Writer's Guidelines

We are not considering unsolicited submissions at this time. For your reference, for the future, our guidelines are provided here.

Thank you for your interest in submitting a manuscript or book proposal to us. Before you do, please familiarize yourself with our guidelines.

We are sorry we can not respond to initial queries by phone, fax or email. Your first contact should be sent in writing to the following address:

Down The Shore Publishing
Attn: Acquisitions Editor
P.O. Box 100
West Creek, NJ 08092

About Down The Shore Publishing
As a small regional publisher, we must limit our efforts and resources to our established market: New Jersey, the Jersey Shore, the mid-Atlantic, and seashore and coastal subjects. Please take a look at what we publish and visit our website (www.down-the-shore.com) before submitting material. Think about whether your book is a good "fit" for Down The Shore Publishing.

We specialize in regional histories; pictorial, coffee table books; literary anthologies; and natural history titles appropriate for our market. As a rule, we do not publish poetry, memoirs, or personal histories, although we have included these genres in anthologies. There are exceptions to these generalizations, however, and we will consider any exceptional work appropriate to our market.

We are a traditional, royalty-structured publisher. We do not engage in "hybrid" vanity or author-subsidized publishing or expect an author to purchase books.

Limited resources allow us to publish only a few new titles each year. We want to be confident we can provide quality editing; outstanding design; and a marketing and publicity effort for any book we have committed to. Therefore, if we like your proposal, we may wish to consider it for future publication if we are unable to accept it initially. We'll let you know of our interest in this case, but it may take a year or two before it is the "right time" for your work. Of course, if we do not offer you a publishing agreement, you are free to submit your book elsewhere during this time.

If we decline your proposal, it truly may have nothing to do with the quality of your work. What weighs heavily in our decision is our ability to effectively sell the book. We know our market and if we don't think we can be successful with your book, it is in your interest to look elsewhere. If we do accept your proposal, you can be sure we'll use all our resources to make the book a success.

Our needs with any manuscript or book proposal
We strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the basic procedures for submitting proposals to any publisher; we recommend the annual Literary Market Place and Writer's Digest books, which can be readily found at the reference desk of public libraries.

How to Submit a Proposal or Manuscript
When submitting, carefully consider your work in the context of our needs as a publisher. In a cover letter, please provide the following information — and any additional information you would like us to consider. Items in bold are critical; other items are recommended.

• Synopsis or general description. This will detail the book's purpose, content, format, audience, length, any special features, photographs and illustrations. (Re: photographs and illustrations: Are they readily available now? Are originals available, or must copies be made? Do you own rights, are they in the public domain, or must rights be procured? What is the expected number to be used? Are the images black and white or color?)

• Table of contents or chapter outline, with short summaries of each chapter or section

• Have any portions of the manuscript been previously published? If so, who owns the rights to the work?

• Market for the book. Also, are there competing books in this market, and how does yours differ.

• List of possible expert readers who could assist us in evaluating the work — with names, titles, addresses, and contact information if possible; note their qualifications and previous association with you, if any.