In two weeks Five Rivers will once again open to submissions for a short period between February 1 and 14. This will be our annual submission period, an opportunity for authors to woo us with their proposals and sample chapters.

What’s likely to pique our interest this year, whether writing for adult or younger audiences:

• Historical Fiction. We’re not looking for romance disguised as historical fiction. That will get you a quick rejection. Rather, we’re looking for solidly researched and richly detailed Canadian history that forms the subject or backdrop for your story. Write about the Beothuk, the Salish, or the Icelandic settlers of Manitoba, the Doukhobors of the Prairies, of the Chinese labourers on the Trans-Canada railway. Tell us a story about the misery of l’Acadiens and Fortress Louisbourg, the fur traders slogging it up to Great Slave Lake and beyond. What about the Orkney men who went slightly mad manning trading posts along Hudson’s Bay, the soldiers who came home after the wars, the women who remained behind, the women who went to war with the men? We have a wealth of history largely unexplored and without voice.
• Science Fiction. Looking for gritty, imaginative science fiction that breaks away from wrist-slashing post-apocalyptic near or far future. Instead of focusing on how the world has gone to hell in a hand-basket, amaze us with a story of technology gone right, of inventive adaptations, a world in which the skies are blue not grey with rain. Give us solutions, not more problems. Give us unlikely heroes, real people in impossible situations. 
• First Nations authors. We’re particularly interested in nurturing and showcasing First Nations authors who have a compelling story to tell and tell it in an engaging fashion, whether the story is fact or fiction. 
• Canadian history and biographies. Whether you’re writing about a flush of precious mineral ore in the hills, a sports legend, scientist or politician, we’d very much be interested in any non-fiction illuminating Canada’s culture.

As always, please be sure to follow our guidelines. Failure to do so won’t impress us and likely result in rejection.

Good luck. And look forward to hearing from you.