Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Sophia Institute Press is a nonprofit institution that seeks to restore man’s knowledge of eternal truth, including man’s knowledge of his own nature, his relation to other persons, and his relation to God. We publish nonfiction books of spirituality, theology, and philosophy that help our readers understand and live according to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Our audience includes Catholic laypersons, priests, and religious seeking to grow in holiness and deepen their understanding of the Catholic Faith. (Please note that we are looking only for authors who are willing to work with us to help shape their books to the audience we have.)

Regardless of its subject matter, any manuscript that we publish should offer compelling, unique benefits to the reader.

1. Benefits are necessary, because these are what people seek when they buy anything: not toothpaste but clean, white teeth; not a phone, but a conversation with Grandma in Dubuque. We seek manuscripts whose benefits can be indicated easily to our readers, e.g., a way to pray with greater fervor, a way to overcome inattention at Mass, a way to be better to your spouse.

2. Compelling benefits are necessary in order to move the reader, besieged by many troubles and hundreds of other offers, to consider the book we offer him. For example, a person with a new computer that won't work has a compelling reason to consider a book that offers to enlighten him quickly about the arcane ways of computers. In the same way, we seek manuscripts that will offer benefits so compelling that readers will be eager to read them.

3. Unique benefits are necessary in order to get the reader to choose our book rather than dozens of similar books on the same topic. The books we publish must easily stand out from the crowd.

4. Books that do good: Because we deal directly with the Faith, and with the souls of those strong and weak in faith, we strive to publish only books that will do good to souls. This is easy in the case of books on prayer; harder with books on the current crisis in society and the Church. It is difficult, but important that we publish books that will help people understand and navigate spiritually through the troubling ecclesiastical and liturgical currents of our day. Books that do so will keep the beleaguered faithful from despair and help them draw closer to God in these hard times.

Awakening in them anger, resentment, and hatred for the Church and for churchmen would not be good, either for them personally or for the Church. Therefore, we solicit and will publish only manuscripts that speak clearly to the issues and show the way to resolve those issues in such a way that souls and the Church will be strengthened in the resolution.

5. Enduring value: At the same time, we seek manuscripts with perennial value, books that will become classics, to which people will turn again in other days and in different circumstances. Even though the books we publish may be born of our time and circumstances (as was The City of God), they must deal with themes and enunciate principles that are valid for all times.

6. Cogency and force: We seek manuscripts that, in charity, will clearly and forcefully explain the central issues associated with their topic(s) and will resolve those issues. Like the works of Plato, de Tocqueville, and other major authors, these new books should be crafted so as to become significant voices in the debate, to which even dissenters must respond.

7. Brevity: We seek tightly written books of fewer than 300 pages that explain their major principles simply and clearly.

8. Accessibility: We seek manuscripts that can be understood by the average educated Catholic. They should not be scholarly or academic in character or tone. We seek to inform and enlighten Catholics in the pew, on whom the future of the Church depends.

9. Non-fiction, prose: We seek non-fiction, prose manuscripts only. We are unable to consider for publication novels, short stories, or poetry.

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