Submitting a Book Proposal

To save your time and ours, please take a good look at our web site and these notes before deciding to send us your proposal.

Green Books was set up in 1986 with the aim of spreading awareness of ecological issues and providing practical advice for those interested in living a green lifestyle. Each year we publish 18-20 titles and receive at least 200 unsolicited book proposals. Of these, many are not actually within our publishing field, but we give serious consideration to about 20, and usually publish 4 or 5. The remainder of the titles that we publish each year (around 15 in all) are originated by us, or come from our existing authors, or are joint projects with other organisations.

Before considering whether or not to submit your proposal to Green Books, please note:

1. We are interested in books on green living; practical issues such as organics and eco-building; green economics and politics; and also books whose aim is to deepen people’s relationship with, and respect for, the natural world.
2. Ideas about how the world/humanity needs to change to be sustainable need to have a new perspective – we receive a lot of submissions on this subject. We rarely publish books that present a single solution to all our problems – for example, proposing that we should all become vegetarian.
3. We rarely publish books that document personal journeys.
4. We do not publish any fiction or children’s books and will not consider proposals in these genres, however green their subject matter.
5. For us to sell as many of your books as possible, it is very desirable that authors have their own websites and actively use social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Submitting your proposal

Please submit your proposal by email (preferred) or on disk, and also let us know whether you have sent it to any other publisher.

Please note that we cannot consider any proposal that does not contain this material:

1. A 30-word summary encapsulating the book.
2. A synopsis to include an outline of the contents, with draft chapter headings and preferably a few lines about each chapter.
3. An example of your writing style, e.g. a few pages of your proposed book, but not the introduction.
4. Your view on the market for the book (e.g. for the general reader/for the academic market) and why there is a need for your book.
5. An appraisal of competing books: please include their titles, authors and publication dates, with your comments on their strengths and weaknesses and how your book differs from them.
6. Information about you – why you are the right person to write your book.
7. How you could help market your book. For example, are you a member of a society or group that would be interested in your subject? Do you use social media? Are you happy to give talks, be interviewed on radio or TV?

Please be as concise as possible – it will help us to quickly evaluate whether your book could be right for us. We aim to respond to proposals within a month, although at busy times it could take us two months.

Please email all proposals to: proposals@greenbooks.co.uk

Please ensure that you include all the material requested above (items 1-7).