Submissions to Thistledown Press

Thank you for your interest in Thistledown Press. Before submitting, please read our submission guidelines carefully—the press has changed ownership, and guidelines have been updated to reflect the interests of the new editorial board.

Submissions Guidelines

Thistledown is committed to publishing literary work of exceptional merit, including novels, short story collections, creative non-fiction, and collections of poetry that we find irresistible. We will consider YA novels and—occasionally—books for younger children. We only publish Canadian authors, and acknowledge a preference for Western Canadian voices. We are committed to diversity in all its richness and complexity.

All queries must be submitted by post, on paper. Thistledown does not return submissions. In your query package, please include:

* A cover letter that describes your work and its appeal to readers of Canadian literature and which states clearly the genre of your submission
* An author bio that includes your publication history
* A brief marketing analysis
* A selection of work from your manuscript (see below)
* Your contact information, including an email address.

Do not include disks or USB sticks. Please do not submit any additional materials that you would like to have returned to you.

Manuscripts must be typed in a standard 12-point font, on 8.5 x 11 inch white paper. Depending on the genre, send us the first thirty pages of a novel or nonfiction manuscript, or two or three short stories, double spaced. For poetry submissions, please send fifteen to twenty pages, single spaced, with each poem beginning on a new page.

Do not send more than requested, as we cannot return your manuscript to you. If our editorial board is interested, we will ask to see more.

We accept simultaneous submissions, but request that you advise us if this is the case and contact us immediately if you receive a publishing offer from another press. We do not, however, consider more than one manuscript at a time from an individual author — please send us your best work. Please do not submit more often than twice a year

We try to respond to submissions within four months by email.

We do not discuss queries over the phone.

Please mail your submission to:

Thistledown Press
Unit 222, 220 20th Street W
Saskatoon, SK
S7M 0W9

Please do not request a signature upon receipt. A Thistledown staff member will update you on your submission via email.


Submission Schedule

We read submissions between September 1st and May 1st. Submissions received during the non-reading period will not be returned or acknowledged.

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