UPDATE – Sept 24th, 2021, it has recently come to our attention that Chelsea Green has been publishing and promoting disinformation about COVID-19 as well as other controversial books along with their more traditional catalogue, and that even though they bill themselves as employee owned the truth seems to be more complicated. To learn more go here.
Chelsea Green is a non-fiction publisher that focuses on publishing books that promote the “politics and practice of sustainable living.” Chelsea Green was founded in 1984. As of 2012 they are employee owned. Their books have won numerous awards, and you can learn more about their history here.
To get a better feel for what they have published in the past, go here. They have excellent distribution, good marketing, and well designed covers.
They are not interested in any work outside of that market. On average they receive over 800 submissions a year, and publish only 30 (give or take).
Books that do not follow their guidelines will not be considered or acknowledged.
They accept via email and post. They accept based on queries and proposals.
They have very detailed submission guidelines that include specific details about what they do and do not publish, and what they expect all proposals to include. You can read their full guidelines here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2020 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.
She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish.
You can follow her on Facebook here.
