Coach House Books seeks literary fiction and nonfiction and poetry

Pacifique, a novel by Sarah L. Taggart
published by Coach House

Coach House Books

80 bpNichol Lane
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3J4
Canada

https://chbooks.com/

Coach House has been around since 1965 when it was founded by Stan Bevington, who is still the publisher. Alana Wilcox is the Editorial director. She’s responsible for acquisitions and editing, in addition to overseeing day-to-day operations. She is the author of A Grammar of Endings (The Mercury Press, 2000).

Coach house publishes about ten books a year of innovative poetry, literary fiction, drama and select nonfiction (and also dramatic works, but currently they’re not those).

They do not publish children’s books, cookbooks, fantasy, historical romances, memoirs, mysteries, science fiction or self-help books.

In regard to poetry, Coach House is interested in interested in work that reconsiders or pushes against convention. They go by the dictum of poet Bob Cobbing, who says: “The only excuse for being a poet today is to add to the quality of poetry, to add a quality which was not there before.”

Coach House primarily publishes Canadian authors. (Grants depend on this.) Like everyone else they “especially encourage submissions from members of diverse communities, including Indigenous writers, writers of colour, writers with disabilities, writers from the LGBTQ community, and writers who identify with other marginalized groups.”

Test Piece, poetry by Sheryda Warrener
published by Coach House

For fiction submissions, send your complete manuscript, along with an introductory letter that describes your work and compares it to at least two current Coach House titles, explaining how your book would fit their list, and a literary CV listing your previous publications and relevant experience. Please include these all in one file (Word or PDF).

For poetry submissions, send your complete manuscript, along with an introductory letter that describes your work and compares it to at least two current Coach House titles, explaining how your book would fit their list, and a literary CV listing your previous publications and relevant experience. Please include these all in one file (Word or PDF). Please do not send single poems; they’re looking for full length (book length) works to publish.

For nonfiction submissions, please send a brief proposal and outline, along with your literary CV, and either a sample of the work, or samples of previous relevant writing.

Please advise in your cover letter if your work is a simultaneous submission (submitted to other publishers at the same time). Notify Coach House promptly if it is accepted elsewhere.

Email your submission to: submissions@chbooks.com 

In one file, attach your manuscript/excerpt and literary CV. Please include the genre and title of your submission in the subject of the email. 

Full submission guidelines here.

Children's author Kira Vermond will be one of
the guest speakers for the Writing Kid Lit class

Brian Henry's schedule continues to take shape….

Weekly classes {Details of all fall classes here}: 

In-person: Enjoying Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m., Sept 29 – Nov 24, in Burlington. Details here.

Online: Enjoying Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:30, Oct 11 – Dec 6, 2022 {Or to Dec 13 if the course fills up.} Details here.

Writing Kid Lit weekly class, Wednesday evenings, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., Oct 12 – Dec 7, 2022 {Or to Dec 14 if the course fills up}. Details here.

Online: Writing Personal Stories, Monday afternoons, Monday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:30, Oct 24 – Dec 5, 2022 {Or to Dec 12 if the course fills up.) Details here. 

Online: Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday evenings, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m., Sept 20 – Dec 6, 2022 {Or to Dec 13 if the course fills up. No class Oct 4}. Details of all fall classes here. – Still space in this Intensive class.

Online: Intensive Creative Writing also offered: Wednesday afternoons, Sept 14 – Dec 14, 2022, and Friday mornings, Sept 23 – Dec 16, 2022. Details of all fall classes here. But waiting list only for these two Intensive classes

In-person: Extreme Creative Writing, Thursday evenings, Sept 29 – Dec 1, in Burlington. Details here.

Writing Retreats:

Lake Simcoe Writing Retreat at The Briars, Friday, Sept 16 – Monday Sept 19, 2022. Enjoy a weekend of writing at an elegant southern Ontario resort. Details here.

Muskoka Writing Retreat at Sherwood Inn, Friday, Oct 14 – Monday Oct 17, 2022. Details here. (This retreat may be full. But there's still space at the Briar's Retreat in September!)

To reserve a spot or for more details about any course, workshop or retreat, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Navigation tips: Always check out the Labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. For book publishers in general, see here {and scroll down}. For more children’s and young adult publishers, see here {and scroll down}.