Welcome to the Nimbus Publishing & Vagrant Press submissions page.

Nimbus Publishing and its adult fiction imprint, Vagrant Press, is the largest English-language publisher on Canada's east coast.

Please note that submissions are open from November 1, 2023, closing at 11:59 p.m. on November 30, 2023—or, until we reach 200 submissions, whichever comes first.

Locally, nationally and internationally, Nimbus is best known and widely recognized as the premier publisher of books about Atlantic Canada. Our list is wonderfully diverse, with many titles that have found success in an incredibly competitive marketplace.

Several of our books have been nominated for or received prominent awards, including the Governor General's Award, National Business Book Award, the Marilynn Baillie Award, the Geoffrey Bilson Award, Hackmatack Award, and many more.

We currently publish over forty books a year, and they usually fall into one or more of these categories: biography, art, history, science and nature, political and social issues, folklore, children’s fiction and non-fiction, sports, guidebooks, cookbooks, and photographic books. We publish fiction for adults under the Vagrant Press imprint. Nimbus does not publish in the following sub-genres: self-help, religion, philosophy, drama, erotica.

Please note: We do not provide printing, writing, or translation services.

Please carefully review our General Submission Guidelines before submitting a manuscript.

When you're ready to begin the submissions process with Nimbus or Vagrant, click the "submit" button. You may be asked sign up for, or log in to, a free Submittable account.

If you have questions or concerns with how to use your Submittable account, please email support@submittable.com.

General Submission Guidelines

Do

• Include a cover letter with a current mailing address, phone number, and email address; a description of the book and its market (1 page); a short bio.
• Include a detailed table of contents or outline (1 page).
• Send the first three to four chapters (or approximately 50 pages).
• Browse the Nimbus website and back catalogues to ensure your project is a good fit with our publishing program.
• Send simultaneous submissions—simply notify us if your manuscript is under consideration elsewhere, and, of course, if it is accepted for publication while it is under our consideration.
• Expect an eventual response. Please be patient—it can take us up to 12 months to respond to a submission.
• Expect us to treat all materials confidentially.

Do not

• Propose a project that does not reflect or speak directly to Atlantic Canada’s people, places, history, or culture.
• Include illustrations with a proposal. If you are an illustrator interested in working with Nimbus, please use Submittable to upload a portfolio.
• Phone us about a submission.
• Expect feedback. We receive hundreds of submissions each year and are only able to offer feedback on those submissions that are possibilities for our publishing program.
• Send submissions by mail.