Submissions

Thank you for your interest in Blue Dot Kids Press!

We are open for submissions.

We are a small, boutique press and publish ten titles each year: thoughtful and purposeful books that speak to our mission and values.

We welcome agented and unagented submissions from writers and illustrators from all over the world. We are open to both debut and experienced creators.

We select a few agented and unagented authors each year for our traditional publishing program. We offer an advance and ongoing royalties, plus extensive and personalized publicity. We have worldwide trade and wholesale sales and distribution via Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, ensuring that the books we publish are available wherever books are sold—both online and in brick-and-mortar stores.

We are committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion and welcome stories from diverse authors. Please browse our website or catalog for examples of the types of books we publish. Please read the following guidelines carefully before sending us your submission. We are grateful that you are considering our press as a home for your work.

Writers

We publish books for children up to age twelve. We are looking for the following:

Middle-grade fiction and graphic novel fiction, specifically realistic, adventure, and magical realism fiction, for kids ages eight to twelve

Middle-grade nonfiction that is meant to be highly illustrated, for kids ages eight to twelve

Fiction and nonfiction chapter books, and graphic novels for kids ages seven to ten

Fiction and narrative nonfiction picture books for kids ages three to eight

Fiction and nonfiction board books for kids ages zero to three

To support our mission, we only look for stories that fall into one or more of these categories:

1. Nature/Environment: Appreciation of nature, conservation, environmental stewardship, science, STEAM and STEM

2. Social and Emotional Learning: Empathy, resilience, growth mindset, emotional intelligence, creative problem-solving, imagination, curiosity

3. Global Citizenship: Celebrating our big, beautiful world

In addition:

We are open to various forms of storytelling, including graphic novels.

If you are submitting a nonfiction picture book manuscript, note that we are only looking for narrative nonfiction manuscripts. Nonfiction material must be suited to supplement a school curriculum in some way and must include informative back matter.

If you are a self-published author who is looking for different results, we are happy to look at your book with the understanding that we would re-edit, re-brand, and re-publish your work.

We are not looking for:

Fantasy stories
Religious-themed stories

YA manuscripts

How to Submit

Whether you are an agent submitting on behalf of your client or an unagented writer, please submit the manuscript and author information via this form.

Make sure to answer all required questions. You do not need a Google account to fill out this form. Please do not submit a story with doodles or personal photographs. Please do not send an idea for a story; send only a complete story in manuscript form.

Given the volume of manuscripts Blue Dot Kids Press receives, please allow four months for our review. We take the time to look at each and every submission. If we are interested in your story, you can expect to hear from us within four months. If you don’t hear from us, please assume that your manuscript is not a fit for our current needs. We receive many submissions and can only publish a few books each year.

Illustrators

We are building a portfolio of illustrators with whom we can collaborate. We are interested in human characters showcasing the diversity of our world. For animal illustrations, we are not looking for cartoons or anthropomorphic art.

How to Submit