By Rana DiOrio, Founder of Little Pickle Press
“What are you looking for?”
Not rhyming text or picture books. We probably meet too many cliche talking animals in our submissions mailbox, too. We are reading chapter books, middle grade and youngish YA, at this time - something dealing with modern issues. Perhaps a young girl with obesity issues, as one idea.
Due to heavy mail, our current response time is at least three months. Thank you for being patient.
Specifically, what subject matters are most interesting to us? I’ll tell you (in no particular order):
- Altruism (and other anti-narcissism themes)
- Creativity: the importance of it, fostering it, etc.
- Forgiveness
- Gratitude
- Tolerance/Acceptance
- What is a conscience? How do we foster it? Use it?
- Leadership and/or Entrepreneurship
- Divergent (vs. Convergent) Thinking
- Systems Thinking
- Healthy and sustainable eating
No distractions or interruptions, please. I am loath to admit this, but I must convey to you the truth. Manuscripts that are not submitted as Word documents (in .doc format vs. .docx), double-spaced in Times New Roman font 12-pt and without illustrations are distracting in a way you would not want them to be. So, to position yourself for the possibility of success, please submit your manuscripts in the following manner:
- As a Word document (in .doc format)
- Double-spaced
- With Times New Roman font 12-pt
- With your suggested title and name at the top of each page as well as a word count on page one
- With pages numbered
- Without illustrations
Send your cover letter/email with manuscript and executed Manuscript Submission Policy & Agreement as two attachments to me via email to submissions (at) littlepicklepress(dot)com.
If you are not yet online, you may also mail manuscripts to:
Acquisitions Editor
Little Pickle Press
Box 983
Belvedere, CA 94920
(Be advised that because of our environmental focus, our digital submissions will be reviewed first. It will take longer, sometimes much longer, to hear from us if you send your manuscript by snail mail.)
Following the above guidelines, you eliminate all distractions and allow me, our Senior Reader, and our team to focus on your all-important written words.
Our selection process. Once I receive your complete submission, I will forward your manuscript to our Senior Reader. She will read it and send me her preliminary thoughts. If she has a favorable opinion of the manuscript, then I will read it. If the manuscript resonates with me, then I send it to one of our Editors and our Art Director. If they like it, too, then we schedule a call or meeting to discuss its merits. If at any point during our process, a team member thinks that the work does not fit for us, then I will let the author know. If you indicate that you would like specific feedback, I will do my best to include that in my note back to you. Please be patient as this process might take three months or longer from the date we receive your manuscript. It goes without saying that if you want your manuscript returned, you must include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) and it should have at least the same amount of postage as your original mailing to return everything to you. If you only send a letter-sized envelope with one postage stamp, you'll only receive a one-page letter back from us, not your entire multi-page manuscript package.
Thanks for your interest. Thank you for your interest in Little Pickle Press. Thanks for reading this post. And if you elect to send us a submission, thanks also for considering us as your publisher. I know from experience all that you have gone through to get to this point, and I respect and honor you for it.
