Submission Guidelines
William Carey Publishing (WCP) publishes resources to shape and advance the missiological conversation in the world.
Our goal is to promote insights and initiatives leading to mission breakthroughs among all peoples. Those breakthroughs or mission frontiers include the evangelization and empowerment of unreached peoples and the discovery of new strategies and methods of ministry and mobilization. We especially seek to assist the work of the mission executive, field missionary, church leader, and the student of world mission.
WCP Mission:
With a sense of divine urgency and purpose, William Carey Publishing publishes resources that edify, equip, and empower disciples of Jesus to make disciples of Jesus.
What William Carey Publishing Accepts for Book Publication:
We accept proposals for books with a missiological end with special attention on those relating to mission frontiers as defined above. WCP books generally fall within the following categories:
- Practical: Books in this category offer very specific and practical approaches to enacting some ministry effort. For example, The Village Medical Manual is a resource to keep missionaries in the field by addressing emergency medical concerns when far from professional help in very practical and specific ways. Another example would be any of our books that provide practical resources for how to teach English as a second language.
- Tactical: Books that fall into this category offer a range from prescriptive to descriptive missiological methodologies. Examples would be anything from our growing collection of spiritual formation books to our movements-themed collection.
- Theoretical: Books that are in this section are those that help shape the thinking of the reader about missiology in general or some specific aspect of Missio Dei.
- Narrative: The kingdom is full of servants with amazing stories, too many to properly tell on this side of Heaven. However, when the story of a person illustrates a bigger story/truth and allows the reader to revel in the specific story and to resonate with the bigger truth, that is the narrative that we will choose to publish.
- Scholarly and Professional: This category includes field research and other professional studies on topics such as church growth and mobilization, disciple making, anthropology, international development, intercultural communication, business as mission, contextualization, language learning, pastoral and member care, mission history, leadership, etc.
- Educational: This category includes textbooks, study guides, and other print and electronic books specifically developed to mobilize and equip college, university, conference, seminary, and other students of world mission.
WCP Tone:
WCP desires to meet the differing needs of our readers, therefore we strive for high quality scholarship and content, but encourage our authors to write in a popular tone to increase readability. We want our books to sound like the intelligent conversation you have with friends over dinner.
William Carey Publishing DOES NOT Accept:
- Poetry, Fiction or Political Commentaries
- Books that do not focus on mission as defined above
- Previously self-published works
SUBMISSION PROCESS
Phase 1: The submission process begins with a maximum two-page letter of inquiry, which includes a brief author bio, book overview, unique contribution that your book offers, and specific audience for whom it is written. Please send your initial letter of inquiry to submissions@WCLBooks.com.
Phase 2: If you are invited to progress to phase 2, you'll be asked to prepare a 20-page proposal that has a specific structure that we provide. Be thorough and meticulous in providing what is asked for in this phase. Return the 20-page proposal to submissions@WCLBooks.com.
Phase 3: If you are invited to progress to phase 3, you'll be asked submit a full manuscript. Return it to submissions@WCLBooks.com. It will then be reviewed by an internal panel. At this point the manuscript can either be green-lighted for publication OR it will be sent out to an outside review panel for specific subject area expertise, which is phase 4.
Phase 4: If you are invited to progress to phase 4, it means that you've passed the internal review, but there are aspects of the book which require subject-area expert review.
After each phase you will be informed as to your progress in the phases, and after either phase 3 or 4 you will be notified if the book will be offered a contract.
NOTES
- If the inquiry falls within our publishing parameters for books on mission frontiers, your submission will be considered at our monthly submissions meeting.
- Manuscripts are only requested after a full proposal is approved by our editorial board at their monthly meeting. We will contact you to request the manuscript should the board vote to send it to the next step: a review by a scholar or professional qualified in your subject area. The board will issue its final decision after the review. Please do not submit a manuscript unless requested. The proposal and review processes generally take about 3-4 months and we recommend that authors have their manuscripts done, or nearly done, when they contact us so that the submissions process can advance quickly through each stage.