To Submit Queries or Manuscripts to
Cascadia Publishing House/Pandora Press U.S.

Due to high publishing standards and a preference to take the initiative in developing book projects, Cascadia Publishing House publishes only a fraction of the unsolicited manuscripts received. Nevertheless, submissions are welcome from writers who have carefully researched Cascadia publishing goals and believe their writing may be suitable. We publish a range of materials, from the many scholarly books released under the Cascadia (or formerly Pandora Press U.S.) name through the broader-audience volumes published under the DreamSeeker Books imprint. For more on what types of books are released under the Cascadia Publishing House name, see the mission description on our main page, which highlights our interest in creative, thought-provoking, Anabaptist-related material, and explore our published titles. Meanwhile see the mission statement provided for DreamSeeker Magazine as a good guide to the type of writing we are also seeking for DreamSeeker Books.

SUBMISSIONS
To submit, please begin by sending query (not complete manuscript) to Cascadia Publishing House, either by e-mail to editor@CascadiaPublishingHouse.com or by mail to editor and publisher Michael A. King, 126 Klingerman Road, Telford, PA 18969. Include—

• cover e-mail or letter explaining why you think your project fits Cascadia, your view of likely audience and market, experience or credentials that make you a credible author of this book;
• projected table of contents;
• if e-mailing, e-mail version or summary of vita;
• if mailing, vita plus SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope);
• One or two sample chapters, either when first sending query or, if chapters are not yet ready at that time, at least some brief writing sample.

Unsolicited manuscripts sent without SASE may not be acknowledged or returned.

IF A MANUSCRIPT MAY FIT A CASCADIA SERIES
Many Cascadia books are released as a volume within a Cascadia series, often one cosponsored by, developed with, or having roots in other institutions, such as Bluffton College, Mennonite Historical Society, Institute for Mennonite Studies, and more. Series within which Cascadia books are released include C. Henry Smith, Living Issues Discussion, Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, Studies in Peace and Scripture. If you think your book may fit a Cascadia series and you are already aware of who may be the series editor for a given series, feel free to approach that editor directly. Otherwise you are free to begin by using the same submission process described above.

It should be emphasized that all Cascadia books receive rigorous evaluation and some form of peer or consultant review. Then in addition books are accepted into a given series only if they meet the high standards set for that series. Since most of the series focus on publishing serious and frequently scholarly books, standards to be met often approach and sometimes exceed those set by university presses. In many cases, in addition to receiving affirmation by the publisher, books must be approved not only by a series editor but also by anonymous reviewers with expertise in fields pertinent to the book. Inevitably some books are declined. Meanwhile the majority of those that do meet series expectations are accepted into that series contingent on author readiness to make significant revisions. Though there are not formal requirements for series authors or reviewers to hold given graduate degrees, perhaps because of this exacting process many do have advanced degrees and are often leaders within their fields of scholarship.

AFTER WE RECEIVE YOUR QUERY
In case you wonder what happens after we receive your query. . . . On the cautious side, Cascadia Publishing House is receiving a growing number of submissions, many of them of publishable quality, yet cannot begin to release all of them. Thus we are being forced to reject many potential projects, even while often wishing we could make space for the more promising ones. This means that even if after receiving your query we see reason to process it further, we will be careful not to imply commitment to publish your book until we complete the steps of our content evaluation process. These include a.) initial evaluation by the publisher or an editor; b.) input from consultants (see Meet the People) or referral to series editor when appropriate; c.) a final decision on likely publishability based on weighing consultants' or reviewers' feedback; d.) receipt of a publishable final manuscript, which is the stage at which we usually offer a formal contract.

FINANCES
Particularly when taking on high-complexity, high-cost academic volumes which tend toward modest sales potential, we sometimes need to discuss the possibility of subsidy, preferably and typically received not from individual authors (since we are not a vanity press) but from institutions interested in sponsoring gifted authors and scholars through collaborative arrangements similar to those frequently used by university presses. We often then pair subsidy with relatively high royalties as well as recognition of the sponsoring institution's support. However, our goal is to minimize the need to deny publication to authors of high quality books purely on financial grounds; thus we work hard to balance our need to break even with our determination that content, not finances, be the deciding factor. A corollary of this focus on content is that if collaborative forms of funding are available for a book that does not meet our rigorous content standards, we must nevertheless decline to publish.