We are always pleased to receive promising submissions from authors. However we are a very small publishing company so there are one or two points we would like to emphasise:

• We can only take on a very few manuscripts. We receive about 200 or so proposals a year and publish only 12 books a year, around half of which are our own ideas. This means we have to say no to some very good ideas which just aren`t right for us, as well as saying no to proposals because they aren't much cop. As authors ourselves we know how disappointing rejection can be, so please don't be too hopeful.
• We`re not rich. If you're hoping to retire on the strength of your advance, we're not the right publisher for you. While we believe we pay a fair advance, with a decent royalty package to compensate for any shortcomings up front, there`s no pretending we're overly generous. We`d love to be, but we figure a bounced cheque would piss you off more than a modest advance.
• If you can't deliver on time, please don't have anything to do with us as you could bankrupt us.
• With only two of us here, we're trying to do everything - editing, project managing, finance, admin, PR, marketing, the lot. That leaves us very little time to look through submissions and respond to them. We would therefore be extremely grateful if you would read through the sections below and send in:
  a) only material which is suitable for us
  b) submissions set out as described below

Any submissions which follow these two criteria will get a personal reply. All others will receive a standardised reply. We really are sorry, but that`s the way it has to be.

Our kind of stuff
We`re very clear about precisely what constitutes a White Ladder book. We reject plenty of our own ideas because they don't fit the bill, and we will be as brutal with you as we are with ourselves. All White Ladder titles must fulfil the following four criteria:

1. They must be quirky in some way (we don't necessarily mind what way).
2. They must be practical. At the end of the book the reader must be able to do something useful that they couldn't do before they read it, whether it`s bring up their children better, give up smoking, start a business or whatever.
3. They must attract media interest. We've got to be able to visualise the thing realistically in the national press, on Radio 4, in the trade press and so on. Alongside this goes the fact that authors must be prepared to give interviews, appear on radio and TV, and generally do their best to promote the book.
4. They must have plenty of obvious marketing channels outside the book trade. Sadly, it`s very difficult to succeed as a small publisher and the only way to do it is to make sure we sell plenty of books through other outlets, from big businesses or enterprise agencies to sports centres or car showrooms.

Things we won’t publish
Just to save wasting your time and ours, there are certain types of books we often receive proposals for which don’t fit our list. We’re not suggesting that there’s anything wrong with these kind of books – some of them can be highly successful and a great read – simply that they’re not for us. So here are some classic types of proposals not to send us.

•  Anything inspirational rather than practical, especially if it has a new age slant. In other words we don’t publish books about ‘7 Steps to Happiness’ or ‘How to Change Your Life’.
• Anything aimed at a market which is necessarily small, such as a guide to keeping kangaroos in your back garden, or how to become a successful chimney sweeper.
• Accounts of interesting experiences which few other people will aspire to copy themselves, or which have no practical application. For example a memoir of your life as a Latvian grape-picker in the 1960s, or how you travelled round India on a unicycle.
  

What to send us
Please don't send us a full manuscript in the first instance. We won't read it. What we'd like from you - assuming your idea fits the criteria above - is a proposal which sets out:

• Briefly what the book is about
• A list of chapters or sections (where applicable)
• How it will benefit the reader
• What scope you see for media interest
• A list of potential marketing channels outside the book trade
  

Please could you also submit sample text and your cv. You can submit by post, or email roni@whiteladderpress.com. If you submit by post please include your email address.

Be warned

• Unlike most publishers we are very unlikely to publish a book on a subject we have tackled before (apart from parenting titles). So as we've already done a wedding book, a business start-up book, a cookery book and so on it`s highly unlikely that we would commission another title in these genres.
• We'd much prefer you not to have written the book yet. Like most non-fiction publishers, we consider the fact that you've already written the book to be a Bad Thing as we find that it makes authors much less flexible about adapting the book to our style. In particular, telling us that you already have a completed 150,000 word ms makes our hearts sink. If you have already written the thing, I'd keep quiet about it.
• In the event of our commissioning your book, we are virtually guaranteed to change the title. This is worth mentioning at this stage as authors can understandably become attached to titles. However the title is one of the central marketing tools for the book, and as such comes under the remit of the publisher. We always consult as much as possible over titles, but the final decision has to be ours.

White Ladder was founded on the principle that too many publishers go for quantity of titles rather than quality of marketing. As an author, it`s frustrating to find that what you thought was a really promising title is being punted around half-heartedly as one of a whole list of this season`s titles, to be forgotten and backlisted within a few short months.

If we're honest, we've all written books - often perfectly good ones - which probably fit into this category quite happily. But every so often you have an idea which is out of the ordinary, and you really don't want it to go the same way as all the others.

We take on only titles which are different and which deserve - and justify - a major media splurge. We put several weeks' dedicated effort into promoting each title, and exploring sales channels for it. We don't market our titles in groups, but individually. And even once we move on to the next title we don`t forget previous titles but continue to give them promotion when opportunities come along.

We really don't want to put you off with all our criteria and requirements. We want to save your time and ours, and to make sure that we free up as much time as possible to consider those submissions which really have potential as White Ladder titles.

Thank you for being interested in us.