Submission Guidelines

What we publish

We publish books with a Seventh-day Adventist perspective in the following categories:

• Health and Wellbeing
• Lifestyle, nutrition, mental health, cookbooks.
• Inspiring Stories
• Biographies, true stories, mission stories and church history.

We have published a small number of fiction titles treating themes consistent with Adventist values. We don’t publish general Christian or secular fiction, science fiction or fantasy.

• Relationships and Parenting
• Marriage, child development, parenting advice and issues, forgiveness.
• Spirituality
• Doctrine and Bible study, practical Christian living, prayer, devotional books, stewardship.
• Church and Ministry
• Ministry resources, leadership, evangelism, community engagement and service, growing healthy church communities.
• Children’s Books
• True stories or stories based on truth (contemporary or historical) illustrating Adventist beliefs, values or mission, retellings of Bible stories, health and wellbeing, spiritual growth and development.

Printing or Publishing?

Signs offers both printing and publishing services. When Signs publishes a book, we bear the costs of editing, designing, printing, distributing and marketing, and pay royalties to the author when people purchase the book. If you would like us to consider publishing your book, please continue reading the guidelines below.

While most authors choose to publish their book with us, a small number wish to pay for their work to be printed as is, so they can sell or distribute it themselves. For a quote to print your book and for other pre-press services, please refer to our Printing page.

What to do before submitting a manuscript

• Check that your book falls within the scope of categories listed above.
• Evaluate the competition for your book (for example, search for similar books on www.adventistbookcentre.com.au or www.amazon.com) and read any competing works to make sure your book has a unique perspective and selling point.
• Consider whether you are the appropriate person to write this book (Do you have the kind of qualifications/experience for a reader to trust what you have to say?).
• Make sure you are clear what need your book meets and who your target audience is—who needs to read this book and why.
• Evaluate whether your writing style and length is appropriate for your target audience.
• Recommended word counts:
  • Adult readers: 40,000–90,000 words
  • Children aged: 9–12: 20,000–35,000 words
  • Children aged 6–8: 3000–6000 words
  • Picture books: 50–1000 words
• Download our Style Guide and format your manuscript accordingly.
• Run spelling and grammar checks on your manuscript using Microsoft Word or software like Grammarly.
• Ask two or more people to read the manuscript and provide constructive criticism. Choose readers from your target audience or experts who are qualified to critique the content of your book. If they are well known or have relevant expertise, ask if they would be willing to write an endorsement for your potential book.

How to submit a manuscript

Please note that for authors publishing with us for the first time, Signs only accepts completed manuscripts. Manuscripts must be supplied as Word files.

To submit your manuscript:

• Download and complete the Manuscript Submission Form.
• Email completed Manuscript Submission Form and your manuscript to our book editors at: books@signspublishing.com.au
• Click the Submit Your Work button below to upload the completed Manuscript Submission Form and manuscript.

What to expect after submission

You will receive an email acknowledging that your manuscript has been received.
Please allow at least 12 weeks for us to evaluate your submission.
If your manuscript is not acceptable for publication, you will be notified by email.
If your manuscript shows promise, it may be sent for external review and the manuscript may need to be revised before it is considered by our publishing committee.
If approved by the committee, we will issue you a contract for publication.
Although we value your input, Signs Publishing is ultimately responsible for—and has the final say on—all editing, proofreading and design work, including the title, cover and back-cover text. You will receive a proof to check before the book is printed.

Reasons for rejection

As we receive a high volume of submissions and have a small staff, editors are unable to provide feedback on rejected manuscripts or provide help with submitting to other publishers.

Common reasons that a manuscript is rejected are:

• Does not fit within the scope of books we publish.
• Competes with books we or other publishers have recently published.
• Not a large enough audience for the topic to make the book viable.
• Does not offer a unique perspective.
• Poorly written or uninteresting.
• Unacceptable theology (must fit within spectrum of Adventist theology).
• Author not sufficiently qualified/credible/well-known for the book to be viable.