Publisher Spotlight: Chronicle Books

Chronicle Books is an independant book publisher based in San Francisco that prides itself in publishing unique, innovate books for children and adults.

For Writers & Illustrators

The good news is, Chronicle Books accepts unsolicited children's book submission for children of all ages and in a variety of formats.  They also accept samples of artwork (don't send in your originals).

The bad news is, they received over a thousand submissions per month, and understandably, will only respond if they are interested in your work.  They do accept simultaneous submission, so I would recommend you take advantage of this (otherwise you will be waiting for six months for a response you may never recieve).  Click here for the full submission guidelines.

For Parents

Chronicle books publishes such a variety of quality children's books that you are sure to find more than one book in their catalogue that your child will enjoy.

A few recommendations are as follows (click on the pictures to learn more):

"Ivy + Bean" series by Annie Barrows (author) and Sophie Blackall (illustrator). 


This is a wonderful series about two very different best friends who never meant to like each other.  It is perfect for early readers ages six to eight.

Publisher Spotlight: Dancing Cat Books

Dancing Cat Books a new imprint of Cormorant Books, a Canadian book publisher.  Its mission is to publish "author-driven literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for the young adult and middle-grades, as well as picture books."

For Parents

Although Dancing Cat Books has not published many books to date, they appear to be carefully chosen and well-crafted based on the reviews and award nominations they have received.  For younger children, I would recommend the highly amusing picture book "Giraffe and Bird" by author and artist Rebecca Bender.


For Writers & Illustrators

Tips for Choosing a Publisher for Your Children's Book

So you've written a children's book and want to try to get it published.  Most publishers post their submission guidelines on their website, but they can also be found in books such as Alice Pope's "Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market" (however these can quickly become outdated).

When choosing which publishers to submit to, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Does the publisher accept unsolicited manuscripts?  

Publisher Spotlight: Kids Can Press

Kids Can Press is a Canadian children's book publisher, best known for for its "Franklin" books, and more recently, Melanie Watt's "Scaredy Squirrel" series.

For Writers and Illustrators

Writer and illustrator guidelines can be found on their website.  Unlike many publishers, they accept unsolicited manuscripts -  picture books, non-fiction books for children, and chapter books for ages 7 to 10.  However, they do not accept any fantasy books, or young adult fiction.

For Parents

The "Franklin" books are perfect books for a parent to read to their child (ages 3 to 8).   Although Franklin is a turtle, your child will easily relate to him.   The stories provide a nice balance between being entertaining, and teaching your child a valuable lesson.