Thank you for your interest in writing for Nolo. We welcome proposals by outside authors. The information here should help you determine whether your book or software idea might be a good fit with our publishing program.

What Nolo Publishes

Nolo publishes legal self-help books and software for consumers, small businesses and nonprofit organizations. We specialize in helping people handle their own legal tasks -- for example, write a will, file a small claims court lawsuit, start a small business or nonprofit or apply for a patent. If you are not familiar with Nolo titles, browse our online Law Store at www.nolo.com. It lists all of our books, software and forms. You'll find a brief description of each product, a table of contents, sample chapter and/or a list of forms. You can also check out Nolo publications in your local bookstore or library.

Nolo does not publish fiction, first-person accounts, biographies or any other material that strays too far from our step-by-step approach to helping individuals, businesses and nonprofits solve specific legal problems.

Book Proposals

If you wish to submit a book proposal to Nolo, please include the following:

• cover letter describing the book and explaining how it fits into Nolo's publishing program
• chapter-by-chapter outline of the entire book
• description of the market you envision and why people would buy this book
• list of competing titles (author, title and publisher) and why your book would be better or different
• summary of your qualifications to write this book, and
• sample chapter (other than an introduction) or other material that demonstrates your writing skills and subject expertise.

Software Proposals

If you wish to submit a software proposal to Nolo, please include the following.

• cover letter describing the software
• detailed outline of the software content, including the documents it would create and any other functionality it would offer
• details on how the software would be coded-by you or by Nolo-and in what development environment
• brief description of the market you envision and why people would buy this software
• list of the competition and why your software would be better or different
• summary of your qualifications or expertise in the subject, and
• sample of any software you have coded or authored.

Where to Send Your Proposal

Mail your book or software proposal to:

Acquisitions Editor
Nolo
950 Parker Street
Berkeley, CA 94710

If you want your proposal returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

You also may email your proposal to: mantha@nolo.com with the subject line as follows: "Publishing proposal to Nolo."

We will review your proposal and let you know of our decision promptly.

Please, no phone calls. Also, we do not accept proposals by fax.