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Our Roots

Seal Press was founded in 1976 to provide a forum for women writers and feminist issues.

Since Then

Seal has represented the diverse voices and interests of women—their lives, literature, and concerns.

Right Now

Read our news or keep up with Seal Press on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat: sealpress.

The Future

Read our Acquisitions information if you or your client is interested in publishing with Seal Press.

GET TO KNOW THE SEAL PRESS STAFF!

RENEE SEDLIAR - Editorial Director

Renée joined Da Capo in 2007. She acquires and edits in a wide range of categories, including wellness, health, fitness, diet and nutrition, and self-help. Particularly keen on healthy food and cooking, she has worked with many of Da Capo’s award-winning vegan and raw-food authors, among them Brendan Brazier, Mayim Bialik, Ani Phyo, Bryant Terry, and Terry Hope Romero. Renée also acquires works of narrative nonfiction such as River Monsters, based on the hit Animal Planet show, and Peter Trachtenberg’s Another Insane Devotion: On the Love of Cats and Persons. Prior to Da Capo, Renée held editorial positions with Marlowe & Company and HarperCollins.

LISSA WARREN - VP, Senior Director of Publicity, Acquiring Editor

Since 1999, Lissa has publicized New York Times bestsellers such as Jenny McCarthy’s Belly Laughs, Tony Iommi’s Iron Man, and Cami Walker’s 29 Gifts as well as groundbreaking and award-winning works by pediatrician Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, breast-cancer researcher Dr. Susan Love, environmental activist Sandra Steingraber, and historians Harlow Giles Unger and Thomas Fleming. She also acquires narrative nonfiction for Da Capo, including The End of Money by David Wolman and The Sugar Season by Douglas Whynott. The author of The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity, Lissa has been an adjunct professor in Emerson College’s publishing program since 2003 and previously worked at David R. Godine and Houghton Mifflin.

LAURA MAZER - Executive Editor

My uniform … Librarian cardigans, platform mary janes, strategically placed bobby pins

Creative fuel … Nutella milkshakes, Special K, coffee

Geeky fascinations … Op-ed pages, typography, spray paint

Greatest weaknesses … Anthropologie’s clearance rack, Gilmore Girls, office supplies, my daughters

My books are organized by … Spine color

Fantasy Jeopardy categories… Laura Ingalls Wilder: fact or fiction?, preppy culture, JD Salinger’s Glass family stories

First feminist role models … Mary Richards, Lindsay Wagner as the Bionic Woman, Dr. Marlena

Evans on Days of Our Lives (“I consider myself a liberated woman, but that man is driving me crazy!”)

Fantasy best friend … Amy Gardner from The West Wing

On the turntable … The Police, Tegan and Sara

On my nightstand … The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan, Euphoria by LiIly King, Station

Eleven by Emily St. John, Microserfs by Douglas Coupland, Stonerby John Williams

I love to acquire … Dogged reportage, memoirs with messages, blog-to-book content, popular culture, mental health, progressive thought leadership, design-driven concept books, parenting, mothers & daughters, humor & irony

STEPHANIE KNAPP - Acquisitions Editor

My uniform … A-line dresses, big earrings, chunky heels

Creative fuel … Seltzer, Brownies, Coffee

Geeky fascinations … World War II history, travel guides, politics

Greatest weaknesses … Homemade cake, 90s dance parties, Ankle boots, my nephew

My books are organized by … A mysterious mental alchemy that I can’t even explain!

Fantasy Jeopardy categories … Clueless the movie, the life of Julia Child, cities of the Czech Republic

First Feminist Role Models … Kathleen Hanna, Sleater Kinney, and Marion in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

On my nightstand … No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Martian by Andy Weir

Fantasy best friend … Kalinda Sharma from The Good Wife

On the turntable … Leon Bridges

I love to acquire … Big-think narratives on culture & gender, weird but relatable humor, anything to do with running, current affairs, music & TV, history as experienced by everyday people, edgy-voiced memoirs

SHARON KUNZ - Senior Publicist

MATT WESTON - Assistant Marketing Director

QUINN FARIEL - Marketing Manager

Seal Press is always interested in connecting with qualified writers and hearing about new projects.

 

You can help us assess whether your project would be a good fit for Seal Press by getting to know us. Before you submit your proposal, familiarize yourself with Seal Press and its publications.

 

 

What We’re Seeking

Do your research: Browse our site and look at the types of books we publish and the subjects we cover. Seal Press publishes with an emphasis on original, lively, radical, empowering, and culturally diverse nonfiction that addresses contemporary issues from a woman’s perspective.

What to Send Us

Do not send your full manuscript for consideration. Please send either a query letter or a proposal with a small writing sample. Unfortunately, due to the volume of submissions we receive, we cannot field phone calls or emails about individual submissions. Please allow 6–8 weeks for a response.

Sorry, No Fiction

Unless we specifically put out a call for submissions, Seal Press is not acquiring fiction at this time.

Even if you ask really, really nicely the answer will still be no. Plus, we’ll feel bad for having to send you a rejection letter.

Include a project overview.

Be sure to include a working title for your project. Provide a general description of your book (25 words or less). Be sure to answer: what is its mission, purpose, or overall concept? In addition, provide a table of contents and an outline with summaries/descriptions of each chapter. Let us know the current status of your project. (Is it completed? If not, when do you expect to complete it? What is its anticipated length?)

Research the competition.

What books have already been published on this topic? Refer to specific authors and titles. What, specifically, sets your proposed book apart from each of its potential competitors? Does it approach the subject from a different angle, include new coverage of the topic, or have some other element that will be irresistible to buyers?

Who is the target audience?

Whom do you see as the audience or audiences for your book? (Try to think of at least three.) What specifically would appeal to them about your book? What questions does it answer, or what needs does it fulfill, for this audience?

Include a writing sample.

Provide a representative sample of your writing. For a single-author book, include your introduction or first chapter. If you are proposing an anthology, include your introduction, proposed call for submissions, and a representative sampling of contributions. We are most concerned with getting a sense of your voice and style, and will request more writing when we need it.

Tell us about your platform.

What are you doing regularly to build that platform? How will you help us to reach your followers, your target audience? Do you have a website or social media presence? This section of your proposal is just as important as the writing itself.

Why you? Give us an author biography.

Tell us about yourself and your background. Include a copy of your current resume or CV, and provide detailed information about your previous publications. Why do you think that you are the person to write this book? If you are proposing an anthology, what makes you particularly qualified to serve as an editor, and what makes your contributors particularly qualified to write about this subject?

What's your marketing strategy?

How would your book’s potential audience(s) best be reached? What publications do they read? What television or radio shows do they watch/listen to? What experience do you have with public readings/public speaking? Do you regularly speak to audiences on topics related to your book’s subject? Do you write a regular column for a newspaper, magazine, or website? Let us know about any contacts, affiliations, or associations you belong to that will enable you to help promote the book after it is published.

I want to be published by Seal Press!

Remember: Do not send your full manuscript for consideration. Please familiarize yourself with the guidelines above before querying or submitting a proposal.

Submissions can be sent to us at the following address:

Acquisitions Editor
Seal Press
1700 4th Street
Berkeley, California 94710

emma.rose@hbgusa.com

Please allow 6–8 weeks for a response. Due to the volume of submissions, we cannot field phone calls or emails about individual submissions.