We publish nonfiction books only and if you have one that has a large, identifiable and reachable audience, we’d like to hear from you. We do not publish poetry, children’s books, or fiction.

We prefer to receive a query letter along with a book proposal. Please submit to us by snail mail. We consider simultaneous submissions. Naturally, if we are interested, we will contact you; however, if you wish to hear from us in the event we are not interested, please enclose an SASE. Keep in mind that every publisher turns down projects for reasons that have nothing to do with the merit or publishability of the book. Even if we aren’t interested, we encourage you to keep trying with other publishers.

We suggest you read the book The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal by Stephen Blake Mettee, available at bookstores and libraries, and follow Mettee’s instructions in preparing your book proposal. While this isn’t absolutely necessary, a properly prepared book proposal will increase your chances with us as well as with other publishers. It will also help you think your project through completely.

Recent titles we have published include Perilous Trails, Dangerous Men: Early California Stagecoach Robbers and Their Desperate Careers 1856–1900 by William Secrest and Remembering Cesar: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez, compiled by Ann McGregor and edited by Cindy Wathen, the first book to be endorsed by the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation.

We are particularly interested in seeing proposals that fit the following four areas:

The Best Half of Life ^TM series

The Best Half of Life books are practical, upbeat, encouraging works that enhance the lives of people in their 50s and over. These titles help the reader to improve and to better enjoy his or her life. We want sound, well-thought-out, positive, focused writing. No personal How-I-Survived (-Cancer, -Caring for a Spouse Afflicted with Alzheimer’s, etc.) essays. The book must offer something distinctly helpful to the reader. Books with the greatest chance of being published as a part of The Best Half of Life series will have life-changing potential.

Text should be for the popular market rather than the academic market. The inclusion of checklists, sidebars, real-life anecdotes, exercises and similar elements is encouraged.

Subjects may include the whole gamut of human experience, from cooking to creativity, sex to careers, recreation to finances. A recent Best Half of Life book is The Memory Manual: 10 Simple Things You Can Do to Improve Your Memory After 50 by Betty Fielding.

Writing and Getting Published

We are always interested in seeing proposals on books for writers. Here the credentials of the author are very important. If you have never published a novel, it is doubtful that we would be interested in a book from you on how to write a novel.

There are quite a number of everything-an-author-needs-to-know-about-writing books out there. Try to focus your project to a specific aspect of writing or getting published. This focus is shown in our titles Damn! Why Didn’t I Write That? How Ordinary People are Raking in $100,000 or More Writing Nonfiction Books & How You Can Too! by Marc McCutcheon (Both a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and a Writer's Digest Book Club selection.) and The Portable Writer’s Conference edited by Stephen Blake Mettee.

California

We publish one or two regional California titles each year. Titles with a narrow focus, yet a broad appeal have the best chance of catching our interest. Examples are our Black Bart Boulevardier Bandit by George Hoeper, about the 1880s stagecoach robber; California’s Geographic Names by David Durham, California’s definitive gazetteer, and From Mud-Flat Cove to Gold to Statehood: California 1840-1850 by Irving Stone. Titles may be on the history or the recreation of California, or on any other subject distinctive to the state. The availability of illustrations is often a necessity.

The Fast Track Course series features short (25,000–50,000 words), concise, clear, interestingly written how-to books on virtually any subject.

Thanks for the interest, we look forward to hearing from you.

Stephen Blake Mettee, Publisher

1254 Commerce Ave.

Sanger, CA 93657

info@quilldriverbooks.coms