Okay, so I get a little testy these days, trying to make my way through the underbrush of the publishing world. I quit SCBWI when their market reports sunk to the level of absurdity, mainly listing markets that were not open for submissions or open to submissions by writers who had jumped various hoops (e.g. met them at a conference, previously published with them, said the magic word). So, I took up with Children’s Writer, a newsletter of writing and publishing trends. They have a market report as well which, it seemed to me, was heading down the same useless path as SCBWI. As a result, I wrestled with the idea of renewing my subscription. After much thought, I decided to reup for one more year and see what happens. I also wrote a note describing my concern. Here’s the response I got:
Dear Mr. Young,
Thank you very much for your renewal, and for your note about Children’s Writer’s Marketplace section. I understand that finding open markets is a primary reason for subscribing to the newsletter. Seeing a newsletter publish information only about publishers that accept agented submissions would be extremely frustrating, but I would like to point out that Children’s Writer, and especially the Marketplace section, does far from that.
I took a few minutes to annotate the publishers we have included in for six months, since our August issue. As you will see in the list below, publishers that accept agented submissions are the exception rather than the rule in Marketplace.
While I believe that Children’s Writer has an obligation to report on major new publishers, even if limited to agented submissions, these make up a small percentage of those companies we list in Marketplace.
I hope the following is helpful to you, and that you find all of Children’s Writer informative and expansive. Thanks again for writing.
Sincerely,
Susan M. Tierney
Editor in Chief, Writer’s Institute Publications
August 2012 (21.1)
Write Integrity Press PITCH; NON-AGENTED
The Collaborative QUERY; NON-AGENTED AND AGENTED
Quirk Books QUERY; CHAPTERS. NON-AGENTED
Spaceports & Spidersilk COMPLETE MS. NON-AGENTED
Fun for Kidz NON-AGENTED
Pockets NON-AGENTED
Smart Pop Books QUERY, PROPOSAL. NON-AGENTED
Cool Well Press SYNOPSIS, MS. NON-AGENTED
Irene Goodman Literary Agency AGENT OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS
Merit Press Books HAD NOT ANNOUNCED AGENTED/NON-AGENTED POLICY
Wisdom Tales MANUSCRIPT. NON-AGENTED
AMP! Comics for Kids QUERY. NON-AGENTED
September 2012 (21.2)
Shadow Mountain QUERY, CHAPTERS. NON-AGENTED
namelos DOES EDITORIAL EVALUATIONS, CONSIDERS MSS FOR PUBLICATION. NON-AGENTED
P& R Publishing PROPOSAL. NON-AGENTED
Pajama Press PITCH. NON-AGENTED
Zumaya Publications QUERY, SYNOPSIS. NON-AGENTED
Blue Apple Books NEWS ON POLICY CHANGE; SHIFTED FROM OPEN TO UNSOLICITED TO AGENTED.
Star Bright Books QUERY OR MS. NON-AGENTED
Milkweed Editions SUBMISSIONS MANAGER. NON-AGENTED
Topaz Publishing SYNOPSIS, MS. NON-AGENTED
October 2012 (21.3)
August House PROPOSALS. NON-AGENTED
Mitchell Lane ASSIGNMENTS. SEND RESUME, SAMPLE. NON-AGENTED
Appleseeds QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Cobblestone QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Highlights Hello. IMPORTANT NEW PUBLICATION TO NOTE. NOT AS OPEN AS HIGHLIGHTS, WHICH IS COMPLETELY OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS.
Red Sofa Literary AGENT OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS.
Girlworks QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Youthlight QUERY. NON-AGENTED
November 2012 (21.4)
Home Education Magazine SEND ARTICLE
Aladdin AGENTED FOR MOST FICTION, BUT FOR SERIES — WORK-FOR-HIRE ASSIGNMENT, QUERY WITH TARGETED PROPOSAL, NON-AGENTED
Harper Voyager ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN OPEN PERIOD FOR UNAGENTED SUBMISSIONS
Spencer Hill Press QUERY PLUS 10 MS PAGES. NON-AGENTED
Blaze QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Beyond Centauri COMPLETE MS. NON-AGENTED
Common Call EMAIL FOR INFO. NEW RELIGIOUS MARKET THAT COVERS FAMILIES. NON-AGENTED
WebMD, the Magazine QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Times They Were A-Changing. CONTEST/COMPETITION FOR ANTHOLOGY. NON-AGENTED
B&H Kids NEWS OF COMPLETELY NEW CHILDREN’S IMPRINT. AGENTED
Seventeen. QUERY TO APPROPRIATE EDITOR. NON-AGENTED
Dramatics COMPLETE MS. NON-AGENTED
Triangle Square Editions/Seven Stories Press COVER LETTER AND SAMPLE CHAPTERS. NON-AGENTED
December 2012 (21.5)
Kathy Dawson Books, Penguin NEWS OF NEW IMPRINT AT MAJOR PUBLISHER. PENGUIN IMPRINTS ARE LARGELY OPEN TO UNSOLICITED QUERIES.
Turtle COMPLETE MS. NON-AGENTED
FamilyFun MAJOR ACQUISITION, OPEN IN SOME DEPARTMENTS TO SUBMISSIONS.
Quake/Echelon Press REOPENING TO SUBMISSIONS IN FEBRUARY. NON-AGENTED
Sterling Publishing, Splinter COMPLETE MS. NON-AGENTED
Poisoned Pencil MANUSCRIPTS. NON-AGENTED
Odyssey QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Keys for Kids MANUSCRIPTS NON-AGENTED
Flashlight Press QUERY. NON-AGENTED
January 2013 (21.5)
Ranger Rick, Jr. MAJOR NEW CHILDREN’S MAGAZINE ANNOUNCED. SEND RESUME FOR CONSIDERATION FOR WORK-FOR-HIRE ASSIGNMENTS.
Scarlet Voyage/Enslow NEW YA LINE ANNOUNCED. OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS — EAGER FOR THEM. NON-AGENTED.
Hunger Mountain OPEN TO MIDDLE-GRADE, YA SUBMISSIONS. NON-AGENTED.
McSweeney’s McMullen’s OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS. NON-AGENTED
Parents QUERY. NON-AGENTED
Poppy/Little, Brown STAFF CHANGES AT MAJOR YA PUBLISHER. AGENTED.
Carolrhoda SUBMISSIONS POLICY UPDATE. HAS PERIODIC OPEN CALLS. ALSO AGENTED.
Adams Media PROPOSALS. NON-AGENTED
Splashdown Books OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS. NON-AGENTED
Clarion Books COMPLETE MS. FOR FICTION; QUERY, SYNOPSIS, CHAPTERS FOR NONFICTION. NON-AGENTED
Children’s Book Press OPEN TO UNAGENTED SUBMISSIONS. QUERY, SYNOPSIS, OUTLINE.
Teen Vogue. QUERY WITH CLIPS. NON-AGENTED
Uh, okay, so maybe perception does not always equal reality. I sent a response this morning, which included an apology. Note to self: Focus on the positive, the viable options, the possibilities. They’re out there.
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