Groundwork Press publishes parent-friendly, non-fiction books and some children's fiction of the highest quality. We seek books from professionals throughout North America who have an ear to the ground about what’s current in the area of special needs education and research. We welcome submissions from parents who have a thorough understanding of the resources caregivers need to effectively parent children with challenges. We’re interested in having parents share stories with other parents about how their families survive day-to-day trials, while exploring issues of grief and loss, lack of support, battles with the health care and education systems, and so on. Oftentimes, the stories we hear from parents are infused with hope and laughter.

We are a small publisher and only publish a handful of books each year. Are you a professional who specializes in a particular child disorder, and/or set of behaviours? Do you work with parents and their children as a speech pathologist, parent coach, special education teacher, pediatrician or child psychologist? If so, we’d like to hear from you. Browse through our catalogue to find out what kinds of books we publish and whether Groundwork Press would be a suitable fit for your research interests and/or hands-on experience.

We ask that you submit a query prior to forwarding your manuscript. Having determined that your book fits our requirements, please prepare your manuscript according to the suggestions in Canadian Writers' Market, any of the US Writers’ Market publications, or other standard references. Please give us a call prior to submitting a manuscript. Send the following, by regular mail:

• A synopsis or outline of the book
• A sample of 20-30 double-spaced manuscript pages
• A brief biography of yourself summarizing professional and personal information relevant to the book project
• A list of previous publications, including any portions of the manuscript that have been published
• A stamped self-addressed envelope (Canadian stamps or international reply coupons only, please) for reply and for any material you want returned.
• Any ideas you might have regarding marketing the book (i.e. book/speaking tour, media outreach)
• A book list of competitors in this area

Electronic submissions are encouraged and can be sent to lissa@groundworkpress.com, Editorial Director. If you would like to discuss anything with us first, a phone call is best.

All submissions must be accompanied by sufficient return postage in Canadian stamps or international reply coupons.

We publish books related to parenting children with challenges. If the books deal with issues that are specific to Canada such as the health care or education systems, then the author needs to have an in-depth knowledge of how these Canadian institutions work. If the individual is writing about a specific disorder he or she needs to have in-depth knowledge of the issues and preferably have written on the disorder in the past. Parents have a wealth of experience to pass on to other parents. We encourage these parents with children who have challenges to believe enough in what they have to offer to approach us for information as to whether their book ideas are publishable and how they should go about it. We will help you along the way!

Editorial Needs

We are currently seeking submissions for our Living Series. To give you an idea of the books in this series, we suggest you examine our two books, Living with FASD: A Guide for Parents and Living with Prenatal Drug Exposure: A Guide for Parents. We seek manuscripts or articles for topics in the following areas:

• Attachment Disorder
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism/Asperger's Syndrome
• Mental Health
• Dyslexia/Learning Disabilities

Editorial interests include books by parents who want to reach out and share their experiences with other parents. We seek hopeful, yet realistic stories that engage the reader and offer him or her gentle lessons at the same time. These stories should demonstrate coping mechanisms, parent strategies and tips, funny moments from the school of hard knocks, along with heart-warming memories families simply can't forget.