Submission Guidelines
Whitecap Books is a general trade publisher with a focus on food and wine titles. Although we are interested in reviewing unsolicited manuscript submissions, please note that we only accept submissions that meet the needs of our current publishing program. Please see some of most recent releases to get an idea of the kinds of titles we are interested in.
Submission Categories
We will only consider submissions that fall into the categories below:- Cookbooks
- Wine and spirits
- Regional travel
- Home and garden
- Canadian history
- North American natural history
- Juvenile series-based fiction
At this time, we are not accepting submissions that fall into the following categories:
- Children’s picture books
- Adult fiction
- Self-help or inspirational books
- Political, social commentary, or issue books
- General how-to books
- Biographies or memoirs
- Business and finance
- Art and architecture
- Religion and spirituality
How to submit your book proposal
Please do not send a completed manuscript. If we are interested in reviewing your entire manuscript, we will contact you.
When submitting an idea for a book to Whitecap, please include the following information:
Cover letter
Introduce yourself and include information about your experience including your educational and professional background, and your previous publishing credits.
Tell us why your book idea is a good one: Why is a book like this one needed? Who would buy it? How does it differ from competing titles? In what ways is it like similar titles?
- For food and wine books, the synopsis should include a table of contents with a list of chapters.
- For cookbooks, your proposal should also include at least 15 sample recipes.
- Include information about proposed photographs; do you photograph your own food? If so, include samples (never originals).
- For juvenile fiction, your proposal should include the main characters and events, the setting and time period, the approach (narrative, humorous, first person account, etc.), and the theme or range of topics. It should include a table of contents listing the chapters or stories and their length. Include information about proposed illustrations or photographs (number planned, black and white, or colour). Please send one to three sample chapters that are representative of the total manuscript.
- Never send original artwork or photographs.
- If you are interested in having your previously self-published book reviewed, please include a copy of the book.
Send all materials by ground mail to:
Rights and Acquisitions
351 Lynn Avenue
North Vancouver, BC
V7J 2C4
Responses can take 8–12 weeks. We are not able to send notifications of receipt due to the large number of submissions that we receive. Please do not e-mail or telephone to check on the status of your submission. We hope these suggestions are helpful, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Frequently Asked Questions about Submissions
Q. Do I need an agent before I submit my manuscript?
A. No. Although some publishing houses refuse to accept un-agented submissions, Whitecap is not one of them. We read every submission that is sent to us, and we take pride in discovering new voices and publishing previously unpublished authors.
Q. If I have a cookbook submission, should I include all the recipes?
A. No. All we need to see is a complete list of recipes, accompanied by 15 sample recipes. If we need to see more, we will contact you.
Q. How can I learn more about writing and publishing a book?
A. There are several organizations that can help you develop your writing and research:
- The Canadian Authors Association welcomes any questions from new writers.
The Writers' Union of Canada also offers manuscript reading services and business information for writers.
There are several regional organizations as well, such as the Federation of BC Writers and the Association of Book Publishers of BC.
