accepting poetry submissions. Fiction and Nonfiction submissions should be made by email in the form of a query; please include a synopsis of the project (with a table of contents if available) and a sample of the work consisting of two or three chapters of the work.
For queries, email Jay Millar, Co-Publisher, at jay@bookhugpress.ca .
Some general information regarding submissions:

• Ensure that your name, address, phone number and email are on the manuscript
• Please include an introductory letter that describes your work and in which you compare your work to two other Book*hug Press titles or authors.
• Ensure that your manuscript is typed, double-spaced with single-sided pages. Double spacing is not necessary for poetry manuscripts.
• Please include a literary CV that lists your publication history.
• If you are mailing a submission and would like your manuscript back, please enclose a large enough self-addressed envelope with sufficient pre-paid postage. If you don’t want your manuscript returned, please include a note giving us permission to recycle or destroy it if we aren’t interested in it.
• Make sure to tell us if it is a multiple submission. If your manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere prior to hearing back from us, please ensure that you contact us to inform us of this immediately so that we can remove your proposal from the pile. This courtesy saves everyone a lot of time.
• We receive hundreds of manuscripts for consideration each year. We publish approximately 20 books a year, 9-10 titles per season (spring and fall) in a variety of genres. We do our very best to give your manuscript the proper attention. We appreciate you being patient, so please do not call or email us to check on the status of your proposal. If all goes well you should hear back from us about your manuscript in approximately 6 months.