Garden Books & Horticulture Est. 2015 An Independent Press
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Filbert Press
Submissions

Send us the book.

We publish three or four titles a year. If yours is one of them, here is what we need to read first.

Hortvs, Hilden · photograph: Kristijan Matic
A note before you write

Filbert Press is a small independent publisher of garden books. We work with three or four authors a year, slowly, and we keep their books in print. Most of our list comes from people we have read and followed for years — but the list also grows by post, and we still open every envelope.

The pages below are honest about what we publish, what we don't, and what helps us read your work fairly. Please read them before writing. A proposal sent to the wrong house wastes everyone's afternoon; a proposal sent to ours, well prepared, gets a careful reading.

We try to reply to every submission within eight weeks. If you have not heard from us in that time, please write again — sometimes things slip.

What we look for

A book that had to be written, by the person to write it.

  • A subject taken seriously — argued, not surveyed
  • A writer whose voice survives the page — plain, exact, their own
  • Knowledge earned outdoors as much as in the library
  • A view long enough to be a book, not a magazine piece
  • A reason this particular book does not yet exist
What we don't

A list of no thank yous, kindly meant.

  • Generic reference books
  • Fiction, poetry, children's books
  • Self-help, lifestyle, wellness or cookery
  • Photography books without a written argument
  • Anything outside plants, gardens and the wider culture of horticulture
  • Manuscripts already self-published, unless the rights are clearly your own
What to send

Five things,
no more.

We read every proposal in full. Keep it tight; we will ask for more if we want it.

  1. 01

    A pitch — one page

    What the book is, what it argues, who it is for, what it looks like on the table. One side of A4 is plenty.

  2. 02

    A working table of contents

    Chapter titles with a sentence or two each. The shape of the book matters as much as the subject.

  3. 03

    Two sample chapters

    Whichever two best show your voice. Drafts are fine — we read for the writing, not the polish.

  4. 04

    A short biography

    Who you are and how you came to this work. Not a CV — the shape of you.

  5. 05

    Where your work lives online

    Instagram, Substack, your own site — wherever your work currently lives. Optional but useful.

"Write the book you wish someone else had written. Then send it to the publisher who would have wanted to publish it."
Send your proposal

The form,
when you're ready.

Tell us a little about yourself, then attach the pitch, contents and sample chapters. We reply to every submission, usually within four to eight weeks.

Prefer email? Write to info@filbertpress.com.

What happens next
I.

We read

Every proposal is read by a person, usually within four to eight weeks.

II.

We reply

You will hear back from us either way. If we say no, we mean it kindly — most of what we decline is good work that simply isn't ours to make.

III.

We talk

If we want to take it further, we meet. From first conversation to a finished book is usually 18 to 24 months. We are not in a hurry; we hope you aren't either.

The Filbert Press Letter

A letter from the editors.

Seasonal reading, new titles, early extracts, and notes from the gardens and authors behind our books.