root·stock [ˈrōōtˌ stäk] noun 1. a rhizome. • a plant onto which another variety is grafted. • a primary form or source from which offshoots have arisen.
Hello!
Thank you for your interest in Rootstock Publishing, a hybrid publishing partnership in which you maintain all rights to your work, retain your copyright, and earn one of the highest profit margins available in the industry (60% to 80% royalty rate on shared sales and 100% profit on author sales), while still receiving the expertise needed to edit, design, print, promote and distribute your book to a global retail market. As a hybrid publisher, we work with you to grow your book, every step of the way. Please familiarize yourself with our hybrid model here before submitting.
We look forward to learning more about you and your work. Below please find our submission guidelines, including genres and categories, and submission forms.
Genres & Categories
The genres and categories we accept for submission are:
- Antiracism and Race
- Biography
- Children's Picture Books (with text and illustrations)
- Contemporary & Literary Fiction
- Economics & Politics
- Fiction (including short story collections)
- Health & Fitness
- History
- Historical Fiction
- LBGTQ+ Fiction and Non-Fiction
- Lifestyle & Spiritual/Self-Help
- Memoir
- Middle Grade
- Nonfiction
- Novels & Novellas
- Poetry
- Sports
- Thriller & Mystery
- True Crime
- Women's Fiction
- Young Adult
Submissions
We accept the full manuscript for all genres. For Poetry, we accept full-length books of 50 to 100 pages or chapbooks of 20 to 49 pages. For fiction and nonfiction, word count must not exceed 100,000 words.
Only unpublished work is allowed. If you have previously self-published this work and registered it with its own ISBN, we will not consider it.
No AI-generated work allowed. If you use Artificial Intelligence to write any portion of your book, please do not submit it here.
Our preferred format is a Word document (.doc or .docx) or PDF. Please use an easy to read typeface (ie: Garamond, Times New Roman), 12pt font size, and double space your document. Do not embed images or pictures in your manuscript.
We are also providing editor assessments of the first 30 pages of your manuscript for a $250 fee. This is a separate submission from a book submission for publication, but books assessed in this way may garner a request for the full manuscript.
Please note: we are only considering US and Canadian submissions at this time, and we appreciate your patience as we read and respond to submissions. Response time may vary.
A note on printed manuscripts: if you send a printed manuscript to our office, we will not return it. Thank you.
We ask for the full manuscript with the initial submission.
We require a Word document (.doc or .docx). Please use Times New Roman, 12pt font size, left justified, and double space your document. Do not use double spaces after periods, and do not include images, headers, footers, or any kind of special layout or book formatting.
Submission Guidelines:
- Full-length and chapbook manuscripts are considered.
- Full-length manuscript should have between 50 and 100 pages of poetry.
- Chapbook manuscripts should have between 20 and 49 pages of poetry.
- Poetry can be defined as broadly as the author decides. Prose poems, hybrid form, songs, spoken word, and performance poetry pieces are all accepted, as well as traditional forms of poetry and poetry in abstract forms.
- Poems in the manuscript may have been previously published.
- Except for when needed to express creative elements within a poem, we expect the manuscript to be in a common font (Times; Times New Roman; Georgia), 12-point font size, with one poem on each page.
- Title page included.
- Page numbers included.
- Table of Contents included.
- Acknowledgments page included, if applicable.
- No images or graphics pasted into the document on any pages.
- Submit through Submittable or postal mail with a check (Rootstock Poetry Series, 32 St. Paul Street, Montpelier, VT 05602).
We accept picture book manuscripts with illustrations only. If your manuscript needs artwork, please email us at info@rootstockpublishing.com and we can recommend some artists to work with.
Submission Guidelines:
- Must be appropriate for ages 4 through 8 years old. (If your manuscript contains offensive language or other inappropriate content, it will be declined.)
- Must be no longer than 32 pages, and it helps if it adheres to the 32-page spread format found at this link.
- Fiction and Nonfiction considered. (Nonfiction books must include works cited and/or research bibliography.)
- May be rhyming or non rhyming.
- Must have professional artwork, or have an illustrator already contracted to create the artwork.
- If already illustrated or laid out with artwork, it must be the appropriate size for picture book printing (8.5 x 8.5, 8 x 10, 8.5 x 11, or 11 x 8.5).