Gaon Books
P.O. Box 23924
Santa Fe, NM 87502
Proposal Submission Guidelines
Gaon Books publishes six to eight books each year, focusing on works that address social and cross-cultural issues, Judaism, Jewish life and thought, and spirituality. We do not publish collections of short stories, newspaper columns, family memoirs, or poetry. To gain a better understanding of our publishing program, please review our title list.
When you submit a proposal, it may take up to two months for the editors to review it. Gaon Books has an acquisitions committee, which includes staff members and an Editorial Advisory Board, and we commonly send manuscripts to outside readers. Inquiries about the manuscript after it has been submitted should be directed to: gaonbooks@gmail.com giving the title of the manuscript in the subject line.
Outlined below is the procedure for submitting proposals.
I. Considerations for all submissions
- Contact us initially with a one paragraph description of the proposed manuscript.
- If the subject matter of your manuscript is accepted for review, it can be submitted in digital format or hardcopy.
- Manuscripts should be double-spaced.
- Works of moderate length—50,000 to 100,000 words—have a better chance of acceptance than short works or works of great length.
- Hardcopies of manuscripts that are sent to us will not be returned but will be shredded after review. Digital copies of manuscripts will be deleted from our files if the manuscript is not accepted for publication. We do not retain copies of manuscripts that are not accepted for publication.
II. Nonfiction proposals
- Include a cover letter that gives a brief description of the project.
- Include an outline of and/or introduction to the project.
- Include at least thirty pages of the text, preferably the first chapter.
- If the project will include illustrations or photographs, please send samples. Do NOT send originals. Clear photocopies are acceptable.
- Supply a market analysis of the book. Unless there is something about the potential market that would not be obvious to the uninitiated, this analysis should concentrate on the titles, publishers, and dates of all similar books, with an explanation of how your book differs from each.
- Send a biography of the author, including publishing credits and credentials in the field. If the project also has an illustrator or photographer, please include that biographical information as well.
III. Fiction proposals
- Any fiction submitted should have a connection with the Judaism, Sephardic traditions, Spanish-speaking traditions, or the Southwest.
- Send a cover letter, giving a synopsis of the book.
- Include the FIRST TWO CHAPTERS (at least 50 pages) of the manuscript. You can send the entire manuscript if you wish. If you choose to send only samples, please include the projected word length of your book and estimated completion date in your cover letter.
- Send a biography of the author, including publishing credits and credentials.
IV. Overall recommendations
- Do NOT submit original material (either art or manuscript), and please keep a copy of your project.
- Please note that materials will NOT be returned.
- We do not accept proposals on disks or by fax.
For further information contact gaonbooks@gmail.com.
Mail submissions to:
Acquisitions Committee
Gaon Books
P.O. Box 23924
Santa Fe, NM 87502