You have reviewed and edited your children’s book, and now it’s waiting to be published! Luckily, you can find a few children’s book publishers in New York who allow the submission of unsolicited manuscripts from authors.
However, before submitting your book to any publisher, it is necessary to analyze their catalog to see if your book meets their criteria. Reading each publisher’s guidelines and submission requirements carefully is a must.
Let’s find out about 19 top New York children’s book publishers.
1. Holiday House:
With more than 75 years of glorious history, Holiday House is a time-honored and well-known children’s book publisher based near Broad Street #301, New York. It is a leading American publishing house established with the goal of publishing children’s books only.
They publish picture books, a variety of books based on a particular theme, as well as books proposed for different grade levels. They classify children grades into three groups: 1 to 3, 4 to 6, and 7 and up. They also specialize in publishing hardback sheets for children with age 4 and above.
If you browse through the catalog of Holiday House, you will notice that they have published numerous famous authors and books which includes a name, Kenneth Grahame. Besides, the books under their publication have won various esteemed honors and awards.
You can read their submission guidelines, however, the best thing is to send them an e-mail with your complete manuscript attached.
2. Flashlight Press:
An award-winning, renowned publisher of Children’s Books founded in 2004, Flashlight Press books walk around and interpret the emotional and comical moments of social and family situations through their charismatic writing and exceptional illustrations. This publishing house is based in Brooklyn, New York.
Flashlight Press is certainly very selective about the books they publish. Each year, they publish only 2 to 4 books. More importantly, they aim to publish books that focus on the age group of 4 to 8.
They are currently allowing the submission of children’s books that fit with any of these three classes: picture books that have a universal theme, books suited to the age group 4-8, and books based on social or family topics.
You can read their submission guidelines before pitching your idea. You can submit manuscripts directly to their e-mail.
3. Lee & Low Books:
Lee & Low Books was started in 1991 by Philip Lee and Tom Low with a single purpose: to publish up-to-date, concurrent distinct stories that would entertain all kids.
Lee & Low Books want their books to highlight the abundance of today’s cultures. As a result, this publishing house has become the prominent multicultural and influential children’s book publisher in New York.
They accept stories based on themes such as non-traditional gender identity and family structures. They are also looking for the stories that feature a character with disabilities.
The word limit for fiction manuscripts is 1500-words. For non-fiction manuscripts, the word limit is 4000-words. They do not want you to add own illustrations. You can read their detailed submission guidelines before sending your manuscript. Once you are all set, you can submit your manuscript here.
4. Workman Publishing:
Workman Publishing was launched by Peter Workman in 1968. The company is based in Greenwich Village, New York. The first book that was published under their name is “The Yoga 28-Day Exercise Program.”
Workman Publishing is a large publishing house. They have been publishing both fiction and nonfiction of all stripes suitable for all age groups. They also have a separate department for children’s books. They welcome children’s picture books, fiction, and gift books.
You can read their submission guidelines here. They prefer to receive manuscript submissions via e-mail.
5. Arthur A. Levine Books:
An imprint of Scholastic Inc., this publishing house was established in 1996 by Arthur A. Levine. The company headquarter is based in New York City. Being a reputed publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and hardcore literary books for teenagers, Arthur A. Levine Books has published numerous nominated and award-winning books to this date. They have worked with a number of respected authors that include a famous personality, J. K. Rowling.
If you have a picture book, novel, or an illustration that is waiting for a publisher, do check their submission guidelines. You can send your manuscript by using their Submittable option.
6. Phaidon:
In 1923, Ludwig Goldscheider and Dr. Bela Horovitz founded Phaidon publishing company in Vienna. Now, the company has its headquarters in New York City and London.
Phaidon publishes illustrated, picture books for children of age group 1-to-8. The publication includes novelty books, board books, and picture books. If you are interested in submitting a book proposal to Phaidon, then you have to make sure that the quality of your book corresponds with their brand and meets quality requirements.
You can read their full submission guidelines here. You can then submit an entire manuscript, query letter, and book proposal to their e-mail.
7. Blue Marlin Publications:
In January 1999, Francine Poppo Rich launched Blue Marlin Publications as a family operated and owned business. The company is based near West Bay Shore, New York. They put their reputation, brand value, and status behind every book they publish.
Being an independent publisher in the market, the goals of Blue Marlin Publications are simplistic: to support, endorse, and publish excellent work by means of high-quality children’s books, historical fiction novels, picture books, and middle-grade books. They want to make children and their parents laugh as they read and learn.
The editorial team at Blue Marlin Publications has published several books to this date. Now, their primary aim is to publish the writing of other authors.
They expect all book proposals, queries, manuscript submissions via the post. Their postal address is available on the website. To know more about their publication policy, read their submission guidelines here.
8. Sterling Publishing:
Sterling Publishing is an old publishing house with the publishing experience of almost 60 years. Founded by David Alfred Boehm in 1949, the company is now headed by Theresa Thompson.
They aim at publishing books that can certainly inspire, entertain, and educate the readers. Now, they have started publishing fiction and nonfiction books for young readers, toddlers, and children.
Sterling Publishing now allows children’s book proposals and manuscript submissions via the post. You need to submit manuscripts to their office located in New York City. Here you can check out their postal address. If you want to submit children’s books, make sure you send full manuscripts. Additional submission guidelines are available for authors who want to submit a manuscript.
9. Skyhorse Publishing:
Launched in 2006, Skyhorse Publishing has devoted itself to create and publish a broad range of books. Their headquarter is located at New York City. Tony Lyons, the founder of Skyhorse Publishing, has been associated with each phase of the book publishing process.
The company has published more than 6,000 titles to this date, out of which 48 titles are already mentioned in the New York Times bestsellers list. The Publishers Weekly has described this company as one of the fastest expanding publishers in America.
Now, they are accepting children’s books and their steadily expanding list covers multiple forms of writing such as educational books, picture books, novelty books, and fiction works. They publish a wide range of niches and subject matter to honor different interests and demands.
If you are interested in sending your book proposal or manuscript, then take a look at their submission guidelines and follow their requirements. They take submissions via e-mail.
10. Library Tales Publishing:
Library Tales Publishing was started in 2011 with the aim of publishing, promoting, and distributing niche fiction books, self-help books, and biographies written by expert authors. This publishing house has worked with a number of renowned authors that includes Jim Hamilton, Arje Shaw, Frank Foster, and many others. The company has its main office in New York.
Library Tales Publishing was established when the digital publication was at its peak in the publishing industry.
They publish picture books, illustrations, and fiction books for children. If you have any questions regarding the submission, then check out frequently asked questions on their website. To initiate the submission process, they use authors.me where you need to create a free account with them. Once your account is created, you can take the next step and submit your manuscript to their editors.
11. Hachai Publishing:
Hachai Publishing is based in Brooklyn, New York. The company is well-known for creating high-class children’s literature. While they focus on producing children’s books of high literary and beautiful quality, they also aim at presenting Jewish themes through their books.
Apart from promoting Jewish tradition, history, and values, their books also discuss universal values such as charity, compassion, and sharing.
They welcome new authors to publish children’s books with them. Hachai Publishing is looking for the books that target two age groups: very young (2-4 years old) and slightly old (3-6 years old). They have shared detailed submission guidelines to help guide new authors throughout the submission process. You can send a book proposal to this e-mail address.
12. Menucha Publishers:
Since its launch in 2010, Menucha Publishers has been publishing a wide range of books that cover Jewish literature.
They have some attractive titles on their catalog that appeal to a wide range of audience including children of all age groups, scholars, professionals, the layman, and anyone searching for books that are filled with Jewish content.
All publishing and distribution operations are managed at their headquarter located in Brooklyn, New York. The Jewish communities all across the world have embraced their work in the field of children’s books and educational material. Although they have a strong distribution network, they give special attention to retail stores, libraries, and school or college based book clubs.
Interested in becoming their author? You can read more about their submission process here. You can also send a complete manuscript or book proposal to their e-mail address.
13. ABRAMS:
ABRAMS is a renowned and very old publishing house founded by Harry N. Abrams in 1949. The company is based in New York, however, their publication network is spread worldwide. With a specialization in publishing art, picture books, and illustration books, the company has published several bestselling and nominated titles in the areas of children’s books.
They publish books that are carefully conceived and suitable for children, infants, and preschoolers. Their books connect the comfort of everyday objects with something unusual or surprising,
Some of their award-winning titles include names such as the Mini Myths series, In My Heart, and Color. They also publish illustrated nonfiction books.
The submissions are open for two imprints: ABRAMS Comic Arts and ABRAMS Craft. You can read their submission guidelines here. You can send book proposal or manuscript via e-mail.
14. Square One Publishers:
Rudy Shur started Square One Publishers Inc. in 2000. It is a powerful, fastest growing publishing company based near Herricks Road, New York.
The company aims at creating, promoting, and selling high-quality books. They publish books for both adult and young readers. Some of their bestselling, award-winner titles include Pea in a Pod, Talking With Your Hands, How Smart Is Your Baby? and many others.
Square One Publishers new authors that can produce interesting, accurate, and smartly written books. If you want to publish your book with them, then head over to their submission guidelines. You can send your manuscripts via post to their postal address to be found at the bottom of this page.
15. NYU Press:
Chancellor of the New York University, Elmer Ellsworth Brown, founded NYU Press in year1916. The catalog of this publishing house is full of books written by scholarly authors. One of their best selling books published in 2007: Convergence Culture, written by Henry Jenkins. Apart from this, they have also published numerous high-quality books such as The Rabbi’s Wife authored by Shuly Schwartz.
From their headquarter based in New York, the press continues to extend their publishing agenda by walking around new areas that naturally relate with old ones. They craft, publish/print and distribute quality writing.
You will notice a few interesting series on their catalog that specifically targets children and youth. “Children and Youth in America” is one of them.
You must go through their strict submission guidelines if you want to submit a book proposal. For submission, you need to send a hard copy of manuscript or book proposal material to their postal address mentioned.
16. The Experiment Publishing:
The Experiment Publishing works as an independent publisher since the year of its establishment, 2008. It is a dynamic and steadily growing publishing company based in New York. The publishing house is well-known for creating and publishing a broad range of nonfiction books.
There is a simple definition hidden behind their name. They consider each book as a test of new concepts. The wonder and curiosity of the unknown motivate them and help them run every experiment in publishing.
The books they publish are deeply effective, and sometimes simply narrative. They also publish books that ingeniously merge practical knowledge with narrative feeling.
They are now accepting both nonfiction and narrative books. They expect you to send submissions or queries via E-mail or hard copies. You can find their submission guidelines here. You can send your book proposal, queries, or manuscript to their E-mail.
17. Princeton Architectural Press:
Princeton Architectural Press was started in 1981 by an author, publisher Kevin Lippert. The company headquarter is based in Hudson, New York. With over 37 years of remarkable history, the company has successfully published a variety of books suiting to all age groups.
They have won numerous respected awards for book design and editorial excellence. They identify new trends in the market and publish books accordingly. With each book they publish, they keep the production values and design quality unique.
Take a look at their store that includes children’s books. Some of the eye-catching books published by Princeton Architectural Press include Pablo and His Chair, Drawing in Space, and many others. They publish picture books, fiction, and nonfiction books.
If you want to send book proposal, read their submission guidelines. They have also included a PDF version of Submission Guidelines. For submission, you need to send a complete proposal to their E-mail.
18. Artisan Books:
Artisan Books is a member of the Workman Publishing Company, a renowned publishing house based near Varick Street, New York.
They publish picture books and illustrated books to encourage and instruct young readers. They believe that there are many subjects that we can actually express visually by means of books, illustration, graphic design, or photography.
Their first notable bestseller was “The French Laundry Cookbook” written by Thomas Keller. After that, they have continually published a number of books that were listed as New York Times bestsellers.
They publish both fiction and nonfiction books. You can check out the kid’s section in their store. Here you can find all the important points and information regarding their submission policy. You can make submissions to their e-mail address.
19. Divine Phoenix:
If you are looking for a full-service provider, then Divine Phoenix is a one-stop solution to meet your needs. The publishing house is based near Skaneateles, New York.
They know the complexities involved in crafting, publishing, promoting, and selling books. They can transform books from a rough draft to well aligned published an eBook and/or hard copy.
They also welcome authors who particularly write for young readers, children, and parents. Divine Phoenix allows the manuscript submissions for non-fiction children’s books and parenting stories. They have published numerous International award winner and bestseller titles such as Motherhood: Lost and Found, Please Don’t Forget Me, etc.
They have a streamlined publishing process. If you want to submit your story, make sure you read submission guidelines. You can send a book proposal to their e-mail.
Author Bio:
Raj K. is a professional writer based in Pune, Maharashtra. He knows the book publishing industry very well, and therefore, he decided to write informative articles for all book lovers out there, particularly those who dream of becoming a published author.