Westminster John Knox Press (WJK) is the academic and trade imprint of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. They have published many established Christian scholars, including Marjorie Thompson, Cornel West, and Rowan Williams. They are just a faith based publisher which means all of their work is rooted in Christianity, and they are not a good publisher to approach from outside of that perspective (although their Children’s imprint Flyaway Books was established in 2018 and includes work that is focused on things outside of Christianity).
WJK publishes “books in theology, biblical studies, preaching, worship, ethics, religion and culture, and other related fields for four main markets: scholars and students in colleges, universities, seminaries, and divinity schools; preachers, educators, and counselors working in churches; members of mainline Protestant congregations; and books specifically related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)”.
It’s a good idea to get a feel for what they publish by visiting their main page, or searching through the book section of the site. They are very much focused on readers rather than writers, which is always good.
They do not consider fiction, memoir, poetry, dissertations or Festschriften for publication, and do not consider kids’ books outside of their Children’s imprint, which has separate guidelines.
They are only interested in considering proposals and have detailed information about writing academic book proposals, professional book proposals, and general reader book proposals on their website. Please read them carefully before submitting a proposal that follows the guidelines they have established.
To see their full guidelines, go here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2022 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.
