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Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in Hay House. Over the years, we’ve found that it isn’t efficient to enter into e-mail correspondence or lengthy telephone calls regarding proposals and the publishing process, nor do we set up in-person or telephone meetings with prospective authors. Please read the information below for advice.

Information for Writers

Most writers, regardless of the genre they’ve concentrated on, will want to share their work with the public by having it published as a book. The first and most important thing is do your own research. Find out about the various ways of getting your book published, the roles of publishers and literary agents, and exploring the options of self-publishing and acquiring a distributor. The Internet is great for this, as is the Writer’s Market and other books of this nature.

Establish who your ideal reader is, and what the market is like for your book. Are there already other books similar to yours available? The more research you’ve undertaken into the market, in addition to the processes involved in selecting and publishing a manuscript, the better chance you have. You might also consider attending one of our Writer’s Workshop weekends or becoming a member of our Hay House Writer's Community.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are the most asked questions about the Hay House submission process, along with our answers. We hope this information is most helpful to you.

Are you currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts?

We accept submissions only through an agent or if you have taken or attended one of our Writer’s courses or workshops. There are no exceptions to this policy. If you send in an unsolicited manuscript, it will not be reviewed and will be immediately discarded.

I attended a live Writer’s Workshop Event or took the Online Writer’s course; how do I submit my proposal or manuscript?

You will receive information at the event, or during the course. You can also contact writersworkshop@hayhouse.com for more information. Your eligibility will be verified before your manuscript is considered.

How can I find an agent?

The best thing to do is consult a book such as Guide to Literary Agents or a website such as www.agentquery.com. We do not provide lists of names or specific agent recommendations.

What other options are there?

There are many self-publishing options available. Hay House has a dedicated division called Balboa Press that helps authors self-publish their books. Partnering with Author Solutions, a leader in this field, we offer a full-service publishing company in Balboa, with various packages and price points available. Some packages even include support to help achieve marketplace success. Books published by Balboa Press are kept separate from those sold by Hay House. However, we continually review book sales and successful titles will be picked up and republished by Hay House. For more information on Balboa Press, please visit www.BalboaPress.com.

For Agents Only

I’m an agent looking to send Hay House some material. How should I go about doing this?
Submit a proposal and sample chapters as a pdf or Word document to the Editorial Department. You may also send hard copies to:

Editorial Department Submissions
Hay House, Inc.
P.O. Box 5100
Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100

Provide a self-addressed stamped envelope or e-mail address for a response. Also, please provide postage if you wish for your manuscript to be returned; otherwise, it will be recycled.

What should I do if I’m an agent who isn’t based in the U.S.?
E-mail the Editorial Department with your proposal.

If you send in a hard copy of your manuscript, we suggest sending material that you don’t need returned, since we can’t use international postal coupons. Also, please note that we review manuscripts written in English only. What types of books are you in the market for?

  • Some of our best-selling titles are: Medical Medium Liver Rescue, by Anthony William; The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein; Joy’s Simple Food Remedies, by Joy Bauer; High Performance Habits, by Brendon Burchard; Trust, by Iyanla Vanzant; and More Beautiful than Before, by Steve Leder.
  • We are interested in a variety of subjects as long as they have a positive self-help slant to them—no negative concepts that aren’t conducive to helping/healing ourselves or our planet.
  • We are not accepting proposals for poetry or channeled works, quotation books, or children’s books. Nor are we accepting proposals for card decks, DVDs, CDs, and the like.
  • Note that we publish mainly nonfiction in the areas of Self-Help, Mind-Body-Spirit, New Thought, Spirituality, Psychology, Health, Business, Finance, and Inspirational Memoirs. Subjects include social issues, food and nutrition, education, nature/the environment, alternative health/medicine, money/personal finance, recreation, religion, men’s and women’s health, spiritual growth, and fitness. We also publish a limited number of spiritual novels under our Hay House Visions imprint.

What formats do you publish in, and what else should I know about the submission and publication process? Hay House publishes hardcover, trade paperback, and eBook/print-on-demand originals. We average 50 titles a year. We pay standard royalty and publish an average of 12–18 months after acceptance. Simultaneous (agented) submissions okay. We generally report in four weeks on queries; six weeks on manuscripts.