If you are considering subsidy publishing, we cordially invite you to send us a copy of your manuscript. Be sure to keep the original for yourself. Please let us know which Dorrance program you would prefer. There will be no obligation, and you can be assured of a courteous reply.

Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry

Even if your manuscript is incomplete, we invite you to send us a summary or a sample. However, we do require a completed manuscript in order to send out a proposal. We typically require a minimum of 15,000 words or 12 one-page poems to make individual book-length publication possible, for manufacturing purposes.

Children's Books

Dorrance can help you take a children's story and develop it into a full-length manuscript through the resources of our design services. As with other books, we require at least 12 book pages for manufacturing purposes. These pages may include illustrations, which can be supplied by you, by an artist you hire, or by a Dorrance artist at additional cost.

Manuscript Preparation

You may send your typed manuscript to us in its present form. If it is not yet typed, we suggest that it be done on white bond paper, size 8 1/2" x 11". The manuscript should be double-spaced and typed on only one side of the sheet. Leave ample margins on all sides. The title, your name, and your address should appear on the first page. Following pages should be numbered consecutively. Let us reiterate: You should retain at least one copy of the manuscript.

If there is to be a dedication, contents page, list of illustrations, foreword, preface, introduction, list of acknowledgments, notes to chapters, bibliography, appendix, or index, it should be included, or its intended position clearly marked, in the manuscript. Photographs or illustrations should be numbered in crayon or soft pencil on the back to avoid damaging them. Corresponding numbers should be inserted in the manuscript, indicating clearly where in the text the illustrative material is to be placed.

The most common and economical method of mailing a manuscript is by "Special Fourth Class Rate--Manuscript." A manuscript may also be sent by first-class mail or via United Parcel Service, which are faster methods. At the special fourth-class rate and via United Parcel Service, the package is insurable. At the first-class rate, you may send your manuscript by certified mail, which allows for better tracing if a package is lost. Your postal clerk will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Your manuscript represents your own personal accomplishment, and we would be pleased to have the opportunity to work with you in bringing it into print.

It is important to note that the Dorrance imprint has appeared on titles continuously since 1920. In fact throughout the years, hundreds of authors have published more than once through Dorrance, and currently more than twenty authors on our list have subsidy published more than one book with Dorrance.

Manuscript Proposal

When you send in your manuscript, we send you an acknowledgment that we have received it. (Please send a copy of your manuscript and retain the original for your files.) We contact you to discuss our services within approximately three to four weeks. This amount of time is required for us to perform necessary administrative functions and cost calculations.

We can offer publishing contracts only for completed manuscripts, and we will accept most manuscripts. We do not evaluate manuscripts for literary merit or market potential. There are, however, categories of manuscripts which we choose not to accept. We do not accept libelous or racist material, hate literature, or pornography.

Authors will receive our contract and details of a specific Dorrance program. Our proposal will be written in straightforward language which clearly states how we plan to handle the publication of your book and what it will cost. Dorrance will outline the general production specifications of your book and how long it will take to complete.

Dorrance offers you a variety of book design options. Your book can be hardbound or produced as a quality paperback, saddlewire (stapled in the spine), or other specialty binding; and in a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 6" x 9", 8 1/2" x 11", or a special size that we suggest and/or you prefer. All of these options are considered in planning the production of your book. We will recommend a design which is appropriate for you.

If your book is to be produced under the traditional Dorrance subsidy publishing program, our limited promotional efforts will be clearly specified. We will also indicate the suggested retail price of your book.

We think you will be impressed with the subsidy publishing programs we offer at reasonable cost. You are invited to discuss with our author relations staff any questions you may have about our proposal and the different options we make available.

If you decide that you would like to accept our proposal, you should return the signed contract and first payment to us. We will then begin the first steps toward publication, which include mechanical editing.