How to submit a Holocaust manuscript?
Amsterdam Publishers, founded in 2012, has served a considerable number of clients, including well-known traditionally published authors from Europe, Israel, the United States, South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. We are a niche publisher with excellent results.
All our books are distributed globally as ebook, print-on-demand paperback and hardback. They are available to bookstores, libraries, institutions and online platforms. We are especially proud that many of Amsterdam Publishers’ books reach the Amazon bestseller lists. Getting the meta data right and effective book promotion are key.
I believe every human being has the right to be heard, and love supporting authors. Each time a book is released I feel proud to have helped bring another dream come to fruition. Our team assesses all manuscripts within three weeks.
Amsterdam Publishers specializes in Holocaust memoirs, and is the premier international publisher of Holocaust memoirs in Europe. If successful, we have the books translated, or license the foreign rights to another publisher. The languages in which we have published so far: English, German, Dutch, French, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian, Albanian, Yiddish and Hindi.
Holocaust memoirs have a broad readership that crosses generational lines. The reasons for reading and the depth of engagement with these memoirs may vary, but the universal themes of survival, resilience, and the search for justice resonate with readers of all ages.
AJL and ALA San Diego 2024
From 28 June until 1 July Amsterdam Publishers has been showcasing several of its books at the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition (San Diego Convention Center). Just prior to this event we attended the Annual meeting of Jewish Librarians in San Diego (24-26 June 2024). It was heart warming to meet so many US librarians dedicated to preserving history!
For Librarians and Bookshops we have created a catalogue with prices that can be found at the top of the home page.
Celebrating our Anniversaries in New York!
In September 2022, we celebrated our tenth anniversary with a drinks party for our authors at the Dutch Consulate in New York. At Studio Libeskind we again celebrated this milestone, coinciding with the launch of Annette Libeskind Berkovits’s memoir Aftermath.
Press release on Jewish Newswire.
In September 2024, we again got together in New York at the JCC on the Upper West Side.
Following an informal get together with our authors, there was a public event from 6.30-8.30 pm. For 7,5 hours (!) we listened to each others’ personal memories. It was heart warming to see that we have formed a big and tight author community over the years. OId bond were tightened and new friendships were formed. So proud of our unique group of child survivors and 2G and 3G authors!
https://mmjccm.org/programs/remembering-holocaust-survivors-stories-and-their-importance-todays-world
Some more information on Liesbeth Heenk and Amsterdam Publishers can be found on Wikipedia.
“Liesbeth Heenk deserves recognition and a huge thank you from all of us for her devotion to bringing to light stories of Holocaust survivors, especially those written by their descendants. Holocaust survivors are passing on but their stories will survive thanks to the work of Amsterdam Publishers. Many of the large American publishers have stopped publishing Holocaust memoirs, which are apparently no longer in vogue. Thanks to Liesbeth Heenk and Amsterdam Publishers, these stories will remain alive and relevant. At times of crisis and catastrophe, these inspirational stories of survivors have a lot to teach us about strength, coping, courage and hope. I’ve always believed that “Everything We Need to Know about Surviving Catastrophe” we can learn from Shoah survivors. Yes, even during a viral pandemic.” Kenneth Price PhD, March 2020.
For more recommendations please see Liesbeth’s LinkedIn profile.
Amsterdam Publishers only accepts Holocaust memoirs and Holocaust biographies written by 2G and 3G authors, with a wordcount of no less than 60.000.
- Do NOT send in any manuscripts below the wordcount.
- Do NOT send in any drafts.
- Do NOT send in any WWII historical fiction or fiction.
- Do NOT send in a PDF, but a Word document
We are getting more agented manuscripts nowadays, but also accept manuscripts straight from the author.
For submissions, see Author Information for full details.
Please note that we accept a VERY small number of manuscripts submitted.
“There can be no substitute for hearing first-hand accounts from those who suffered in the camps at the hands of the Nazi regime, often losing every single family member. The cruelty meted out to Jews, six million of whom perished, is impossible for us to comprehend. As time marches on there are fewer and fewer in-person accounts available, however with the number of survivors dwindling, leaving the second and even third generations with the important task of carrying the mantle, by keeping the stories alive and educating future generations. With this in mind, Liesbeth Heenk, owner of Amsterdam Publishers, took the remarkable decision to dedicate her business to the Holocaust.” Andrea Samuels, The Jerusalem Post, 8 September 2023 (Excerpt)
How A Dutch Art-Historian-Turned-Publisher Preserves The Holocaust’s Memory, by Zvi Wiesenfeld. “Heenk, who performs the lion’s share of the work at Amsterdam Publishers, releases 20 to 30 titles a year. Her books have been translated into 15 languages, and she anticipates publishing her 100th English-language book in 2024. “I am both pleased and sad to report that Amsterdam Publishers is the largest publisher of Holocaust books in Europe,” said Heenk. “I wish more publishing houses were taking on this important work.” Heenk, who is herself a non-Jew, felt some initial self-consciousness serving as torchbearer for European Jews and their descendants. “At first I felt a little uneasy because I’m not Jewish,” she recalled. “Who am I to deal with those extremely personal stories?” Luckily, she soon overcame her apprehension as she came to fully appreciate the value of her mission. “I feel a tremendous responsibility toward the Jewish community to do my part to ensure that nothing like the Holocaust ever happens again,” she said. The Jewish Press, 12 January 2024 (Excerpt)
“I would like to give a highly deserved thank you to Liesbeth Heenk (“Never forget!” September 8), who I learned through this article is not Jewish but has dedicated her business, Amsterdam Publishers, to the Holocaust, by bringing to print books by survivors and their families. Most writers of these accounts for various reasons had difficulty in finding a sympathetic ear to relay their heart-rending stories. It is therefore paramount that the work of Ms. Heenk is formally recognized especially from here in Israel where as time moves on, the numbers of those who witnessed the horrors firsthand are naturally declining. This is a major and valued exercise being taken on at Amsterdam Publishers, where they are determined to see that the horrors of the Holocaust do not end up as just a footnote in the history of WW II.” Letter to the Editor by Stephen Vishnick, The Jerusalem Post, 10 September 2023.
“I don’t think there is another publisher in the world with a commitment to publishing Holocaust memoirs equal to yours. What a bulwark against Holocaust deniers.” Barbara Gilford, September 2020
