We Publish Sassy Fabulous Books

Short Story and Essay Sumission Guidelines

We are presently focusing only on essays, as well as short stories in fiction and non-fiction.

Sassy Sunflower Books is presently accepting submissions of short stories and essays to be published as a collection in a series of anthologies. We will be choosing ten to fifteen stories which will be published in both the print and ebook format. If your story is selected, you will receive $50, ten copies of the anthology, and a bio page in the book and on our site.

Eligible Writers

• Canadian citizens or landed immigrants
• All writers who do not have a contract with a book publisher

Eligible Entries

• Non-fiction and fiction prose; up to 5,000 words, English language
• Not previously published in any format
• Multiple submissions are welcome

We are interested in stories or essays that are :

• Of value to our readers. They should feel that they are better people for having read the story and that they are getting good value for their money. The story should help them in their lives, and lift and inspire.
• Well written and well researched. Poor writing and careless research greatly increase editing and production costs and often indicate that the quality of the story is not what it should be.
• Unique. The book should stand out from the crowd by providing a new approach to the subject. It should provide new insights, not merely recapitulate material and insights already available in other works.

We are always interested in good writing that will be successful for both author and publisher.

Presently we are taking submissions for the following two anthologies:

More Strategies for Happiness

Strategies for Happiness, by Donna Hedley is a toolkit of ideas that help readers develop their own happiness potential. Sassy Sunflower Books is taking this idea a step further. We want you to submit to us essays, creative non-fiction or fictional stories that focus on positive and practical strategies that will help individuals find their happiness potential. Check out www.Stategies4Happiness.com for back-ground information, ideas and inspiration. The following is a list of some themes that you could use, but feel free to think outside the box:

• Forgiveness
• Responsibility
• Self-esteem
• Gratitude
• Appreciation
• Overcoming Guilt
• Service

We are looking for innovative, practical, easy to do ideas that anyone can use, or heart warming stories that will inspire and motivate people to develop their joy

These Three Things

These Three Things is a collection of short stories that will incorporate the following three items:

• A button
• A glass figurine
• A dried leaf

The story can be about anything, as long as these three things are incorporated into the story. The items must be relevant to the story, not just mentioned.

Submitting Your submission

Please follow these guidelines:

• Preferred method is to send submission by email to submissions@sassysunflowerbooks.com. Include a cover letter with detailed contact information and a short synopsis of your work which should including the following:
  1. A short description of the work
  2. Your full name
  3. Email Address
  4. Phone Number
  5. Home Address
• Be sure each page of the entire submission is numbered in sequence, not by chapter. Put a short identifying word or phrase or the title of the book in the upper left-hand corner of each submission page, followed by your last name. For example: Happiness/Hedley/159.
• Be sure to include complete publishing information for the sources of the quotations you are using. For quotations from other sources, include the author and title of the work, the place of publication, the name of the publisher, the publication date, and the page(s) of the quotation. If you wish, you may cite just the author, title, and page numbers in the text and then provide the full citation, including the publishing information, in a bibliography.
• If you are using quotations from other sources, please keep a photocopy of the original source as well as a photocopy of the title page and copyright page of the book from which you are quoting. You will need to provide this information if your submission is accepted for publication.
• It is your responsibility to clear the use of all quotations that are under copyright. This includes lengthy prose quotations (more than a few lines) and all lyrics and poems. Because of the difficulty in finding copyright holders to secure permissions and the heavy fees usually charged, we discourage use of poetry or words from songs written by established national writers. You may wish to wait until your submission has been accepted for publication before securing permissions.
• Allow at least eight weeks (and occasionally longer) for response on your submission. We try to respond as soon as possible, but the number of submissions submitted as well as pressing deadlines on books already in production may result in occasional delays.
• Please do not send duplicate submissions. All submissions submitted go through the same channels, and duplicates will be discarded. Please note that these are guidelines, not absolute requirements. If you have already prepared your submission with a slightly different format, we will still be happy to review it. You can also submit a electronic copy such a Word or PDF to submissions@sassysunflowerbooks.com .
• If your submission is to contain illustrations, please note that it is not necessary to have completed illustrations prior to submission. Sample sketches or even word descriptions (“a dog running by the water,” for example) are sufficient for our initial review. If your submission is accepted for publication, we have contacts with professional artists who could be hired to illustrate your book.

You need not worry that we will steal your idea or any part of your submission. No reputable publisher will do that. Nor do you need to register your submission for copyright before submitting it. If you wish, put a notice on the title page in the following manner: "es;© 2005 (or the current year), John Doe (your formal name). All rights reserved."es; Upon publication of your book, the publisher will submit the necessary forms to formally register the copyright.

After the Review

After your submission is reviewed, we may:

• accept it for publication;
• invite you to revise and resubmit it; or
• reject it.

If you are asked to revise your submission, please do not be offended. This is actually a positive response, indicating that your submission has excellent potential for publication. If your submission is rejected, we will return it to you provided you have included a SASE. We regret that we cannot return submissions that are unaccompanied by a SASE with sufficient postage. We also do not provide a detailed critique or evaluation of your submission. Many factors must be taken into account in deciding which submissions are accepted for publication, and rejection does not necessarily mean that the submission is not publishable-only that it is not right for Sassy Sunflower Books at this time. Our resources-financing, time, and staff-are limited, and we can accept only a limited number of submissions from the many submitted to us.

Submission of Paper Copies

If you cannot send your submission by email, you may send a hard copy version with the following requirements:

• Your submission should be in clear, dark, double-spaced type on standard 8½-by-11-inch paper with one inch margins on all sides.
• Do not submit your original submission. We cannot be responsible for submissions that are lost in the mail or that are not accompanied by sufficient return postage.
• Submit your submission in a flat package. Do not put it in a three-ring binder or bind the sheets in any way. An elastic band may be used to hold the submission together.
• If you would like your submission returned to you, please include a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage and large enough to accommodate the return of your submission. submissions submitted without sufficient postage will not be returned after they have been reviewed.

The Publishing Contract

If your submission is accepted for publication, we will send you a contract soon after acceptance. In the contract, you will agree to convey to Sassy Sunflower Books the right to publish your book. If royalties are applicable, they are paid twice a year. You may buy copies at discounted price, to be billed to you or charged against your royalties.

Any Questions?

Thank you for considering publishing with Sassy Sunflower Books. We depend upon the many submissions that are submitted to us each year to continue to publish the finest books and products in our expanding market. We enjoy our relationship with our authors and hope that you may become one of them. If you have further questions about our publishing program or our consideration of your submission, please contact us.

The information on this page is for informational purposes only and is in no way legally binding. Terms and conditions may change at any time.

We Publish Sassy Fabulous Books