Learn More about Bowker Manuscript Submissions

 

Why was Bowker Manuscript Submissions created?

BowkerManuscriptSubmissions.com was initiated as a cooperative effort between Bowker and the Publishing community for Publishers looking for new authors and desiring an efficient way to discover and evaluate new manuscripts.

    
Bowker has been servicing the publishing community for over 130 years and we are expanding our offerings to help ease the burden and streamline the process of sorting through the overwhelming volume of unsolicited manuscripts you receive.


Built off the success of Christian Manuscript Submissions, Bowker will now provide this service to the trade and higher education publishing communities. 

 

Who will use Bowker Manuscript Submissions?  

All traditional publishers will enjoy free access to hundreds of new manuscript proposals every month. Vanity presses and self-publishers will also have access to the system through a subscription basis.  
Authors can easily expose their proposals to our member publishers through our efficient and streamlined process.  

 

What are the membership options available for Publishers? 

Platinum Member

  • Full Access to BowkerManuscriptSubmissions.com
  • Member will only use BMS for unsolicited manuscripts
  • Member will direct all unsolicited manuscripts to BMS from their website and mailed copies – will co-promote with our help
  • Member will allow BMS to promote their usage on the BMS site – name/logo
  • Membership comes at no cost to the Publisher 

Gold Member

  • Full Access to BowkerManuscriptSubmissions.com
  • Member will use BMS as one source for unsolicited manuscripts
  • Member will allow BMS to promote their usage on the BMS site – name/logo
  • Membership comes at no cost to the Publisher

 Silver Member

  • Access to BowkerManuscriptSubmissions.com for self-publishing authors who have elected to share their proposals with on-demand publishers
  • Member will allow BMS to promote their usage on the BMS site – name/logo
  • On demand option will be promoted to authors upon initial proposal submission and again when proposal is up for renewal
  • Membership will be charged annually

 

 

How we will add authors and new proposals?

We have a number of author recruitment initiatives in place to ensure you’ll have a plentiful and changing selection of proposals to review.  

Specific Author Recruitment Promotion:

  • ISBN Agency co-promotion - As the exclusive U.S. ISBN and SAN Agency, Bowker Manuscript Submissions will be co-promoted with ISBN.org and MyIdentifiers.org Writing Conference Partnerships – providing resources to conference attendees and promotional offerings
  • Author Guild Partnerships – co-branding and promoting with trusted Author guilds
  • Social Media – using popular Social Networking sites to connect with authors where they work and play
  • Author Services Organizations – partnering with organizations that provide services to authors, like those offering author website builds and help building author brands
  • Agent Partnerships – working with agents to identify proposals for this service
  • Publisher materials – providing publishers with information to share with authors when unsolicited manuscripts are received

 

How will Professionally Edited Manuscripts be Identified?

Publishers will be able to easily identify those manuscripts that have been professionally edited through a “flag” in the system when returning proposal search results. The professional edited and flagged proposals will appear at the top of a publisher’s search results.

BowkerManuscriptSubmissions.com will offer a number of author resources providing access to professional services for editing and critiquing for those authors who are interested in these services.   

 

What Publishers have successfully used this system?

Expanding on the success of Christian Manuscript Submissions, Bowker now offers this service to the trade and higher education publishing communities. Here are a few endorsements from fellow publishers who have greatly benefited from CMS.  

  • Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group  
    “ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com is a quick and easy way to find interesting projects that probably wouldn’t come across my desk otherwise. I have signed two authors from this site over the last twelve months and continue to check for new proposals on a regular basis.” 
  • Discovery House Publishers  
    “We are pleased to have this new work from the second author Discovery House has found on CMS. We regularly check the database on CMS, and we appreciate the way you help aspiring authors provide us with professionally written proposals that give us interesting book ideas in an efficient manner. Thank you for making our work easier.” 
  • Harvest House Publishers 
    “With approximately 1,200 queries, proposals, and manuscripts arriving annually, it’s a tedious task wading through them in search of the 2% that actually fit our publishing program. That’s why referring unsolicited submissions to CMS is the most efficient, cost-effective way for first-time authors to share their work with members of the ECPA, and for publishers to find exactly what they’re looking for. Everybody wins.”

 

How will a Publisher make contact with an author?

From a submitted manuscript proposal form, publishers will have access to the contact information and brief biographical details of the author you are interested in contacting. This information is available with the click of a button. 

 

How will a Publisher review a proposal?  

A publisher has the option to either print or save a document.  The saved document can then be easily emailed to colleagues and streamlined into your existing review process.

 

What are the criteria for being approved as a subscribing publisher?

In an effort to maintain the integrity of our website and protect the ideas of authors, Bowker has set guidelines for admission. We first verify each registrant through our Books In Print/PAD database. Once a company is validated through Books In Print, we then check to see if you meet our requirements, which state that a publisher must have a minimum of 30 total books published, including at least 10 books published in the past year, by multiple authors. If you fail to meet any of these requirements, you can still gain "Silver Membership" access to the site. To do so, click HERE to reapply (make sure to select "Silver" from the drop-down box).

 

Learn More

What are the criteria for being approved as a subscribing publisher?