ECW Press wants your manuscripts

ECW Press

665 Gerrard Street East
Toronto, ON M4M 1Y2

https://ecwpress.com/

ECW Press ECW Press has published close to 1,000 books that are distributed throughout the English-speaking world and translated into dozens of languages. They release 50+ new titles each year. They publish poetry and fiction – both literary fiction and genre fiction, including speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy and horror – pop-culture and political analysis, sports books, biography, and travel guides. Books by both established writers and new authors. 

ECW accepts fiction and poetry submissions by Canadians only; there are no citizenship restrictions on writers submitting nonfiction. Like everyone else, they are “are especially seeking submissions from underrepresented voices, including Black, Indigenous, and people of colour; LGBTQ2IA+ people; people living with disabilities; and women.” They do not publish books for audiences younger than young adult.

ECW also has a BIPOC mentoring program. Details here.

Each of the acquiring editors has different interests. You might pitch your manuscript to the best match. Click on the name for a link to details of what they’re looking for:

Pia Singhal is the newest member of the team at ECW and like all new editors, she needs authors. She’s looking for “a lot” in both fiction and nonfiction.

Jen Sookfong Lee acquires fiction and nonfiction that “explores the complicated identities, intersections, and interests of our contemporary world, whether that’s a historical novel with a subversive twist, or a memoir that reveals a story we haven’t yet seen in literature, or a collection of short stories with a varied cast of characters who collide in unexpected ways.” 

Jack David, Co-Publisher. Acquires fiction and nonfiction. “I enjoy reading unsolicited proposals; I live in hope. I sometimes find myself reading a line or a passage to anyone who happens to be within earshot. I do this spontaneously because I like to share what I’m enjoying; and then I observe myself and register the fact that I want others to take pleasure in what I’m reading. That’s the impetus for signing up a book.”

David Caron, Co-Publisher. Mostly acquires fantasy and sci-fi, but is open to fall in love with anything.

Jen Albert, Editor. Acquires speculative fiction of all kinds for adults and teens: innovative space opera, horror, fantasy, literary post-apocalypse, epic sci-fantasy, etc. “I’m especially taken by fiction that is uplifting and fundamentally good-hearted, as in Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, one of my favorite-ever novels.” 

She also acquire engaging nonfiction, especially popular science and most especially love work grounded in biology that is interested in making broader points on behaviour and culture. 

She’s also interested in philosophy, queer studies, alternative lifestyles, social evolution, and writing on ideological, economic, and political alternatives to capitalism. She’s a fan of any well-researched book that explores the bigger picture and adds to the important conversations of our times. She will happily work with authors to develop a non-fiction project from the proposal stage.

Jen Knoch, Senior Editor. Acquires fiction (though generally not genre fiction), and nonfiction, including memoir, pop culture books, especially music books, health, social issues, women’s issues, and the environment. She especially loves when those things intersect.

Jennifer Smith, Acquisitions & Business Development. Acquires nonfiction, “with some emphasis on business, leadership, entrepreneurship, corporate history, and celebratory or commemorative books for organizations and institutions. And I never turn down the opportunity to consider a great cookbook!”

Michael Holmes, Executive Editor. Acquires literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. “I look for smart, culturally-, socially- and politically-engaged writing that takes risks, pushes limits, colours way outside the lines.” 

Query ECW at: submissions@ecwpress.com 

Put your manuscript’s title in the subject line. Include cover letter. A sample of the manuscript 15–25 pages. A brief bio, including your city of residence and publication history (if any). For nonfiction, please also send an outline of the entire work as you envision it. (For tips on writing a good nonfiction proposal, check out this sample from ECW author Michael Hingston.)

See full submission guidelines here.

Note: If you’re interested in getting published, join us for an upcoming “How to Get Published” workshop with a literary agent as the guest speaker. See here.  

ECW is also looking for Pop Classics: 

“You might be best known for writing about music, politics, primates, or the adventures of made-up people, but ECW wants to give you a chance to expound on something different. On that thing that makes an evangelist of you, that makes you hold party guests hostage long after the coffee has gone cold or has you giving a well-intentioned Skinny Puppy CD to your grandma or Empire DVDs to your dad.

“ECW staffers share your pop culture passion, and we’re looking to expand our successful pop culture list with a new series that gives you a soapbox to preach from. Pop Classics will offer intelligent but accessible arguments about why a particular pop phenomenon matters. Possible subjects include TV, music, books series/authors, film, and video games. It can be something nostalgic (Babysitters Club novels) or contemporary (Beyoncé), as long as it’s something meaningful: to you, to its genre, to pop culture, and maybe even to society as a whole.

“Running between 20,000 and 40,000 words, Pop Classics are short books that pack a big punch, and just might be the thing to give your dinner companions some peace . . . or give you a legitimate reason to keep on talking.”

To submit a Pop Classics proposal, send an email to Jen Sookfong Lee at: jenl@ecwpress.com

Put “Pop Classics Proposal: Friday Night Lights” (or whatever your subject may be) in the subject line.

Your proposal should include the following elements:

1. Who: A CV that details your writing experience and includes links to previously published work

2. What: An outline of your proposed book: Your central thesis and a proposed table of contents to show us how that argument would develop

3. Why: Some basic information on the subject, target audience and why the time is right for writing about this topic

See full guidelines for a Pop Classics proposal here. 

 

***

For more publishers looking for manuscripts, see here.

See all of Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

Navigation tips: Always check out the Labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. If you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.  

"Dear Brian" ~ a love letter about my Personal Stories courses

Dear Brian,

It's my third session as part of your Personal Stories classes, and I want to take a moment to thank you for what has become a transformational experience for me. Although I've been writing since I was very young, this course has been a different level of understanding for me of what it means to be a storyteller. 

For me, the classes are part therapy, part safe space for sharing, and most importantly, they’ve brought me the realization that all of us human beings are, at heart, storytellers. Some of the stories I write are amusing, some are sad, but all of them bring back memories and a different perspective on experiences through the different decades of my life. 

Your ability to teach and mentor, critique and praise, is something I look forward to each week.  There's always that brief moment when I think that I have nothing to say, and then you provide a few prompts, and the words simply flow.

Thank you for providing a weekly moment of joy, introspection and sharing.

Warmest regards,

Aldona Barysas

***

This letter was originally posted in July, 2024, but I love it so much couldn’t resist re-posting it. ~Brian

See all of my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats (including a weekly Personal Stories course and an afternoon workshop) here. 

Close to paradise ~ My first stay at Arowhon Pines Resort, by Brian Henry

Nothing settles my heart like an Algonquin lake. For me, sitting on the porch that wraps around the dining hall at Arowhon Pines this past June,* drinking a morning coffee while watching the mist rise off the lake came pretty close to paradise.

Hummingbirds hovered at the feeders, their wings whirring with the effort of keeping them stationary, while down at the far end of the lake, a minuscule smudge in the shallows showed up in my binoculars as a bull moose munching on water lilies. Best of all, though, I had a pen, a notebook, and time. Lots of time. I loved it.

Decades back, I was keen on canoe-tripping into the interior of Algonquin Park. But the ground seems to have gotten harder and canoes heavier; after the last time I took a trip that required  carrying a canoe from lake to lake and sleeping on the ground, I couldn’t stand up straight for a week.

But having a real bed was just the start. Then there was the food. Dinner on Friday evening featured a choice of lobster in passion fruit; roasted chicken with Arowhon stuffing and house cranberry sauce; roast loin of venison; or orange and ginger glazed tofu. It was a tough choice, even though for us the lobster was out (not remotely kosher, you know).

To my family’s collective sighs of pity, I went for the tofu, but the flavours were so sharp and complex that it stacked up well against both the venison and the chicken.

If you wanted, you might avoid the hell of having to choose by ordering a half portion of all four entrees. But for myself I was close to full just from the buffet of appetizers (the salad strewn with edible flowers was my favourite) and I wanted to leave at least some room for the buffet of desserts. Among those, I voted for the homemade wild blueberry ice-cream as best of the buffet, but the kids were passionate advocates for the maple mousse and the butter tarts (winners of some award or other).

And of course in between the appetizers and the main course, there was also the mushroom soup with a truffle cream, which was simply the best soup I’ve ever had. So I can’t recommend ordering the whole dinner menu – that was a strategy I reserved for breakfast, where I asked for almost everything: half portions of smoked whitefish, eggs, potatoes and toast, French toast, and cinnamon pancakes, plus juice and coffee. Lots of wonderful coffee.

For lunch on Friday, we all ordered fish and chips (delicious). Lunch on Saturday was a buffet with far too many dishes to begin to describe, but I have to give special mention to the outstanding bean and mushroom salad, the Scotch eggs, the tomato basil soup, and the edible flowers everywhere.

But what I loved most was how we could go from enjoying food that’s as good as it gets, take one step outside and be at the edge of the wilderness, with Little Joe Lake at our doorstep and a series of other lakes within an afternoon’s paddle. We took three trips out on these lakes: once a guided tour on a small pontoon boat; once all four of us in a pair of canoes; and once me and my son in a pair of kayaks.

We saw moose on every outing. More accurately, we hung out with moose. A mama and her calf were happy to let us drift close enough that we could hear them munching their water lilies; close enough to smell them. They paid no more attention to us than to a loon that swam by.

Brian vs William

My son and I had to go swimming, too, though it hadn’t been a warm spring, and even with the sun high overhead, the air temperature didn’t rise above 22⁰. But, heck, we were at a wilderness lodge and a few other hearty people were jumping off the dock, so we did, too.

Georgian Bay has colder water. William promptly turned blue and his extremities went numb, so I told him to get out while he could still climb the ladder. As for me, well, that breakfast I’d had and the extra pounds I still posses provided warm insulation.

We also hit the games room for a family ping-pong tournament and to introduce the kids to the wonders of a well-salted shuffleboard table. Possibly this was a mistake. At a restaurant back in Toronto, William demonstrated to one of his buddies how salt acts like ball bearings, erasing friction so that salt and pepper shakers – and even dinner plates – glide and spin as effortlessly as pucks on a shuffleboard table.

Perhaps, though, we experienced the most marvelous wonder of the trip that night as we headed back to our cabin. With the closest traffic eight kilometers down a back road through the woods, the quiet was profound and the sky clear of reflected light. In the west, an orb hung in the sky as bright as a spotlight.

In books, I’ve read references to airline pilots mistaking Venus for an on-coming aircraft but had never before understood how this was possible. Now I did. The sky was so clear that Venus didn’t look like just another star; it was plainly a disc, a goddess shining in the heavens.  

Sunset over Little Joe Lake, by Emma Henry

Note: I took this trip in June 2015 to check out Arowhon as a site for holding writers' retreats. It passed! The subsequent retreats have been great, too. Read reviews and other pieces inspired by of the retreats offered so far here (and scroll down).

Check out details upcoming retreats, at Arowhon Pines and other locales here (and scroll down). 

See my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

Join us for a weekly “Writing Kid Lit” class

Writing Kid Lit

  ~ Board Books to Young Adult Novels

Online: Monday evenings, 7 – 9 p.m.,
April 13 – June 22. No class April 27, May 18 or June 8
Offered online and accessible from anywhere there's internet 

This course is for adults (or teens) interested in writing Board Books, Picture Books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade books, or Young Adult novels, whether fiction or nonfiction, traditional text or a script for a graphic book. This course is accessible for beginners and meaty enough for advanced writers.

Through lectures, in-class assignments, homework, and feedback on your writing, we’ll give you ins and outs of writing for younger readers. If you want to write for kids, this is the course you need to make sure you’re on the right track.

Guest speaker Lana Button has published well over a dozen children’s books, with Orca, Kids Can Press, Owlkids, Tundra, Nimbus, Groundwood and Pajama Press, including her latest picture books: Time to Leave, Laverne! (Owlkids) and One Can, co-authored with Eric Walters (Groundwood), plus an early chapter book series titled Brianna Banana (Orca).  

Lana has several books scheduled for publication through 2028, including a board book, some picture books and two more books in the Brianna Banana series.

Lana has been awarded the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Award and the Crystal Kite Award. Her picture books have been shortlisted for The Blue Spruce, The Shining Willow, the Jean Throop IODE Award and the Rainforest of Reading, and have been recognized as Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Bets and the IBBY Outstanding Book for Young Children.

Find out more about Lana and her books at www.lanabutton.com, connect with her on social media @lanabuttonauthor, and order her books through Chapters/Indigo here.  

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John. Brian is the author of a children's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing). But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.  

Read pieces about ~ or inspired by ~ Brian's retreats, courses and workshops here (and scroll down).

Fee: $257.52 plus 13% hst = $291

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

You're invited to a “Writing Personal Stories” course

Writing Personal Stories

 ~ A weekly class dedicated to the pleasures of writing your stories & thoughts

Online: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 p.m.
April 14 – June 16, or to June 23 if the class fills up. No class April 28 or June 9
Offered on Zoom and accessible from anywhere there's internet 

If you've ever considered writing your personal stories, this course is for you. We’ll look at memoirs, travel writing, personal essays, family history – personal stories of all kinds. Plus, of course, we’ll work on creativity and writing technique and have fun doing it. 

Whether you want to write a book or just get your thoughts down on paper, this weekly course will get you going. We'll reveal the tricks and conventions of telling true stories, and we’ll show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Weekly writing exercises and friendly feedback from the instructor will help you move forward on this writing adventure. Whether you want to write for your family and friends or for a wider public, don't miss this course.

Our guest speaker will be Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Peacekeeper’s Daughter. 

Tanya holds an MA in English Literature from McGill University and an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. These days, she lives in Quebec’s Eastern Townships with her husband and four children. She was born in Germany to French-Canadian parents and grew up on various army bases across Canada, from Quebec’s North Shore to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

When she was twelve, her family moved to Tiberius, Israel, where her father served as a United Nations peacekeeper on the Golan Heights. When war broke out with Lebanon, Tanya and her family moved to Beirut, where they lived for seven months, at the height of the Lebanese civil war.

Tanya’s journal from 1982-1983 became the seeds of her memoir, Peacekeeper’s Daughter

Peacekeeper’s Daughter is both a coming-of-age story and an exploration of family dynamics, the shattering effects of violence and war, and the power of memory itself to reconcile us to our past selves, to the extraordinary places we have been and sights we have seen.

You can read an excerpt from Peacekeeper’s Daughter here, It’s available through the publisher, Thistledown Press here or order it through your local bookstore – see here.

Tanya has also published two volumes of poetry with Shoreline Press: Chaos Theories of Goodness (here) and The Hospitality of Trees (here). Her collection of short memoir pieces, Carrying War, will be published by Dundurn Press in August 2026 (here).

Tanya’s also published numerous poems, stories, and essays and has been nominated for many, many awards. A partial list includes:

2025 – Finalist, Fiddlehead Creative NonFiction Contest for “Sabra Chronicles”

2024 – Winner, Vita Poetica Writing and Art Contest for “Maria Lactans” 

2022 – Runner-up, McNally Rand Booksellers/Prairie Firs CNF Contest for “5972, 12^th Avenue, Rosemont” 

2021 – Finalist, Quebec Writers’ Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction for Peacekeeper’s Daughter: A Middle East Memoir (Thistledown Press, 2021)

2021 – Winner, 2021 Doula Support Foundation’s Birth Story Contest  (2nd place) for “Winter Rose” 

2020 – Winner, The New Quarterly’s Edna Staebler Award for Personal Essay (2nd place) for “Terrorist Mythologies”

2019 – “Terrorist Narratives” (first published in Malahat Review) selected and published in Best Canadian Essays of 2019 (forthcoming)

2018 – Finalist in CANSCAIP’s 2018 Writing for Children Awards for “All Alone, War Pigeon” (picture book category)

Currently, Tanya is working on some books for children and a novel for adults about American expats in Beirut called Birdsong Hollow.

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now called Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.  

Read reviews and other pieces about or inspired by Brian's writing courses, workshops, and retreats here (and scroll down).

Fee: $257.52 plus 13% hst = $291

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here. 

Join us for “Intensive Creative Writing”

Intensive Creative Writing

Offered online at 3 different times:

(Also offered in-person, in Burlington. See here.) 

Tuesday evenings online 6:30 – 9:00
First readings emailed April 21.
Classes: April 28 – June 16 or to June 23 if the class fills up

Wednesday afternoons online 12:30 – 3:00
First readings emailed April 15
Classes: April 22 – June 10 or to June 17 if the class fills up. No class June 3 (unless the class is really full; then we’ll have a June 3 class, too.)

Friday mornings online 10:00 – 12:30
First readings emailed April 10
Classes: April 17 through June 19. No class April 24 or June 5

Intensive Creative Writing isn't for beginners; it's for people who are working on their own writing projects. You’ll be asked to bring in several pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand-alone pieces, such as short stories or essays or a picture book manuscript. You bring whatever you want to work on. 

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures addressing the needs of the group, and in addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write. This is a challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Fee: $256.64 + hst = $290

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers, taught creative writing at Ryerson University (now called Toronto Metropolitan University) and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Saskatoon to Toronto to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published.  

Read pieces about ~ or inspired by ~ Brian's retreats, courses and workshops here (and scroll down).

See all of Brian’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

Note: To get new posting delivered to your Inbox as they go up, go to the Quick Brown Fox Substack and subscribe: https://brian999.substack.com/