Submission Guidelines

Theytus Books is an Aboriginal owned and operated publishing house. Our mandate is to publish books by Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) authors. At present, Theytus can only accept hard copy manuscripts from Canadian Aboriginal authors. The genres we publish are

• literary fiction, which includes novels, poetry and anthologies;
• non-fiction in social history and policy as it relates to Aboriginal issues;
• Aboriginal critical literary pieces;
• non-fiction, creative and humour; and
• children’s and young adult titles.

All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter and bio. Your bio must include your tribal affiliation and full contact information such as address, phone number and e-mail address (if any). If this information is not included with your submission, your manuscript will not be reviewed. If you have any published works, please list the publication dates and publisher.

Due to the high volume of submissions and the time and cost of reviewing manuscripts, Theytus Books does not accept simultaneous submissions.

Adult and young adult books: You must send a synopsis of your manuscript; please indicate your intended audience. Please also send four sample chapters of the completed manuscript, or the manuscript, on paper to our mailing address. Do not send manuscript submissions via e-mail or fax. Manuscripts on disk will not be accepted. Do not send original copies because they may not be returned.

* The synopsis must be a stand-alone item with the title on top. The synopsis must be no longer than one page. Please do not place your name on the synopsis. In addition, do not place your name on the title page or on all pages of the manuscript. Only your cover letter should include the title of your work, your full name and all contact information. Do remember to paginate.

Children's books: You must send a synopsis of your manuscript; please indicate the intended age group of readers. You must also send a copy of your full manuscript on paper to our mailing address. Do not send manuscript submissions via e-mail or fax. Manuscripts on disk will not be accepted. Please do not send artwork unless you are a professional artist. Do not send original copies of artwork or manuscripts because they may not be returned.

* The synopsis must be a stand-alone item with the title on top. The synopsis must be no longer than one page. Please do not place your name on the synopsis. In addition, do not place your name on the title page or on all pages of the manuscript. Only your cover letter should include the title of your work, your full name and all contact information. Do remember to paginate.

Illustrations: Theytus Books requires artists to illustrate full-colour picture books and full-colour covers for our titles. We accept submissions from Canadian Aboriginal artists and illustrators who wish to work with Canada's best Aboriginal and emerging authors for young people.
We look for art portfolios that are realistic, abstracted and stylized to any degree, and executed in a professional manner, consistent with the high standards of Canadian Aboriginal children's publishing. We look for accomplished drawing and execution in the chosen medium. The ability to create a believable, individual character is essential, as is the ability to understand, interpret and illustrate a literary text. Character development, consistency and accurate, thorough research are important. We always need to see images of children interacting and showing emotions.

Samples

Send samples of your work in a self-contained, labelled folder in the following formats:

• 4- to 8-colour copies, digital colour proofs, tear sheets, press sheets (Please be sure to include your name address, e-mail address and phone number on each sheet.)
• one copy of any published book or set of folded and gathered sheets
• any number of images on a CD in JPEG, TIFF or PDF format for illustrations only
• web portfolios for illustrations only

Do not send original art or any material that you need returned.
Theytus Books has two review cycles per year. Due to the large number of manuscripts we receive, we do not provide editorial comment unless we feel that a manuscript is publishable. Please note that Theytus does not respond to queries about the status of unsolicited manuscripts. We apologize for this. We will contact you only if we wish to publish your manuscript. Further, we regret that we are unable to return manuscripts, but we do recycle all material.
Theytus Books is not responsible for items lost in the mail.

Please ensure that you follow all of the above submission guidelines for your chosen genre to guarantee that your manuscript will be reviewed. Theytus receives numerous inquiries and submissions; thus failure to follow the guidelines will result in your manuscript not being reviewed.

Thank you! We look forward to receiving your submission.

Mailing Address:
Theytus Books Ltd.
Green Mountain Rd., Lot 45
RR#2, Site 50, Comp. 8
Penticton, BC, V2A 6J7
Canada