Submissions to LLP

Linda Leith Publishing will be glad to receive queries from Canadian writers and landed immigrants interested in submitting an original fiction or literary non-fiction manuscript for publication.

LLP Publishing Programme

LLP books are published in print and electronic formats, and we normally buy world rights. We have an irrational love of short books and distinctive authorial voices. 

In fiction, novels and novellas only will be considered for publication. 

For the LLP Singles series of short essays, manuscripts should be in the 16,000 - 25,000 word range. Longer works of literary non-fiction are also considered.

LLP does not publish books for young people, poetry, romances, plays, graphic novels, short story or essay collections, or previously published material. For reasons having to do with funding criteria for cartoon books, we regret we cannot consider unsolicited manuscripts from cartoonists.

The best way to judge if your book might be appropriate for our publishing programme is to peruse this website and read our recent books. 

Other Publishers

Please do not ask us which other publisher might be interested in your book; LLP is not a literary agency and can neither offer an opinion on what others might wish to publish nor facilitate your submission elsewhere.

When to Query

We suggest you query when your manuscript is as good as you are able to make it. The better your submission, the better your chances of success. We will read your material only once.

Very few writers spring out of nowhere, and it's a good idea to have published some work professionally prior to submitting a book-length ms. for publication. We have published work by experienced and award-winning writers, and we have also been proud to publish the first books of several of our authors. All these writers had been published in magazines, ezines, newspapers, collections, or other professional publications prior to publishing with LLP. 

Fiction: Please send a fiction query when your manuscript is in final form.

Non-fiction: You may, if you wish, query when you have a title, a synopsis, the first few chapters in finished form, and a table of contents. 

Queries

Please include the following material when you send a query:

1. a short description of the proposed book, no more than one page in length;
2. the first chapter or two of the book (10-15 pages);
3. biographical information, including details of your previous publications and confirmation of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status; no more than one page in length.

All material should be pasted into the text of your email; please do not send it as an attachment and please do not send an entire manuscript. 

If the material interests us, we will ask to see more. 

Simultaneous Submissions

You may certainly submit to others at the same time as to LLP, but we would ask you to let us know that is what you are doing. We do suggest a personal note, however, rather than a mass email. 

Response

Response times vary, depending on our workload and the quality of submissions. We do endeavour to send a quick note to confirm receipt with a week or two of your submission.

It takes time for us to evaluate serious submissions, and our primary commitment is to our published authors and their work. Since we also request readers' reports in some instances, it may take two or three months before you get a response.

If another publisher agrees to publish your book after you have submitted to LLP, please let us know; and if you have not heard back from us after three months, please send a reminder.

We regret we are not able to provide editorial comments or enter into any discussion of the merits of your submission. The business of publishing is too demanding to leave us time to act as advisors or mentors to writers submitting their work. We suggest you enrol in creative writing courses or sign up for some of the excellent workshops, mentoring programmes, and manuscript evaluation services offered by provincial and national writers' organizations, or hire a professional editor.

We thank you for your interest in LLP.

Please email queries to linda@lindaleith.com.

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