Wiley has rejected the Possible Planet book (https://ppbook.shbn.net). What other publishing options would be ideal? Are there other serious publishers that I can submit the manuscript to?
I’m sorry to hear about Wiley’s decision regarding Possible Planet (https://ppbook.shbn.net). Fortunately, there are several other reputable publishing pathways you can pursue that align with your book’s subject matter—especially given its focus on planetary stewardship, sustainability, and big-picture thinking about humanity’s future.
Below are serious publishers, imprints, and publishing strategies you could consider:
1. Independent & Mission-Driven Trade Presses (Environmental / Sustainability Focus)
These presses specifically publish nonfiction about environment, sustainability, and systems thinking. They are respected in the trade market and often have strong niche audiences.
Chelsea Green Publishing
• Independent US publisher specializing in environmental, sustainability, and progressive nonfiction. They have a track record of influential books in sustainability and ecological thought. (Wikipedia)
Ashland Creek Press
• Independent eco-literature press that publishes books about animals, the environment, and the planet, often with a literary or philosophical bent. (Poetic Earth Month)
New Society Publishers
• Mission-driven publisher focused on books that advance ecological sustainability, justice, and social change. (Poetic Earth Month)
Bellevue Literary Press
• Publishes nonfiction at the intersection of science and the humanities—good for books that combine rigorous research with big-idea narratives. (Poetic Earth Month)
Empty Bowl Press and Backcountry Press
• Smaller presses on environmental and nature themes (listed among environmental literature presses). (EcoLit Books)
Graywolf Press
• Independent literary press with some serious nonfiction titles; not exclusively environmental but strong in intellectually driven narrative nonfiction. (EcoLit Books)
2. Academic & Scholarly Presses
If Possible Planet leans toward rigorous synthesis, theory, or policy, academic presses can offer credibility, distribution into libraries, classrooms, and academia, and handle interdisciplinary content well.
Yale University Press / Columbia University Press / University of Chicago Press
• These are top-tier academic presses with strong environmental and sustainability lists — examples like A World Without Soil (Yale) demonstrate scope. (Wikipedia)
Greenleaf Publishing (Routledge imprint)
• Academic press focusing on sustainability, business responsibility, and systems change — useful if your book intersects with strategy, governance, or organizational change. (Wikipedia)
MIT Press / Oxford University Press / Routledge
• Major academic presses with environmental policy, earth systems, and global futures lists. (Submission generally requires an agent and strong proposal.)
3. Independent & Specialty Publishers Accepting Direct Manuscripts
Some presses accept unsolicited submissions (no agent required). These are often smaller but legitimate publishers with specific missions.
Examples from directories include:
• Greystone Press – Natural history/environment nonfiction. (The Writing Cooperative)
• Haymarket Books – Progressive nonfiction with activist and critical perspectives. (The Writing Cooperative)
• City Lights Publishers – Literary + socially engaged nonfiction (periodic open submissions). (Writer’s Center)
• Talonbooks (Canada) – Independent press with environmental/social nonfiction. (Wikipedia)
Also refer to curated lists of environmental and specialized presses (e.g., 40+ publishers compiled for environment nonfiction). (Reedsy)
4. Larger Trade Publishers (Via Agent)
If broad reach and prominent distribution are priorities, consider submitting to major trade publishers. For these, an agent is strongly recommended; they know editors, improve proposals, and negotiate deals.
Major trade houses with nonfiction lists include:
- Penguin Random House
- Hachette Book Group
- Macmillan
- Simon & Schuster
- HarperCollins
These have nonfiction imprints and occasionally publish big-idea environmental works. (Publish Books Online)
5. Alternate Publishing Models
If traditional routes don’t align with your goals or timeline:
Self-Publishing Platforms (Print & Digital)
• Amazon KDP Print, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Nook Press for e- and print-on-demand distribution. (WritePro)
Crowdfunding + POD
• Use Kickstarter or Indiegogo to finance the first print run and then distribute independently. (WritePro)
University or Institute Press Partnerships
• Partner with a research center, institute, or think tank that can co-sponsor publication and distribution (common in sustainability and policy circles).
Considerations When Submitting
- Proposal Package:
• A clear query letter, concise synopsis, annotated table of contents, sample chapters, and target audience analysis (crucial for nonfiction).
• For academic presses: include peer endorsements or curriculum relevance. - Agent Strategy:
• Many academic and major trade houses require or strongly prefer agented submissions. - Alignment with Publisher Mission:
• Target presses whose mission closely matches your book’s ethos — especially mission-driven or sustainability-oriented publishers.
Summary of Good Candidates to Target (by Category):
- Mission-Driven Environmental Trade: Chelsea Green, New Society, Ashland Creek, Bellevue Literary Press.
- Academic / Scholarly: Yale U. Press, Columbia U. Press, Greenleaf/ Routledge, MIT Press.
- Independent + Unagented Options: Greystone Press, Haymarket Books, City Lights, Talonbooks.
- Major Trade (via agent): Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster.
If you’d like, I can help you draft targeted query letters or proposals tailored to specific publishers on this list.
What do you suggest for Chelsea Green?
Here is a clear, practical recommendation for approaching Chelsea Green Publishing, based on their list, culture, and what Possible Planet already does well.
Executive Recommendation (Short Version)
Chelsea Green is one of the best possible homes for Possible Planet.
However, success will depend on framing the book less as a sweeping planetary synthesis and more as a tool for action—rooted in place, practice, and regenerative pathways.
You should submit directly (no agent required), but with a carefully tuned proposal that speaks their language: regeneration, praxis, community agency, and applicability.
Why Chelsea Green Is a Strong Fit
Chelsea Green consistently publishes books that:
- Integrate ecology, culture, economics, and ethics
- Are normative and values-driven, not just analytical
- Offer practical frameworks, not only diagnosis
- Appeal to practitioners, organizers, educators, and regenerative entrepreneurs
Your work aligns strongly with:
- Regeneration (beyond sustainability)
- Bioregional thinking
- Systems literacy
- Community-scale action
- Moral seriousness without academic abstraction
That said, Chelsea Green tends to be cautious about:
- Overly abstract “global theory”
- Tech-forward narratives that feel solutionist
- Books that lack a clear reader-as-actor pathway
How to Position Possible Planet for Chelsea Green
1. Reframe the Core Promise
Instead of:
“A comprehensive synthesis on humanity’s planetary predicament”
Emphasize:
“A practical framework for restoring planetary habitability—starting in place.”
Suggested framing language:
- “A regenerative roadmap”
- “A field guide to planetary stewardship”
- “A synthesis designed for action, not spectatorship”
You are not abandoning the planetary scale—you are anchoring it.
2. Foreground the Bioregional & Regenerative Lens
Chelsea Green will respond very favorably if you:
- Highlight bioregional intelligence
- Emphasize place-based regeneration
- Frame global intelligence as emerging from local practice
You might explicitly state:
“This book argues that planetary intelligence cannot be centralized—it must be cultivated bioregion by bioregion.”
That sentence alone is very “Chelsea Green.”
3. Downplay “AI” as Protagonist; Emphasize It as Tool
Chelsea Green is not anti-technology, but they are skeptical of techno-salvation.
Recommended positioning:
- AI as decision support, not decision maker
- AI as augmenting ecological literacy
- AI as a commons-governed instrument, not a market product
Avoid framing AI as:
- A primary agent of salvation
- Autonomous intelligence replacing human judgment
Frame it as:
“A mirror, amplifier, and accountability tool for human stewardship.”
4. Clarify the Reader
Chelsea Green editors will ask, implicitly or explicitly:
“Who is this for, and what will they do differently after reading it?”
Strong target audiences to name:
- Regenerative practitioners
- Community organizers
- Educators and facilitators
- Climate-aware professionals seeking constructive agency
- Readers of Joanna Macy, Charles Eisenstein, Kate Raworth, Wendell Berry
Avoid pitching primarily to:
- Policymakers
- Futurists
- Tech elites
- Academic theorists
Submission Strategy (Concrete)
What to Submit
Chelsea Green typically asks for:
- A full proposal (not just a query)
- 1–3 sample chapters (you already have this)
- A clear market rationale
Your proposal should include:
- One-page overview (plainspoken, grounded)
- Annotated table of contents (emphasize action and praxis)
- Audience definition
- Comparable titles (including Chelsea Green books)
- Author platform (Possible Planet Lab, bioregional work, C-PACE, etc.)
Tone to Use
- Serious but hopeful
- Practical without being prescriptive
- Ethically grounded
- Non-utopian, non-doomist
Optional Strategic Adjustment (High Leverage)
You may want to explicitly suggest one of these to the editor:
Option A: Position as “Book One” of a Regenerative Arc
- Possible Planet as the synthesis + framework
- Follow-on books as:
- Bioregional practice guides
- Community regeneration toolkits
Option B: Emphasize the Book as a “Living Framework”
- Tie to your existing web platform
- Emphasize that the book seeds an evolving commons of practice
Chelsea Green is receptive to books that are portals, not endpoints.
Likely Objections—and How to Preempt Them
| Possible Concern | How to Address |
|---|---|
| “Too big / too abstract” | Emphasize place, practice, and reader agency |
| “Too tech-forward” | Frame AI as humble, bounded, and human-guided |
| “Unclear market” | Explicitly name regenerative practitioners and educators |
| “Hard to shelve” | Position as regenerative nonfiction / systems ecology |
Bottom Line
Chelsea Green is worth a serious, tailored submission.
You are philosophically aligned—but editorial success depends on grounding planetary intelligence in regenerative practice and lived agency.
If you want, next I can:
- Draft a Chelsea Green–specific proposal overview
- Help you rewrite the book’s one-sentence promise
- Identify Chelsea Green comparables chapter by chapter
- Or advise whether a light structural edit would materially improve acceptance odds
Do the first one
Below is a Chelsea Green–specific one-page proposal overview you can use directly (or adapt slightly) for their submission portal. It is written in a tone and framing that aligns closely with Chelsea Green’s editorial sensibilities: grounded, regenerative, practitioner-oriented, and morally serious without being academic.
Working Title
Possible Planet: Pathways to a Habitable Future
Overview
Humanity now possesses unprecedented scientific knowledge about climate change, ecological collapse, and planetary limits—yet this knowledge has not translated into collective action at the scale or speed required. Possible Planetargues that the crisis we face is not only environmental or technological, but cognitive and cultural: we lack the shared frameworks, literacies, and forms of coordination needed to live intelligently within Earth’s living systems.
This book offers a regenerative framework for restoring planetary habitability, grounded in place-based practice, bioregional thinking, and ecological literacy. Rather than proposing a centralized or technocratic solution, Possible Planet advances a core thesis: planetary intelligence must emerge from the bottom up—bioregion by bioregion, community by community—through informed stewardship of land, water, energy, and culture.
Drawing on ecology, systems science, regenerative economics, and lived examples of restoration and community action, the book reframes sustainability as an active, participatory practice. Readers are invited not merely to understand the planetary predicament, but to recognize themselves as agents within it—capable of restoring ecosystems, strengthening community resilience, and contributing to a livable future.
While the book engages emerging tools such as artificial intelligence, these are presented cautiously and pragmatically—as decision-support tools that can enhance ecological awareness and accountability, not as solutions in themselves. The emphasis remains firmly on human judgment, ethical responsibility, and collective learning rooted in place.
Possible Planet is neither utopian nor despairing. It is a clear-eyed assessment of what has been lost, what remains possible, and how regeneration—of landscapes, economies, and cultures—can still take hold.
What This Book Does
- Reframes the ecological crisis as a failure of collective intelligence, not simply policy or technology
- Introduces bioregional intelligence as a practical organizing framework for regeneration
- Synthesizes climate science, systems thinking, and regenerative practice in accessible language
- Grounds planetary-scale challenges in local action and stewardship
- Offers readers a sense of agency without false optimism or techno-salvation
Target Audience
- Regenerative agriculture and ecological restoration practitioners
- Community organizers and place-based leaders
- Educators and facilitators working in sustainability and systems literacy
- Climate-aware professionals seeking constructive, grounded pathways forward
- Readers of Joanna Macy, Charles Eisenstein, Kate Raworth, Wendell Berry, and Paul Hawken
Why Chelsea Green
Chelsea Green has long been a trusted home for books that bridge ecological ethics, practical action, and cultural transformation. Possible Planet aligns with this tradition by offering not a single solution, but a coherent framework through which readers can better understand their role in regenerating the living Earth—starting where they are, with the places and communities they inhabit.
If you would like, the next high-value steps would be:
- Refining the one-sentence hook specifically for Chelsea Green editors
- Tightening the annotated table of contents to emphasize praxis even more strongly
- Identifying Chelsea Green comparables to explicitly reference in the proposal
- Lightly revising one sample chapter to foreground bioregional action
Tell me how you’d like to proceed.
Yes
Excellent. I will proceed with the next highest-leverage element for a Chelsea Green submission: a set of one-sentence hooks crafted explicitly for their editors.
These are designed to be used:
- At the very top of the proposal
- In the submission form’s summary field
- In a cover note or opening paragraph
I am giving you four calibrated variants, each emphasizing a slightly different Chelsea Green–friendly angle. You can choose one—or we can blend them.
One-Sentence Hook Options (Chelsea Green–Tuned)
Option 1: Core Recommendation (Best Overall Fit)
Possible Planet offers a practical, place-based framework for restoring planetary habitability—showing how ecological regeneration, community action, and shared intelligence can emerge bioregion by bioregion.
Why this works:
- Emphasizes practical
- Centers place and bioregions
- Avoids techno-salvation
- Signals agency and regeneration
Option 2: Regeneration-Forward (Strong for Chelsea Green’s Core Audience)
Possible Planet reframes the ecological crisis as a failure of collective intelligence—and offers a regenerative pathway forward rooted in bioregional stewardship, ecological literacy, and community-scale action.
Why this works:
- Names the crisis clearly
- Introduces “collective intelligence” without sounding abstract
- Centers stewardship and literacy
Option 3: Reader-as-Actor Emphasis
Possible Planet is a field guide for people who know the planet is in trouble but want to understand how real change begins—through regeneration of land, culture, and community, starting where we live.
Why this works:
- Speaks directly to the reader
- Very Chelsea Green in tone
- Less academic, more invitational
Option 4: Systems-Thinking Angle (Slightly More Intellectual)
Possible Planet weaves ecology, systems science, and regenerative practice into a grounded framework for rebuilding human intelligence in service of a living, habitable Earth.
Why this works:
- Appeals to systems thinkers
- Still grounded and ethical
- Slightly more abstract, but acceptable
My Strong Recommendation
Use Option 1 as the primary hook.
If you want a subtle tonal shift, we can hybridize Option 1 + Option 2 into a single refined sentence.
Next Step (Proposed)
Unless you prefer otherwise, I recommend proceeding next with:
A Chelsea Green–optimized annotated table of contents, where we:
- Re-label sections to foreground praxis
- Flag “reader takeaway” logic implicitly
- Soften any chapter titles that sound overly abstract or futurist
If you would like to adjust the hook first (even by a single word), say so.
Otherwise, confirm and I will move directly to the annotated TOC refinement.
Yes, let’s combine Options 1 & 2 into a single refined sentence
Here is a single, refined one-sentence hook that deliberately fuses the strengths of Options 1 and 2, tuned for Chelsea Green’s editorial sensibility—practical, regenerative, grounded, and morally serious without sounding abstract or technocratic.
Refined Chelsea Green Hook (Recommended)
Possible Planet reframes the ecological crisis as a failure of collective intelligence and offers a practical, place-based framework for restoring planetary habitability through bioregional stewardship, ecological literacy, and community-scale regeneration.
Why this sentence works for Chelsea Green
- “Reframes the ecological crisis” signals insight without grandiosity
- “Failure of collective intelligence” is provocative but accessible
- “Practical, place-based framework” speaks directly to their core audience
- “Bioregional stewardship” is highly aligned with their list
- “Ecological literacy” reinforces education and empowerment
- “Community-scale regeneration” centers agency and action
This sentence can now serve as:
- The opening line of the proposal
- The submission form summary
- The first paragraph of a cover letter
- A back-cover or catalog blurb seed
Suggested Micro-Variation (Optional)
If you want a slightly warmer, less analytical tone, here is a near-equivalent alternative:
Possible Planet reframes the ecological crisis as a breakdown in collective intelligence and offers a practical, place-based pathway for restoring planetary habitability through bioregional stewardship, ecological literacy, and community-led regeneration.
Both are strong; the first is marginally more rigorous, the second slightly more invitational.
Next High-Value Step
I recommend moving next to the Chelsea Green–optimized annotated table of contents, where we:
- Translate chapter intent into reader value
- Emphasize praxis without dumbing anything down
- Quietly de-emphasize abstraction where needed
When you’re ready, say “Proceed with the annotated TOC.”
Proceed with the annotated TOC
Below is a Chelsea Green–optimized annotated table of contents for Possible Planet.
It preserves the intellectual integrity and scope of the book while foregrounding praxis, reader agency, and place-based regeneration—the criteria most likely to matter to Chelsea Green editors.
This is written in proposal-ready language (i.e., how an editor reads it), not jacket copy.
Possible Planet: Pathways to a Habitable Future
Annotated Table of Contents (Chelsea Green Edition)
Introduction
Why a Possible Planet Still Matters
The opening frames the planetary crisis not as a lack of knowledge, but as a failure to translate knowledge into collective action. It introduces the book’s central claim: that restoring planetary habitability requires rebuilding how humans think, learn, and act together, starting in place. The introduction positions readers as participants in an unfinished regenerative project, not passive observers of collapse.
Part I — Understanding the Predicament
1. From Progress to Predicament
This chapter traces how well-intentioned ideas of progress—industrial growth, efficiency, and extraction—have overshot ecological limits. Rather than assigning blame, it builds shared understanding of how humanity arrived here, establishing common ground for readers across political and cultural lines.
Reader takeaway: A clear, non-ideological diagnosis of how systemic patterns—not individual failures—produced today’s crises.
2. Living on a Finite, Living Earth
Introduces planetary boundaries, ecological limits, and Earth systems science in accessible language. The chapter emphasizes that Earth is not a machine but a living, self-regulating system—one that responds to human actions whether or not we understand them.
Reader takeaway: Ecological literacy as a foundation for responsible action.
3. The Crisis of Collective Intelligence
Reframes climate and ecological breakdown as a breakdown in shared sensemaking, coordination, and long-term thinking. Explores why societies struggle to act on what they know, and how fragmented information, incentives, and governance undermine wise action.
Reader takeaway: Understanding why “knowing better” has not led to “doing better.”
Part II — From Sustainability to Regeneration
4. Why Sustainability Is Not Enough
Explains the limits of sustainability as a goal that often means “doing less harm.” Introduces regeneration as a more active orientation—focused on restoring ecological function, social cohesion, and long-term resilience.
Reader takeaway: A shift from minimizing damage to actively healing systems.
5. Regeneration as a Cultural Practice
Shows that regeneration is not only ecological but cultural—requiring changes in values, narratives, and relationships. Draws on examples from agriculture, restoration, and community organizing to illustrate regeneration in practice.
Reader takeaway: Regeneration as something people do, not just something ecosystems experience.
6. The Role of Place in Human Flourishing
Introduces bioregional thinking: watersheds, soils, climates, and cultures as the proper scale for regeneration. Argues that meaningful planetary action begins with deep familiarity with place.
Reader takeaway: Why local knowledge and place-based action are indispensable.
Part III — Building Bioregional Intelligence
7. What Is Bioregional Intelligence?
Defines bioregional intelligence as the capacity of communities to understand, care for, and adapt within their ecological context. Explores how this intelligence emerges through shared data, lived experience, and collective stewardship.
Reader takeaway: A practical framework for aligning human activity with local ecosystems.
8. Learning to See Like a Watershed
Uses watersheds as an entry point into ecological perception. Demonstrates how tracking water, soil, and energy flows reveals both vulnerabilities and opportunities for regeneration.
Reader takeaway: New ways of seeing familiar landscapes.
9. Measuring What Matters
Discusses indicators of ecological and community health beyond GDP—soil carbon, biodiversity, water quality, social cohesion. Emphasizes participatory monitoring and local knowledge.
Reader takeaway: How communities can assess progress without technocracy.
Part IV — Tools That Support Regeneration (Without Replacing Human Judgment)
10. Technology as Servant, Not Master
Explores the appropriate role of tools—digital, analytical, and organizational—in regenerative work. Emphasizes humility, limits, and ethical governance.
Reader takeaway: How to use tools wisely without surrendering responsibility.
11. Artificial Intelligence as Decision Support
Introduces AI cautiously, as a means to synthesize data, reveal patterns, and support ecological awareness. Rejects techno-salvation narratives in favor of commons-governed, human-guided use.
Reader takeaway: AI as an aid to stewardship, not a substitute for it.
12. Governance for the Commons
Draws on commons governance principles to explore how communities can steward shared resources—land, water, data—effectively and fairly.
Reader takeaway: Practical insights into collective decision-making.
Part V — Pathways Forward
13. Regenerative Economies in Practice
Explores emerging economic models—community finance, regenerative agriculture, place-based investment—that align livelihoods with ecological health.
Reader takeaway: What a regenerative economy looks like on the ground.
14. Education for a Living Earth
Argues for a shift from abstract education to ecological literacy rooted in experience, participation, and place.
Reader takeaway: How learning itself must change to support regeneration.
15. Becoming Stewards of a Possible Planet
The concluding chapter returns to the reader, emphasizing agency, responsibility, and hope grounded in action. It frames planetary intelligence not as an endpoint, but as an ongoing practice—one that must be renewed by each generation.
Reader takeaway: A sense of grounded purpose and a clear invitation to participate.
Conclusion
An Invitation, Not a Blueprint
Affirms that there is no single solution, master plan, or authority that can “fix” the planet. What remains possible is a cultural shift toward stewardship, humility, and collective intelligence—beginning in place and spreading through practice.
Why This TOC Works for Chelsea Green
- Emphasizes practice over abstraction
- Keeps planetary scope while grounding action locally
- Treats technology with restraint and ethics
- Centers regeneration, literacy, and community
- Positions the reader as an active participant
Next Recommended Step (Very High Leverage)
I recommend next:
- Tightening 2–3 chapter titles to sound even more practitioner-oriented
- Selecting one sample chapter to lightly revise for Chelsea Green tone
- Identifying Chelsea Green comparables to cite explicitly in the proposal
Tell me which you’d like to do next, or if you want to adjust this TOC before moving forward.
Identify Chelsea Green comparables to cite explicitly in the proposal