Monkfish is an independent press that focuses on publishing religious, spiritual, and literary books from a diverse range of perspectives. They have published memoirs, fiction, poetry, scholarly works, and wisdom literature, which you can get a better feel for by downloading the catalog here. They publish debut authors, as well as backlist work. They are based in Rhinebeck, NY.

Monkfish books are distributed in the US by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. In Canada they are distributed by Publishers Group Canada and Raincoast. Beyond that they are distributed by Macmillan. I have seen their books in bookstores, personally.

The do not publish work aimed at children. If you think your work would be a good fit for them, please query first with a brief description of the work, any advance endorsements the book has received, a short authors bio, and an explanation of why you think Monkfish is the right publisher for your work. This means you should spend time with their catalog and ideally their books, before submitting.

Only query with completed manuscripts. If they are interested they will ask for the complete manuscript and a book proposal, which should “include a 250 word description of the book, a 100-150 word author bio that includes previous titles published, and an explanation as to why the author is the right person to write the book submitted. It should also include similar titles published within the last five years with an explanation as to how your book is different. Lastly, the book proposal should also include a marketing plan which focuses on the resources you, as the author, can bring to the marketing of your book.”

They only respond to submissions they are interested in.

They accept submissions via mail, reluctantly, and much prefer emailed submissions.

To learn more, visit their submission guidelines here.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2021 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.