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Due to the Holidays, I was not able to get the December Critiques back in time to post today. I have moved a post planned for next week to replace Kate Sullivan’s critiques and will post the critiques next week when I receive them. I apologize for the delay. Kate has the critiques, but I have been sick for the last two weeks, which might have factored into missing this deadline. Hope all of you and your family are healthy and enjoying the holidays.

They are looking for projects that have a unique bent—be it in subject matter, writing style, or illustrative technique—and that will lend our list a distinctive flair. We are interested in fiction and nonfiction books for children of all ages as well as board books, decks, activity kits, and other unusual or “novelty” formats.

Books for younger children may be submitted in their entirety without querying first. Projects for older children should be submitted by query letter, synopsis, and three sample chapters.

NO MATERIALS SUBMITTED WILL BE RETURNED

• Do not include a self addressed, stamped envelope.

• Chronicle does not accept submissions or queries by fax, via e-mail, or on disk.

• Chronicle will not respond to an unsolicited submission unless interested in publishing it.

If we are interested in your submission, you can expect to hear from us within six months after we receive your submission.

Chronicle Children’s receives more than 1,000 submissions every month. For this reason, we do not track receipt of submissions. If you would like confirmation that your materials have been received, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard with your submission. This postcard will be returned to you before your submission is evaluated, as proof that your submission was received.

If your proposal is a simultaneous submission, please indicate this in your cover letter. When submitting artwork, either as a part of a project or as samples for review, do not send original art. Anything from photocopies to tear sheets will do. And please, always keep a copy of your project; we are not responsible for any submitted materials, including dummies, prototypes, slides, etc.

Please send submissions to:

Chronicle Books; Children’s 680 Second Street San Francisco, California 94107

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The Charlesbridge Trade Division publishes high-quality books for children, with a goal of creating lifelong readers and learners. We believe that books for children should offer accurate information, promote a positive worldview, and embrace a child’s innate sense of wonder and fun. To this end, we continually strive to seek new voices, new visions, and new directions in children’s literature.

Charlesbridge publishes both picture books and transitional “bridge books” (books ranging from early readers to middle-grade chapter books). Our nonfiction books focus on nature, science, social studies, and multicultural topics. Our fiction titles include lively, plot-driven stories with strong, engaging characters.

EXCLUSIVE SUBMISSIONS POLICY Charlesbridge accepts unsolicited manuscripts submitted exclusively to us for a period of three months. “Exclusive Submission” should be written on all envelopes and cover letters. Due to the high volume of submissions, we respond only to manuscripts of interest to us. All other manuscripts will be recycled. If you have not heard back from us after three months, you may assume we do not have a place for your project and submit it elsewhere.

WHAT TO SEND Please submit only one or two manuscript(s) at a time. For picture books and shorter bridge books, please send a complete manuscript. For fiction books longer than 30 manuscript pages, please send a detailed plot synopsis, a chapter outline, and three chapters of text. For nonfiction books longer than 30 manuscript pages, please send a detailed proposal, a chapter outline, and one to three chapters of text.

We are not actively seeking alphabet books, board books, coloring books, activity books, or books with audiotapes or CD-ROMs.

Manuscripts should be typed and double-spaced. Please do not submit material by email, by fax, or on a computer disk. Illustrations are not necessary.

Please make a copy of your manuscript, as we cannot be responsible for submissions lost in the mail. Please include your name and address on the first page of your manuscript and in your cover letter. Be sure to list any previously published work or relevant writing experience.

WHERE TO SEND IT Please send your work to the attention of: Submissions Editor Trade Division Charlesbridge 85 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472

GET TO KNOW US To become acquainted with our publishing program, we encourage you to review our books and visit our website (www.charlesbridge.com ), where you will find our catalog. To request a printed catalog, please send a 9″ x 12″ SASE with $2.50 in postage.

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NewSouth Books and Junebug Books Submission Guidelines

Due to sufficient manuscript volume, NewSouth Books is currently closed to picture books, general adult fiction, and poetry. We are reading on a limited basis young adult fiction and nonfiction. Please email acquisitions at newsouthbooks.com to be notified when submissions resume.

NewSouth is home to the book publishing imprints NewSouth Books and Junebug Books. Our editors read manuscripts for both imprints, each of which has different requirements, as outlined below. Please query by email before submitting manuscripts to us. A good query will consist of a cover page briefly stating who you are, a description of your book, and why it is appropriate for one of our imprints; a synopsis or outline; and an author bio.  Full manuscripts should not be emailed until requested; manuscripts will not be considered unless the author has received prior permission to email them after submitting a query.

Queries should be emailed to our acquisitions at newsouthbooks dot com address. We try to reply promptly, but we are a small company and it may take a while for us to read and consider a submission. Be patient, and try to resist the urge to call to check on our progress.

Queries should not be submitted by mail, only by email.  Please retain original copies of any materials sent by email.

NewSouth Books publishes quality works of non-fiction, fiction, and poetry, with a special interest in regional history, biography, autobiography, non-fiction, folklore, African American, Native American, and civil rights subjects.

Junebug Books publishes quality, illustrated and non-illustrated works of fiction and non-fiction for young readers. We are especially interested in biographies of African Americans and in concise, interesting books that make understandable to young readers such complex subjects as slavery, segregation, the Civil War, the civil rights movement, and human rights. We are primarily but not exclusively interested in Southern people and Southern settings. We are more likely to publish chapter books than picture books, but will look at the latter if on the subjects mentioned above.

Please watch the NewSouth blog for submission guideline updates and tips for querying authors.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy