Finding a publisher for your manuscript can involve a great deal of work and is often a frustrating experience. Publishers receive unsolicited manuscripts daily. It is a competitive marketplace and therefore difficult to get published. You will increase your chances of getting published if you choose your publisher carefully. The Writers' Union produces and sells the Writers' Guide to Canadian Publishers, which lists publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts and indicates the kind of work they are currently considering. Key Publishers Company publishes a Canadian Publishers Directory and Quill & Quire publishes The Book Trade in Canada, both of which list all Canadian publishers and representatives of foreign publishers in Canada. The directory and The Book Trade in Canada should be available in your local library.

A visit to a good independent bookstore with a large selection of Canadian titles will help you select appropriate publishers to contact. Their current titles will tell you a lot about the publishing policy of that company. Once you have narrowed down your list to four or five publishers, you are ready to submit your manuscript.

Beware of advertisements in newspapers from publishers soliciting manuscripts. They are usually "vanity" publishers who will print your book but require you to pay all costs—the Union does not advise or encourage a writer to pay any fee to a publisher to produce his or her book.