Become a Stenhouse Author

At Stenhouse we believe in the power of teachers’ words, ideas, and actions. And we also believe in creating space for educators’ voices through professional books written “by teachers, for teachers.” We invite you to consider sharing your own ideas by submitting a book proposal.

Stenhouse publishes professional books for PreK–12th grade educators, and our books balance sharing relevant research with stories from the classroom and practical resources. We are always interested in new ideas, perspectives, and writing styles, and welcome first-time writers and writers from underrepresented communities. We do not publish children’s books, textbooks, workbooks, or memoirs.

A book proposal includes three parts:

1.   A cover letter
This letter should answer these questions:
■  What will this book be about?
■  Who are you? What is your background as an educator?
■  What books have been written on this subject, and how will yours differ?
■  Who is this book’s intended audience?
■  How will your book be organized?
■  How will you gather stories, student work, and/or photos for your book?

2.   A table of contents with chapter summaries
The table of contents should outline the ideas you’ll write about and how you’ll structure those ideas across the book. Some people write a paragraph or two about each chapter while others include a bulleted list of ideas that will be in each chapter. Either way is fine. The idea is to give us a sense of each part of your book, without actually having to write the chapters yet!

3.   A sample chapter
The sample chapter is an opportunity to share your ideas and writing style with us. Some writers like to write the first chapter of their book, while others prefer to start with another part of the book.


You don’t have to wait until you have a full proposal to reach out to us though. Whether you have a table of contents and some chapter summaries or just a seed idea you’d like to pitch, our editors would love to hear from you. We’re always happy to answer questions about the proposal process. While we are not always able to offer lengthy feedback due to the volume of submissions we receive, we do respond to each and every message we receive from teacher writers.

Please send all inquiries and proposals to editors@stenhouse.com. A member of the editorial team will respond to your email within four weeks.

We hope to hear from you soon!

The Stenhouse Editorial Team