Thank you for your interest in submitting a book proposal to Eerdmans. We hope that the following comments and guidelines will be of help to you.

Although Eerdmans publishes some regional books and other nonreligious titles, it is essentially a religious publisher whose titles range from the academic to the semi-popular. It is now publishing a growing number of books in the areas of spirituality and the Christian life. It has long specialized, however, in biblical studies and theology and in religious approaches to philosophy, history, art, literature, ethics, and contemporary social and cultural issues. Nearly all our publishing is on a royalty basis. We do not undertake “subsidy” publishing for individuals.

Eerdmans also publishes a line of children’s books; we have separate guidelines for submitting manuscripts written for children.

If you wish to submit a manuscript to us, we ask that you send the following:

1. A query letter telling us what the book is about, for whom it is written, what distinguishes it from other books currently available on the subject, how long it is, and what your qualifications are for writing the book. We also ask that you tell us if you are submitting your material simultaneously to another publisher.
2. A prospectus, table of contents, and perhaps an introduction and sample chapters. Or you may elect to send the entire manuscript. All manuscript material should be typed or printed out, double-spaced, on one side of the paper. If the work was prepared on a computer, we will request a copy of the disk only if the manuscript is accepted for publication.
3. A self-addressed, stamped envelope if you wish to have the material returned. The post office will no longer accept packages weighing more than one pound without a metered stamp; if you send a manuscript and wish to have it returned, please send us a check for the postage required.

Please send your submission to:

We try to answer all queries within four weeks of receipt. Manuscripts, of course, take more time—as long as several months if we are heavily backlogged or if we seek an outside reader’s opinion. We regret that the great volume of material we receive simply does not allow us to comment in detail on those manuscripts we are unable to accept.

We will not accept or respond to manuscripts, proposals, or queries sent by e-mail or fax.