by Asia Citro, M. Ed, Publisher
Thank you so much, Tara, for the chance to introduce your blog readers to The Innovation Press!
We are a Seattle-area children’s publisher that’s a bit new on the scene. In fact, this year is our first “big” year; we’ve got ten children’s titles coming out in 2017.
As I’m sure you have all discovered, small presses tend to have a “type” when it comes to the sort of books they’re looking for and we are no exception. Right now we’re focused on the K-5 market, but anything goes as long as it fits in that range—picture books, chapter books, and middle grade submissions are all great. If you take a peek at our titles, you’ll start to get a sense for the sort of books we’re after. As a former classroom teacher, I have a particular affinity for books that teach in some way. We love titles that promote creativity, diversity, laughter, and learning. If you take a close look, you’ll find that almost all of our 2017 titles are hybrid texts (a mix between fiction and nonfiction).
Though we are newer, we have international distribution, so our books are in stores, shops, libraries, and schools all over the world. We also have foreign rights representation (seeing our books printed in foreign languages is the coolest!). Oh, and we’re a member of the Children’s Book Council as well as an SCBWI PAL Publisher. We also believe in making our books available to all children, so for every ten books we sell, we donate one to First Book (an amazing nonprofit that pairs educators and students in low-income districts with books).
We pay an advance as well as royalties to our authors. In addition, we offer a lot of publicity help and support and we involve authors as much as possible in the decision-making process for things related to their book (such as illustrator, title, etc). If you have something you think might be a great fit, we’d love to see it! You can find our full submission guidelines here.
Thanks for getting in touch, Asia. While I have not worked with The Innovation Press personally, this new publisher looks like an excellent opportunity for aspiring kidlit authors.
If you have questions about The Innovation Press, please leave them in the comments and Asia will answer them.
78 comments
Comments feed for this article
April 6, 2017 at 12:37 pm
Tracey M. Cox
Thanks for posting, Tara, and welcome Innovation Press!
April 6, 2017 at 1:16 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you, Tracey!
April 6, 2017 at 12:41 pm
danielledufayet
Thank you for sharing this info, Tara. This looks like an awesome press.
April 6, 2017 at 12:43 pm
billyspicturebookadventures
This looks interesting. Thanks for sharing.
April 6, 2017 at 12:52 pm
Lauri Fortino
You’ve definitely piqued my interest. Innovation Press sounds fantastic! And I love to write fictional stories with elements of nonfiction. I’m excited to visit your website!
April 6, 2017 at 1:17 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you so much, Lauri!
April 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm
Marla
Their books look very nice. Do they accept postcard or email submissions from illustrators?
April 6, 2017 at 1:18 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Hi Marla, you are welcome to email us a link to your portfolio for consideration for upcoming projects!
April 6, 2017 at 12:56 pm
chardixon47
Thank you for sharing, Tara.
April 6, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Sherry Howard
I love this business model! Thanks for sharing this information!
April 6, 2017 at 1:19 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you, Sherry!
April 6, 2017 at 1:07 pm
anitanolan
Thanks for posting!
April 6, 2017 at 1:07 pm
Manju B. Howard (@ManjuBeth)
Thanks for introducing us to a new small press. I like that Innovation Press publishes PBs with intelligent girls and donates to First Book.
April 6, 2017 at 1:18 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you so much, Manju!
April 6, 2017 at 1:34 pm
Jennette Mutolo
Very impressive! “Creativity, diversity, laughter, and learning” are all so important with kids! You’re speaking to my heart 🙂
April 6, 2017 at 3:33 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
🙂 🙂 🙂
April 6, 2017 at 1:40 pm
Rosi Hollinbeck
Thanks for this post!
April 6, 2017 at 1:41 pm
carol
I love Old Tracks New Tricks! Great book filed with amazing illustrations. Thanks for the info on the innovation Press.
April 6, 2017 at 3:34 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Isn’t it such a great book? (We may be slightly biased). 🙂
April 6, 2017 at 1:47 pm
mariaordish
Very exciting! Thank you for the post, Tara. I love their mission! I have a few stories that mix fiction and non-fiction…. will start submitting!
April 6, 2017 at 1:59 pm
Patty Costello
This is very exciting! I have a hybrid fiction and non-fiction picture book manuscript, but it may be a bit young for your audience. It’s ~750 words. Does that sound too short for what you are looking for? Thank you. Patty
April 7, 2017 at 11:05 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Feel free to send over anything you think might be a good fit. It’s hard to say one way or another without looking at it.
April 6, 2017 at 2:29 pm
mariagianferrari
Wow, Asia–your press sounds wonderful! I love how you’re giving back by donating books to the First Book program too! I will be looking for your books!! Thanks so much for sharing, Asia & Tara!!
April 6, 2017 at 3:34 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you so much Maria!
April 6, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Kathy Doherty
I love seeing new publishers come on the scene and learning about the books they publish. Now I’d like to see more bookstores, too!
April 6, 2017 at 2:50 pm
Heather Kinser
They sound like such an intriguing company. I’m in love with their logo (especially the faucet sticking out the side)–it’s a bit of genius.
April 6, 2017 at 3:36 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you Heather!
April 6, 2017 at 3:13 pm
guzinski5@roadrunner.com
How exciting! Tara, we can always count on you to find a diamond in the rough when it comes to PB publishing. Thanks again for keeping everyone informed!
April 6, 2017 at 3:17 pm
KC
Thank you very much for the info, I forwarded them my first Children’s Book pitch.
April 6, 2017 at 3:22 pm
idzalg
Thank you for sharing this information,Tara! I love the fact that Innovation Press is giving back by donating books to First Book.
April 6, 2017 at 4:04 pm
Candy
Thanks for sharing this valuable resource. Should picture book submissions be the entire manuscript?
April 6, 2017 at 6:21 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
First 10 pages is great (sometimes that is the whole manuscript, but for a longer PB, first 10 pages would be perfect). Thank you!
April 6, 2017 at 4:17 pm
Natasha Wing
So excited for my friend, Kristen Foote, for her two new books with you!
April 6, 2017 at 6:22 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
YES! They are SO fun! I hope you’ve gotten to take a peek — we can’t wait to share them with everyone in a few months. 🙂 🙂 🙂
April 6, 2017 at 4:24 pm
Lynnor
Thank you, Tara, and Innovation Press! Thank you for clarifying that illustrators are also allowed to send you a link of our portfolio!
April 6, 2017 at 6:22 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you Lynnor! 🙂
April 6, 2017 at 4:31 pm
Kim Pfennigwerth
Tara this is awesome! Thank you for sharing!
April 6, 2017 at 6:12 pm
Jenna Grodzicki
Tara, thank you for this post! I just submitted a non fiction pb to the Innovation Press after receiving a “favorite” from #PitMad. Their books look fantastic.
April 7, 2017 at 7:30 am
Tara Lazar
Congratulations on the PitMad fave…and good luck!
April 6, 2017 at 7:39 pm
Tracey Brown
Thank you, Tara and Innovation Press.
April 7, 2017 at 11:03 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you Tracey!
April 7, 2017 at 3:36 am
paddedpup
Looks interesting..though I’m not sure if my picture books fits what you guys are looking for. Maybe one day
April 7, 2017 at 6:14 am
melissamiles1
If you are not an author/illustrator, is it okay to sub the complete manuscript of a PB?
April 7, 2017 at 11:04 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
The first 10 pages is great if it’s a longer submission. If the full book fits in 10 pages then you’re good to send the whole thing. I hope that helps!
April 10, 2017 at 11:31 am
melissamiles1
Thank you!
April 7, 2017 at 7:18 am
lynsirota
Very cool! Thanks for posting.
April 7, 2017 at 7:28 am
justcomposeyourself
Thank you so much for the opportunity to learn about your company! I look forward to submitting!
April 7, 2017 at 11:06 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you!
April 7, 2017 at 9:56 am
Janet Smart
This sounds like a great press. I am glad they accept submissions without requiring an agent. Thanks for posting about this. I have a couple of PBs that seem to fit in their guidelines of what they want.
April 7, 2017 at 10:02 am
Janet Smart
I forgot to ask. You said to include the info in an email. Can you send an attachment (if, for example, it is a PB) or do you include everything inside the body of the email?
April 7, 2017 at 11:06 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Either way is fine!
April 7, 2017 at 11:04 am
Kelly Vavala
Thank you for sharing Tara and I wish you the very best Innovation Press!! I love that you donate to First Book! Sounds very impressive and I might just have a manuscript in mind that sounds like it could be a perfect fit, having both NF/Fiction components, if I could only get enough courage ro send it along!!
April 7, 2017 at 11:07 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you Kelly!
April 7, 2017 at 11:08 am
Donna L Martin
Thanks, Tara, for sharing this information with us. Since my debut picture book, THE STORY CATCHER, was published by with small press, I know how awesome this type of working relationship can be and will check out their website. I have a couple of historical fiction chapter books that might be a great fit for their lineup!
Donna L Martin
http://www.donnalmartin.com
April 7, 2017 at 11:40 am
Tim J Knight-Davies
Hello. I do have a few questions. This might not be the place to ask but… I wrote a 2000 word children’s book a few years ago with story lines for 25 others but wasn’t sure how to send anything due to the illustrations. I understand most publishers prefer to pick their own illustrators but would love to talk to someone about these. I set it aside to finish my novel, which I have done, when I found out about The Innovation Press. Is there a number I can call to talk to someone in person?
Thank you for your time.
April 7, 2017 at 4:44 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Sorry, but we don’t offer phone consultations. You are welcome to review our submission guidelines and submit anything you feel might be a good fit.
April 7, 2017 at 11:56 pm
Tim J Knight-Davies
Ok thank you.
April 7, 2017 at 11:57 am
creationsbymit
Thanks so much for sharing, Tara! Innovative Press looks to have a great initial line-up and I love that they donate to First Book! I’ve printed out their submission guidelines as I think they might be a good fit for my work!
April 7, 2017 at 6:25 pm
Heather Stinnett
I’m very excited to see a new book publisher! I’m curious if they take books that teach children character lessons like sharing, asking before they do something and making chores fun? Thanks for this post!
April 7, 2017 at 7:12 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Hi Heather! Yes, we’d be interested in taking a look. 🙂
April 7, 2017 at 7:12 pm
Nancy M.
Welcome ! Innovation Press! I have a rhyming picture book for children that’s fun and quirky. Is that something the press is in the market for?
April 8, 2017 at 10:06 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
We’d be happy to take a look Nancy! 🙂
April 7, 2017 at 9:44 pm
Jean Matthew Hall
Reblogged this on Jean Matthew Hall and commented:
A new publisher of picture books.
April 8, 2017 at 7:28 am
Tina Cho
I’m impressed by the covers of your books and that you’re donating books to First Book!
April 8, 2017 at 10:05 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you Tina!
April 8, 2017 at 1:20 pm
Dorothy Wiese
Thank you Tara and Asia. The Innovation Press sounds as if it’s a winner! I’m happy that you are helping all children to love reading by donating books where they are needed.
April 8, 2017 at 11:41 pm
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you Dorothy!
April 9, 2017 at 5:55 pm
ptnozell
Congratulations on debuting 10 books in your first year & for including book donation in your business plans! Now that’s what I call innovation!
April 10, 2017 at 10:39 am
The Innovation Press (@InnovationPress)
Thank you so much!!!
April 10, 2017 at 3:58 am
Leila Nabih
Thank you for this. I can’t find any submission guidelines for picture book Dummies. Do I send it as an attachment or do I send you a link to download the dummy from? Many thanks.
April 10, 2017 at 2:34 pm
Carol Gordon Ekster
As a former educator, I was so excited to read about this new publisher alert. I have lots of manuscripts to send them! Thanks, Tara. And good luck, Asia, with Innovation Press.
April 10, 2017 at 4:27 pm
Jarm Del Boccio
Thanks for this, Tara! I’ve just submitted!
April 11, 2017 at 2:32 pm
Rachelle
I would like to hear what you think sets you apart from other children’s publishers. What can you do differently? And what do you want to be known for? Thanks.
April 11, 2017 at 11:47 pm
Market Alert: The Innovation Press | One Writer's Journey
[…] of us keep our eyes open for new markets so I was excited to read about The Innovation Press on Tara Lazar’s blog. This small publisher is looking for manuscripts for readers K-5. Does your work fit in this […]
April 20, 2017 at 4:35 pm
Frank Murphy
I am packaging a submission letter and picture book manuscript (TODAY!!) that I have been sitting on – looking for the perfect publisher. I think I found it in The Innovation Press! Books look great! I am excited to get the two upcoming picture book biographies (particularly the Dr. Patricia Bath book!) Fingers crossed!
March 16, 2018 at 10:44 pm
Katy
Is there anywhere to send post cards? I have them on my list to send out to but can’t find where to send them.
January 20, 2019 at 5:51 pm
Gary Garvin
SCBWI recommends addressing queries to an editor. Who would that be at Innovation?
January 25, 2019 at 10:50 am
Tara Lazar
Sorry, Gary, I do not know. –TL