kn literary arts
a full-service book studio
www.knliterary.com
Suggested Submission Guidelines
Hay House Writer’s Workshop Proposal Contest
Formatting
 Always use 12-point type and normal margins
 Times New Roman font is highly recommended; other reasonable font choices
include Calibri and Cambria. Don’t get too fancy here—let your content speak for
itself!
 Content should be 1.5-spaced except for the sample chapter, which should be
double-spaced
 Pay attention to your page design—make sure it is clean, professional and
consistent throughout
 Make sure your name, phone number, email address and URL are on the title
page of your proposal
 PDF recommended, though Microsoft Word format is also acceptable
 Be sure to number your pages!
 Suggested file name: “First name Last name – Book Title – MM.DD.YYYY”
(example: Kelly Notaras – How to Write a Book Proposal – 10.22.2022.pdf)
Punctuation/Grammar
 Title Format
o Italicize all titles of “larger works” like books (including yours), movies,
albums, magazines/newspapers, TV shows, plays
o “Put in quotation marks” titles of “smaller works” like articles, songs, TV
episodes, poems
 It is recommended to use italics to emphasize a word or phrase, rather than ALL
CAPS, underlining or boldface which are not standard in the industry and thus
make you look amateur
o You may use underlining and boldface in headings and subheadings
 While it is not always logical, in American English periods and commas always go
inside the quotation marks
o “For example, it should always look like this.” Always!!!
o “It should never look like this”, or “this”. Never!!!
 In 95% of cases, use double quotation marks. The only exception is if you’re
quoting someone inside of another quote. For example:
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kn literary arts
a full-service book studio
www.knliterary.com

o “My little brother said, ‘You are the worst sister ever!’ so I hit him and
now he’s crying,” Sally said, irritated.
Do not use final punctuation in headings/subheadings (except the occasional
exclamation point or question mark)
Submission
 Submissions are to be sent via the online Hay House Submission Form
(http://promos.hayhouse.com/tools/contests/writers/)
 Submit no later than 11:59pm on the day the contest ends; kn literary suggests
submitting a day or two in advance if possible
 Attach only one document to your submission form
 You do not need to submit a cover letter with your proposal. If you choose to do
so anyway, make sure it is included in the proposal document. There should only
be one attachment to your form!
 Write a simple note in the Comments/Questions field, explaining that you are
submitting the attached proposal for the Hay House Writer’s Workshop contest.
 When you submit, please email both your kn literary arts editor and your
editorial Matchmaker so we know you got your proposal in on time! We’re
rooting for you…
What to Expect
 You will receive a bounce-back message confirming that your proposal was
received.
 Due to the volume of submissions received, that will be your only
communication from Hay House unless you win one of the prizes
 If you are a winner, you will receive a phone call or email from Hay House
 Winners will be announced on the Hay House Writer’s Workshop Facebook
Group (https://www.facebook.com/HHWritersWorkshop) exactly one month
after the contest deadline
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