The Hay House Writer's Contest
As book proposal editors and ghostwriters in the transformational non-fiction book world, we’ve had the great privilege of helping dozens of aspiring authors prepare and submit their book proposals to the Hay House Writer’s Contest over the last several years.
This article is meant to share more with you about what this contest is all about and how to prepare a book proposal for traditional publishers such as Hay House.
We’re delighted to say that some of our clients have been selected as winners or runners-up in this contest. It’s a joy to work with clients who want to contribute their meaningful messages to the world through traditional publishing. (We also love Indie publishing too!)
Who is Hay House?
Hay House is a traditional book publisher that was founded by author Louise Hay in 1984. Headquartered in Carlsbad, CA with offices around the globe, Hay House has been run for several years by Reid Tracy, who hosts the Hay House Writer’s Community and Writer’s Workshop, which help people with their book ideas and contest book proposals.
Hay House publishes books in the mind-body-spirit realms of self-help, personal growth, consciousness, alternative medicine, and some esoteric topics, such as astrology, past lives, spirit guides, angels, and more. They have published major book authors such as Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Sylvia Browne, and Marianne Williamson.
What is the Hay House Writer’s Contest?
First, in order to be considered eligible for the Hay House Writer’s Contest, you have to become a member of the Hay House Writer’s Community, which was founded in 2020. It is not open year-round but you can join the waitlist or join if enrollment is open here.
This community is a membership platform where you receive access to different resources the publisher provides about the authorship journey, from start to finish, much of which is similar to what I teach and share with my book coaching and proposal writing clients all the time.
The writer’s contest usually runs a few times a year, but the dates are always changing, so you’ll want to join the membership if you want details on the contest.
We would recommend that you give yourself between 3 and 6 months to write your proposal, especially if you are wanting support in your book proposal writing process, which we’ll explore more below.
Essentially, hundreds of aspiring Hay House authors submit book proposals to the contest each time it is held. For each contest, one person is offered a Hay House book deal with a $10k advance to write the book, and two runners-up receive packages with Hay House’s self-publishing arm, Balboa Press, ranging from about $4k to $9k in services.
Hay House's Two Membership Programs: Which Is Right for You?
Hay House now offers two distinct paid membership programs, and understanding the difference matters before you invest.
The Hay House Writer's Community
The Hay House Writer's Community is the original program. It is designed to serve anyone writing a book or thinking about writing a book, walking members through four pathways: from developing your idea all the way through writing, finishing, and promoting your book, which Whale Song also provides as an alternative and with much more personal attention and support than this larger program.
This is the membership that grants access to the bi-annual contest.
The Authorpreneur Membership
The Authorpreneur Membership is a newer program. Authorpreneur is specifically for business owners and entrepreneurs who want to leverage a book to grow their business. It is specifically designed for practitioners, speakers, and leaders in a field—helping them build credibility, expand their platform, and market themselves more broadly. The program is typically offered at around $1,000 per year (discounted from $3,000 at Bootcamp events), and there is usually a waitlist.
Both programs include expert guidance from Reid Tracy and Kelly Notaras, and both feature an internal community platform so members can connect and support one another.
Not sure which fits you? Hay House offers a short quiz on their website to help you decide.
When does the Hay House Writer’s Contest run?
The Hay House Writer's Contest runs twice a year, exclusively for members of the Hay House Writer's Community. The next confirmed submission deadline is June 5, 2026. They typically have a summer and a winter date, but these vary depending on your country and specific program.
Hay House announces future dates on a rolling basis, so if you miss this window, the next contest date will be posted inside the community. The best way to stay informed is to join the waitlist at hayhousewriterscommunity.com and watch for enrollment announcements. Hayhouse
Note: Always verify current dates directly with Hay House, as deadlines can shift. You can also email the team at writerscommunity@hayhouse.com.
How to Enter the Hay House Writer's Contest
The first step to entering the Hay House contest is to become a paying member of the Hay House Writer's Community. This community opens a few times a year, and you can join their waitlist to be notified of when they open next. Membership will also keep you in the loop about open submission dates.
The gateway into that community is the Book Writer's Bootcamp — a free, 4-day virtual event. The Bootcamp runs live over four days and is led by Hay House CEO Reid Tracy and Kelly Notaras, with special guest appearances from published Hay House authors. It's 100% free to attend (with an optional VIP upgrade), and it's where Hay House typically opens enrollment into the paid Writer's Community membership.
Once you're a member, you'll have access to the contest submission portal for upcoming deadlines.
The path looks like this: Free Bootcamp → Join the Writer's Community → Submit your proposal by the contest deadline
Hay House Goes Global — The UK Writer's Workshop
If you're based in the UK or Europe, Hay House offers its own live in-person Writer's Workshop through Hay House UK, led by Michelle Pilley, Managing Director and Publisher of Hay House UK, alongside Reid Tracy and Kelly Notaras.
One participant at the UK workshop is guaranteed an £8,000 advance and a publishing contract with Hay House UK. The UK workshop has been held in London, most recently at venues in the Bishopsgate and Cavendish Square areas.
Attendees must be present for the full workshop in-person in order to submit their book proposal to the UK contest.
The submission deadline is announced at the event itself. This is a separate contest from the US online membership contest, with its own prize and publishing track.
Keep an eye on hayhouse.co.uk for upcoming UK workshop dates, as they tend to announce these a few months in advance.
What do you get if you win the book contest?
If you are the lucky author chosen for the Hay House publishing contract, you will receive the following support in addition to your $10k advance to write the book.
Full Hay House editorial support, including developmental work, line editing, copy-editing, and proofreading
Professionally created cover and book interior, with expertise of various Hay House teams
Access to Hay House’s Author Hub, a resource to help you grow your platform
Your book sold on HayHouse.com and other online retailers worldwide
Hay House sales team book promotion to wholesale retailers, physical bookstores, specialty boutiques, warehouse stores, and more
International translation, distribution, and licensing opportunities
Potential* to be promoted on Hay House social media pages and newsletters
24 free author copies, and discounts on all orders of your book
Five reasons to enter the Hay House proposal contest
Here are five good reasons you might want to consider the Hay House Writer’s Contest worth your time and investment.
First, you are wanting to publish a spiritual book, a self-help book, a consciousness book, or a book about other healing and personal well-being topics.
Second, you really love Hay House, feel it is aligned with your vision for this book, and want to try to traditionally publish. You’re willing and excited to go through the process of Hay House membership and the contest process to be considered for this method of book publishing.
Third, Hay House is a publishing house that typically accepts agented proposal submissions only. With the contest, you get a chance to publish without an agent through Hay House. (Check out my online course Choosing your Publishing Path to learn more about the difference).
Fourth, most traditional publishers expect you to have a really large platform in order to be considered a viable potential author with their house. With the Hay House book contest, you don’t have to have a large platform in order to be considered. This helps some authors get their feet in a door that might not otherwise be open to them.
Lastly, having a deadline like this – and specific instructions about what the publisher is looking for – gives emergent authors focused accountability that motivates them, much like signing up for a marathon gives a runner something specific to train for.
What is a book proposal?
A book proposal is a 20 to 60-page document that presents the case for why a publisher should offer you a book deal. Most Hay House proposals I have worked on average about 35 to 50 Microsoft Word pages (between 9,000 and 15,000 words).
Book proposals are fairly structured and similar across the board, no matter the publisher you are seeking. This is great news if you want to write a single proposal and modify it slightly to submit to different publishing houses. Writing a proposal for Hay House will also prepare to you submit to other publishers if you are interested.
Regardless of your publishing path, writing a book proposal can be really helpful to your process. Writing a book proposal can help you:
Get crystal clear on your WHY—why you, why now, why this book
Get clear on your concept for the book
Focus your ideas and make sure you have a viable, marketable idea
Get clear on the commitment you’ll need to make to complete the book (time and energy)
Be certain you want to commit to this book project
Create more clarity about your books structure, organization and flow
What goes in a Hay House Proposal?
The Hay House Proposal template includes the following sections of the proposal, which you’ll write if you want to submit for this contest. They include:
Overview: this is a few pages that make a high-level compelling argument about why the publisher should publish your book. Why does your book matter and what needs is it meeting in your audience? Why do we need this book in the world now? What are the highlights and strengths of your book specifically?
About the Author: this is a page or two about you, showcasing your strongest and most relevant experience and background.
Market Analysis: this section talks about your primary audience and makes the case that there is a large, hungry audience waiting for a book like yours to buy.
Promotion: this is where you explain in detail how you will help to promote the book, it is also where you might talk about your current platform, such as your web traffic, mailing list subscribers, social media followers and the like. Do you have any contacts for speaking gigs, promotion, foreword or endorsement writers?
Competitive Analysis: here, you showcase other books that are similar yet different from yours, making the case for the niche your book fits into and how your book is different from what is already out there.
Book Table of Contents: just what it sounds like, the planned chapters of your book in order, as best you know them.
Chapter Abstracts: this section goes chapter by chapter giving a brief high-level summary of what you will do and say in each chapter and how that will benefit the reader.
Sample Chapters: you’ll likely choose 2 or 3 chapters (5000 to 10,000 words total) you want to write and showcase in your book proposal. They are often the first chapter (not the introduction) and a middle chapter. You’ll want to share your strongest writing while giving your proposal reviewers a good glimpse into what they can expect in your book.
The contest often also requires a cover letter and a video of the author. You’ll want to check the latest contest rules to get the specifics.
Hay House Writer’s Contest Proposal Help
If you want to write the most compelling and competitive proposal for the contest, you might consider getting support in planning, writing and editing your proposal.
A book proposal coach can help you refine and finalize your book outline or table of contents, what will be in each chapter, and help you choose, write and refine your sample chapters.
This is where we recommend most people start when writing a book proposal, as you’ll want a good sense of your book and how it's put together before you write the rest of the proposal.
From here, you’ll want to complete the rest of the sections, as outlined above. A good proposal coach will know the best practices for each section to help guide you to writing the most relevant and strongest case for each section.
We recommend writing the overview last, since it is really the high level summary that introduces your book and the rest of the proposal. You might want to make some notes for this overview as you go, noting the strongest and most unique aspects of your book project that you want to showcase here.
Then, we recommend getting a developmental editor who has experience in book proposals. Even better if they know Hay House proposals and this contest. (Jaime is one such proposal editor herself!) You may or may not want to also get a copyedit and proofread for your proposal. These will ensure your writing is strong at the sentence level and there are no errors in your work.
How we can help with your book proposal
We currently offer a highly supportive, results-focused package designed specifically for authors preparing submissions for the Hay House Writer’s Contest (or other traditional publishing proposals).
This package is designed to do more than simply “review” your proposal — it actively transforms your writing, positioning, and clarity throughout the development process. Through a combination of coaching and developmental editing, Jaime works closely with you to refine your concept, strengthen your messaging, and ensure your proposal is both strategically positioned and compelling to a highly competitive acquisitions team.
The process includes two dedicated coaching sessions while you are actively writing your proposal, allowing you to receive real-time feedback, direction, and structural clarity as your ideas evolve. These sessions are often where the most significant breakthroughs happen — helping authors move through overwhelm, refine their thinking, and make clear, confident decisions about structure, audience, and positioning.
Once your draft is developed, Jaime provides a full developmental edit along with an in-depth editorial letter that identifies strengths, clarifies gaps, and offers specific guidance on how to elevate your proposal to a publishable, competitive standard. This is followed by a final strategy call to integrate feedback and outline clear next steps for strengthening your submission before it goes to contest or agent review.
This is an immersive, guided process designed to keep you moving forward at every stage. Having structured coaching alongside the writing process helps prevent the most common challenges authors face — getting stuck, losing clarity, or underestimating how to position their book within a competitive publishing landscape. Instead, you are supported in refining your message continuously, ensuring your proposal becomes sharper, more aligned, and significantly more persuasive.
Importantly, you also walk away with a fully developed, professionally structured book proposal that you can confidently pitch not only to the Hay House Writer’s Contest, but to any aligned traditional publisher or literary agent. Even in cases where authors do not win the contest, the work created together becomes a long-term asset—a strong, strategically positioned proposal that can be used to pursue publication opportunities beyond Hay House. In this way, your investment in the process continues to serve you well beyond a single submission outcome, supporting you in finding the right publishing home for your work.
What Past Hay House Contest Clients Have Said
Here are what some of my past clients have said about working on their Hay House proposal together:
I cannot begin to explain how influential Jaime was in the process of me putting together my book proposal. I’m extremely grateful for everything she has done through this journey to help me!!! She really guided me and coached me through the trials and tribulations by being transparent, providing inspiration and motivation, top notch expertise and tools, encouragement, and was extremely collaborative. I couldn’t have done this proposal without her and I’m forever grateful and would highly recommend her to anyone who wants to write a book!!
– Christine Ramsey, Founder of Ignite Inclusion and Hay House Proposal Contestant
I really enjoyed our session last week and found it really valuable. Your feedback was methodical, clear and really made sense, with easy fixes that will immediately improve what we are trying to say. You’re skillful in handling a Zoom conversation, which we know is not easy. I liked your relaxed manner and felt as if we were chatting with a supportive friend. It was such a great start to our process of working together, and we are grateful to have you on our team!
– Chris Caruthers, PhD in Integrative Health and Hay House Proposal Contestant
