Nine Ten publishes non-fiction books, booklets and zines by residents of Canada about how to make things, how things are made, and why it matters. We are interested, specifically, in books that explore a topic or topics deeply, written by expert authors who are excellent at explaining. Our mission is to serve readers who hunger for books that scratch beneath the surface of the niche topics they’re passionate, nerdy, geeky, or obsessive about – both so they can sate their voracious curiosity and also so they can improve their experience of making things.

We seek proposals (guidelines below) for full-length books, short books around 96 pages in length, and booklets/zines that are under 48 pages. We are especially interested at this time in one-colour books (i.e., not full-colour) and zines, but we will consider full-colour books and zines that are truly extraordinary.

Nine Ten is a very small, independent press, and we release two to four books each year. Because publishing, and Canadian publishing in particular, is a risk-averse industry that does not support startups, we use crowdfunding to finance the production of our full-colour books. As such, we rely on forming close, collaborative relationships with our authors as we work together to create crowdfunding campaigns that not only ensure we all get paid, but that also enable us to connect meaningfully with the future readers of our books. (Nine Ten does the bulk of the crowdfunding work, but we do rely on our authors for reward ideas, promotion of the campaign, and eventually fulfillment of signed books and any other author-generated rewards.)

Please submit your proposal according to the following guidelines:

Submission Guidelines

1. The author of the book must be a legal resident of Canada.
2. The topic of the book must fall within the broad niche of crafts and/or creativity. We love intersections; we do not love lazy interpretations. Get a feel for what we publish here; if your idea is wildly different, Nine Ten is probably not the right publisher for your book.
   1. We are interested in books that explore the people, ideas, techniques, knowledge, investigations, traditions and applications of craft and/or creativity. This could involve deep coverage of a particular medium or technique, maker, or tradition; it could involve memoir, biography, or profiles; it could involve essays, tutorials, photographic explorations.
      1. We are not interested in, and will not consider, books on the topics of wellness, nutrition, cooking, or spirituality.
      2. We are not interested in books consisting mostly of craft patterns.
   2. We have no requirements on length (short or long), and we are particularly keen to consider books that might be deemed commercially non-viable by larger publishers—if you convince us there is a small but significant audience.
3. You do not need to be an experienced author, but you do need to be able to meet deadlines and commit to a major, long-term project that may feel intensely personal at times, and that will involve constructive, respectful editorial feedback and collaboration.
4. Please keep in mind that publishing is a business, and the decision we make about your proposal may be informed by any number of considerations beyond the merit of your idea, including but not limited to our capacity to take on the project, our judgment of the commercial potential of the book, and whether we think the book would complement the broader list of titles on our roster.
5. You are welcome to email questions to publisher Kim Werker at kim@ninetenpublications.ca before you make a formal submission.

Submission Procedure

1. Please email publisher Kim Werker the following, at kim@ninetenpublications.ca:
   1. A brief introduction to you, your work, and your book idea—in the body of the email. This doesn’t need to be long, and you do not need to be formal in your salutation or with the general language you use.
   2. A non-fiction book proposal in PDF form. We will not consider a submission without a full book proposal. (We recommend Jane Friedman’s guide to preparing one—https://www.janefriedman.com/start-here-how-to-write-a-book-proposal/. A full proposal will come in at around 20–25 typed pages.)
      1. We will not consider fully written books. Please do not send a completed manuscript.