OSV is a multi-channel not-for-profit Catholic organization that serves the Church through publishing and parish resources.
- OSV News is a national and international wire service reporting on Catholic issues and issues that affect Catholics, in accordance with Catholic teaching.
- Our Sunday Visitor magazine serves Catholics at all stages of life as they walk the road of faith. Through thoughtful analysis, faith-filled commentary and inspiring stories, we provide clear answers to the questions people are asking. Our Sunday Visitor speaks the truth in a way that seeks unity in our increasingly polarized world. A trusted publication for more than a century, Our Sunday Visitor is an indispensable source of information and formation for Catholics who love their faith.
- The Priest magazine is focused on aiding priests in their day-to-day parish ministry.
- The Deacon is a bimonthly magazine that serves permanent deacons as they serve the Church.
- OSV Books publishes books in a variety of categories, including prayer, Scripture, saints, worship, parish and more.
- *Radiant is currently not accepting any new submissions.* Radiant is an online ministry of OSV. It's a platform for women in their 20s and 30s who are rooted in their identity in Christ and are striving for a vibrant life on this side of heaven.
See the complete writer's guidelines or submission instructions for each publication below by clicking the 'Guidelines' button. OSV welcomes all submissions.
Submission forms are at the bottom of the individual guidelines, please scroll down.
For writers whose content has been solicited by OSV News Editors, including national and international freelance stories, Spanish content, columnists, content from diocesan partners, and more.
Step-by-step instructions:
- After navigating to osv.submittable.com, create an account (Sign Up). (Your username and PW are not the same as the OSV News system.)
- Log in. Go to osv.submittable.com/submit and click your intended business from the choices:
- If you are letting us know that you have a story that you’re going to cover and seeing we might want to pick it up, click on OSV News Query.
- If you’re submitting a story/photos that has already been agreed upon, click OSV News Submissions
- Enter in the information, including content you are submitting
- Hit Submit
For writers sending in pitches for OSV News to consider.
Step-by-step instructions:
- After navigating to osv.submittable.com, create an account (Sign Up). (Your username and PW are not the same as the OSV News system.)
- Log in. Go to osv.submittable.com/submit and click your intended business from the choices:
- If you are letting us know that you have a story that you’re going to cover and seeing we might want to pick it up, click on OSV News Query.
- If you’re submitting a story/photos that has already been agreed upon, click OSV News Submissions
- Enter in the information, including content you are submitting
- Hit Submit
The form below is for writers who are submitting manuscripts that have been solicited by the editors of Our Sunday Visitor. Thanks for your submission!
Our Sunday Visitor serves Catholics at all stages of life as they walk the road of faith. Through thoughtful analysis, faith-filled commentary and inspiring stories, we provide clear answers to the questions people are asking. Our Sunday Visitor speaks the truth in a way that seeks unity in our increasingly polarized world. A trusted publication for more than a century, Our Sunday Visitor is an indispensable source of information and formation for Catholics who love their faith.
Our Sunday Visitor at a glance
- A monthly national Catholic lifestyle magazine accompanied by a frequently updated website with breaking stories, trends and more
- Lifestyle, travel and cultural content from a Catholic perspective
- Relevant and inspirational faith and catechetical content
- Faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church
- Award-winning
- Founded in 1912
Policies for solicited manuscripts
- We generally try to respond within 4 to 6 weeks.
- We pay writers within 4 weeks of acceptance.
- We generally follow the OSV News Stylebook and the current Associated Press Stylebook. For scriptural citations, we generally use the RSVCE.
- We comply with the Fair Publishing Practices Code of the Catholic Media Association of the United States and Canada. We expect freelance writers to do the same. For a complete copy of this code, visit the Catholic Media Association.
- All articles must be the original work of the author. Its content must not have been previously published, in whole or in part, whether in print, broadcast, online, even by the author himself. If a piece has been so published and there is a compelling reason to offer it to Our Sunday Visitor, or if what is being offered is a version of a previously published article, this information must be divulged at the outset.
- We do not publish work that has been generated in whole or in part by AI.
Book Author Guidelines
General Guidelines for Book Queries: You may submit a query letter, and if our editors consider your topic a fit for our current publishing plans, we will be in touch to request your manuscript and proposal documents. Please be aware that we do not accept submissions that have been simultaneously submitted to other publishers. We do our best to respond within 8-10 weeks of initial submission of a query letter. May God bless you and your work for his Church!
What should I know about OSV?
OSV is the country’s largest not-for-profit Catholic publishing company. It was founded in 1912 by Father John Noll to “serve the Church.” Today, OSV publishes a newspaper, periodicals, religious education materials, pamphlets, and books. We publish about 40 new books each year while maintaining a robust backlist.
We publish our books in two seasons: spring (January - June) and fall (July - December). The bulk of our sales are to distributors (web and print), bookstores, parishes, schools, and individual consumers. Our primary audience is North America.
What kinds of books are of interest to OSV?
We are particularly interested in the following categories for our adult and family books. (Please note, we do not publish fiction or poetry.)
- Spiritual Growth and Devotionals: Books that accompany readers on their spiritual journey and offer unique, practical insights for growing in friendship with God, especially through prayer, growth in virtue, and the sacraments
- Prayer Books: Collections of prayers and books that offering guidance for specific kinds of prayer
- Scripture: Books from experts about how to read, understand, pray, and apply Scripture, as well as Bible studies
- Growing in Faith as a Family: Books that provide an opportunity for families to discover and practice their faith together
- Advent: Books for living and praying through Advent with prayer and intention
- Lent: Books for living and praying through Lent with prayer and intention
- Liturgical year: Accessible, approachable guides and aids for living liturgical seasons, solemnities and feast days, and fasts.
- History and Biography: Informative and inspiring biographies of saints and key events in the Church's history
- Faith and Culture: Books about the intersection of faith and contemporary culture
- Evangelization: Books that help readers explain, defend and share the Faith with others
- Parish and Pastoral Ministry: Books that help pastors, ministry leaders, and parishioners conduct parish life more effectively, and books that can provide comfort and guidance for Catholics seeking help and healing in times of difficulty
We are also actively seeking submissions for our children’s book imprint, OSV Kids. *Please include “OSV Kids” in your query subject line for children’s books.*
OSV Kids is on a mission to champion the Catholic Church by helping children learn about, live and love the Catholic Faith. Our children’s books are overtly Catholic (not generically Christian), and we consider books in the following categories and age groups:
- Board books for infants and toddlers (ages 1 - 3): Simple stories and concepts related in no more than 300 words. We are particularly interested in saints, sacraments, scripture, and prayer.
- Picture books for younger readers (ages 3 - 6): Stories that incorporate aspects of the Faith to excite children’s imagination and sense of wonder. These should be between 600 and 1,000 words. We are particularly interested in saints, sacraments, scripture, virtue, relationship, and prayer.
- Short chapter books for early readers (ages 7 - 9): Fiction or non-fiction stories that incorporate aspects of the Faith to excite children’s imagination and sense of wonder. Word count 6,000 - 10,000
- Middle grade chapter books (ages 8 - 10): Fiction or non-fiction stories that explore the experience of living the Catholic Faith and inspire children to live their faith themselves. Word counts may vary, up to 30,000 words.
- Works of interest to tweens (ages 10 - 13): Fiction or non-fiction stories that explore the experience of living the Catholic Faith and inspire young people to live their faith themselves, even in difficult situations. Word counts may vary, up to 50,000 words.
A note on artwork: We believe that beauty is essential to drawing children’s hearts toward all that is true and good. We do not require (or prefer) that children’s authors provide an illustrator, unless the book is by one author/illustrator. If your work is accepted, we will select and contract with an illustrator as we deem appropriate.
Why should I publish with OSV?
OSV is dedicated to publishing books that accompany Catholics on their walk with God, wherever they are in their faith journey. We are always interested in partnering with authors who can join us in our mission to champion the Catholic Church by serving her individual members who want to know, live, and love their Faith more fully. We take our mission seriously, and we hope you will consider joining us in our efforts to draw souls closer to Jesus Christ.
The Deacon is a bimonthly magazine that serves permanent deacons and deacon candidates as they serve the Church by helping them foster intimate communion with Christ the Servant. Through a cultivation of the interior life, which leads to effective ministry, The Deacon contributes to the mission of the Church by making present the totus Christus (the “whole Christ”) to the world.
The Deacon seeks to build a community of men on fire for the diaconate through quality content that forms, informs and inspires.
Radiating joy, The Deacon is a trustworthy resource that accompanies deacons, deacon candidates and deacon directors as they live out, learn about and support diaconal ministry.
The Deacon accepts submissions of articles that seek to form, inform or inspire deacons, deacon candidates or deacon wives; that emphasize the cultivation of the interior life for deacons; and that builds community within the diaconate.
Please submit only one article at a time and ensure that it is in its final form. Review drafts are not accepted. Thank you.
We accept submissions at the following lengths: 600 words, 1,200 words, 1,500 words, and 2,000 words (our In Focus, written on one topic with multiple components). Payment varies based on length.
Regarding submissions:
The Deacon is a magazine dedicated to the diaconate. Because of this, its content has a specific focus. Consequently, we only print those submissions that speak of the deacon’s relationship to, identity in, and mission with Christ the Servant. This focus on Christ the Servant gives the diaconate its distinctive contribution to the life of the Church and, because of this, is the only content suitable for publication. In this regard, it’s not enough for a deacon to submit an article describing his ministry. He must submit it describing how his own diaconate, his own understanding of Christ the Servant, is expressed in that ministry.
In addition, submissions must be:
- Relevant to the diaconate, containing a specific angle for that demographic
- Faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church
- Well-written and well-edited
- Crafted with a charitable tone
- Original in content (not plagiarized)
- Not previously published, either in print or online
Things to know:
- Please include at the bottom of each article a short, one-sentence bio.
- Please include at the top of each submission your preferred mailing address as well as your email address.
- Writers are paid upon publication
- We generally follow AP and Catholic News Service Style (found at catholicnews.com)
- We do not accept poetry or fiction
- The Deacon is published six times a year
The Priest Writer's Guidelines
- This monthly magazine pays on acceptance.
- A byline given.
- We buy first time North American serial rights
- Editorial lead-time is three months.
- Responds in five weeks to queries; three months on
manuscripts.
We publish articles that will aid
priests in their day-to-day parish ministry. Includes items on spirituality,
counseling, administration, theology, personalities, the saints, etc.
Nonfiction — Essays, historical/nostalgic, humor, inspirational,
interview/profile, opinion, personal experience, religious. Send complete
manuscripts with a length of 1,500 – 2,000 words maximum.
Tips: Say what you have to say in an interesting and informative
manner and stop. Please do not stray from the magisterium of the Catholic
Church.