Submissions
Submissions are currently closed. Each year, submissions open during the period of 1 May - 30 September.
Submissions outside of this period will not be considered.
When our submissions are open, these guidelines below contain all the information that you might need to submit your manuscript to Imagnary House for consideration of publication. Yay!
Imagnary House will consider submissions in the following genres:
- Illustrated children’s picture books (fiction and non-fiction)
- Children's chapter books (fiction and non-fiction)
- Children's comic books
- Science-fiction and fantasy novels
Your submission can only be sent digitally (in .PDF or .docx format — illustrations are preferred in .PNG or .PDF). We don't accept hardcopy submissions (unless requested). You may submit your manuscript to us via this Google Form, and only via this submission form. Submissions will close on 30 September 2022.
Owing to the volume of submissions we receive, the assessment process may in some instances take up to 4 months post the submissions close date.
Submission for publication places Imagnary House under no obligation to publish your material, and we reserve the right to select our publication list according to our own in-house guidelines.
Scroll down to see what kind of stories we are after in our submission 2022 period.
Children's Picture or Chapter Books (Fiction)
We're looking for exceptional children's picture and chapter books that are fun and imaginative. Make us laugh! Make us wonder, think, get warm fuzzy feelings, or cry... but don't try to teach us a lesson for the sake of it. We want sophisticated books from local authors that breathe imagination, curiosity, and depths of fun into children.
For chapter books, we're looking for stories that are focused on middle-grade readers that just ooze humour. Chapter books tend to be repetitive, yet plot-driven and treat more complex themes than picture books.
We don't look at or accept didactic children's stories. Let your story carry a meaning, but don't let your meaning carry a story. Children can smell the latter a mile off, and they will run.
We do prefer to look at picture book submissions with at least reference illustrations.
Picture book references:Chapter book references:
Children's Picture or Chapter Books (Non-Fiction)
We're looking for trending or popular experts in their field to speak into non-fiction topics and educate our children through incredible picture or chapter book concepts. We invite you to educate us, but we want to laugh, wonder, and feel along the way. We aren't just looking for a book of facts.
We are willing to accept non-fiction submissions from any writer, but we are specifically looking for writers with a depth of knowledge and experience in the field of non-fiction that they are tackling.
We don't look at or accept didactic children's stories. Let your story carry a meaning, but don't let your meaning carry a story. Children can smell the latter a mile off, and they will run.
Picture book references:
Fantasy & Sci-Fi Books
We're looking for fantasy, alternative-history, and science-fiction stories. We are looking for stories from young-adult through to adult high-fantasy - most importantly, we are after strong characters and high-concept plots that can carry across a series instead of standalone titles.
We want universal books that can hold an international audience, but which have roots in our country. Build your world, but be inspired by your context. We want to give our local writers the opportunity to enter into the international stage.
We find that books in these genres are usually between 60,000 and 100,000 words long. Again, this is a guideline and not a rule. If it's a great story, send us that 200,000 word manuscript and let's create a wonder.
