For Writers

DRT Press is accepting submissions of book-length manuscripts for adult non-fiction only. We are transitioning away from being a publisher of adoption books and are instead focusing on books about the experience of parenting children with special needs, particularly “invisible” special needs like ADHD, PDD, FASD, OCD, PBD, and any number of other neuro-atypicalities that result in behavioral challenges.

We welcome submissions from unpublished writers.

Please follow standard submission guidelines and send a query letter (e-mail welcome) that explains who you are, who you see as the audience for your proposed book, and how you will help with marketing. Please be sure to research the market and let us know how your book will be different than other books on the same topic(s). At DRT Press we have found that the very best strategies for marketing niche books are sometimes the less expensive ones: e-mail lists, participation in topical listservs, newsletter articles, local press, and targeted book signings. What are you willing to do? Be realistic, but be enthusiastic!

We allow simultaneous submissions (of course!) but please let us know so if we're interested in something we can contact you quickly. General manuscript submissions (except for essays for the Easy to Love series - see below) should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

CURRENT CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

DRT Press and the editors of Easy to Love but Hard to Raise: Real Parents Challenging Kids, True Stories are seeking personal essays for the second, third, and fourth books in the “Easy to Love” series, Easy to Love but Hard to Teach, Easy to Love but Hard to Live With (working title), and Easy to Love but Hard to Treat.

Our first book, Easy to Love but Hard to Raise, focused on the experience of parenting easy to love but hard to raise kids (ETLs); those with ADD, ADHD, SPD (sensory processing disorder) LD (learning disabilities), ASD (autism spectrum disorders & Asperger’s) FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorders), PBD (pediatric bipolar disorder), OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and other brain-based disabilities that often manifest themselves in behavioral challenges.

Easy to Love but Hard to Teach will focus on the experiences of parents, teachers, and others involved with educating children impacted by this alphabet soup of special needs.

The essays should not be centered on the children involved, but rather on the experience and emotions of those involved in educating them. We are seeking voices from every sector of the education world: public and private, traditional, non-traditional, special needs, and homeschoolers. We want to hear from parents, teachers, administrators, advocates, counselors, doctors and therapists. We’re looking for essays that capture the feelings, attitudes, challenges, barriers, and break-throughs of adults involved in ETL kids’ education. We are not looking for how-to articles, but rather slice of life essays about the trials and triumphs of fitting (or not) the square pegs that are ETL children into the round hole that is school.

Suggested topics include:

• Inklings (in other words, hints that something is not quite right, gut feelings, specific incidences, etc.)
• Teachers Make a Difference (for good and for bad)
• IEPs, 504s, and Other Necessary Pain
• Crossing the Bridge (It’s not always “us” vs. “them” but "we will do it together")
• Taking the Long Way Round (Alternatives to the traditional classroom)
• Coming into Their Own (Success in any and all environments)

Please see these essays from the first book in the series for examples of the anecdotal, slice-of-life essays we're looking for:

Dominoes, by Adrienne Ehlert Bashista

A Lightbulb Moment, by Cyn Kitchen.

Deadline for submissions for Hard to Teach is October 1, 2012. Questions are welcome and should be addressed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Easy to Love but Hard to Live With (working title) is about the experience of living with, caring for, or loving an adult with the same invisible special needs as the children in the first book. It will address the experiences of children, siblings, spouses, and others who have close relationships with people who have been diagnosed with one of these "invisible disabilities".  We are also interested in hearing first-hand accounts of people who have been living with these disabilities.  While this book will not address parenting, per se, we will be including some stories from parents, specifically parents of adult children with disabilities or parents who have been affected by multiple generations of disabilities (i.e., when both parent AND child are affected).  Tricia Blivens and Lisa Davis are the editors of this volume. If you'd like to share a story, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information

Easy to Love but Hard to Treat will focus on the search for the “magic bullet,” or “silver bullet;” the cure or treatment that is THE solution to our children’s woes. Again, essays should not be focused on the children involved, but rather the experience and emotions of those involved in caring for them or treating them, including parents, teachers, doctors, therapists, researchers, inventors, and product salespersons. We are seeking voices addressing treatment with traditional medicine, alternative or complementary approaches, mainstream and alternative therapies, technologies, gadgets, and other products. We are looking for essays that describe parents’ quests for answers, treatments and cures, the process of self-education; and that capture hopes and fears, expectations and how expectations may change, successes, failures, and anything in between.

Soft deadline for submissions for Hard to Treat is January 1, 2013. Questions are welcome and should be addressed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Submission guidelines:

The editors suggest familiarizing yourself with Easy to Love but Hard to Raise (at a minimum see the “Look Inside” feature on amazon.com).

Email a cover letter and brief biography, with your essay or essays attached, to the appropriate editor. We are interested in essays of varying lengths, so are intentionally not specifying word count. Please double space and use Arial or Times New Roman 12 point font.

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Praise for Easy to Love but Hard to Raise

For Illustrators

We are not looking for submissions from illustrators at this time.