Before You Hit Send: What Our Submissions Inbox Teaches Us (and What We Want Next)
Every day our submissions inbox brings us stories from writers all over the world, and reading them is one of the great pleasures of the job. Sadly, many are turned down within the first few pages. Usually that has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. The book simply was never right for Lantana.
This post covers the most common reasons we say no, how to give your manuscript its best chance, and the new formats we are now actively looking for.
Why submissions get turned down
Most of the rejections we send come down to one thing: the author has not read our mission statement. These are the issues we see most often.
Animals as the main characters. Lantana publishes books with children at the centre of the story. However charming your fox or penguin may be, an animal protagonist will not fit our list.
Chapters with no context. A few chapters arriving on their own, with no blurb or explanation, leave us guessing what the book is about and where it is going.
Manuscripts that are far too long. Word counts matter. If we are looking for a middle grade story of 30,000 to 40,000 words, we will not read an 85,000 word manuscript.
Files with no information about the author. A manuscript sent with nothing else tells us nothing about who you are or why you are the right person to tell this story.
How to give your submission its best chance
A little preparation goes a long way. Before you send anything, work through these steps.
Read our About page. It explains who we are, why we exist and what kind of stories we champion.
Browse our books. Looking at what we have already published is the quickest way to judge whether your book belongs alongside them.
Read our submission guidelines thoroughly. This is the most important step. Take your time, because a rushed submission is often a wasted one.
Put everything in one document. When you are ready, combine your bio, your synopsis and your manuscript into a single file. Then you are ready to send.
Lantana is growing
Now for the exciting part. Lantana is widening its list, and we are looking for submissions in three new formats: board books, young adult and teen fiction, and lower middle grade.
Board books
Our very first board book comes out next spring, and we want to build on it. Here is what we are hoping to find.
Vehicles, always. You can never have too many vehicle books. They appeal across genders and age ranges, and the demand never goes away. Just remember that our books still need children as the main characters and an important message at their heart.
Photographs for babies. For the youngest readers we prefer photo-based books, and diversity is a must.
Siblings. We would love stories that explore the relationships between brothers and sisters.
Everyday milestones. Starting daycare, moving to a new home, having a parent who is unwell, and visiting the doctor or hospital are all topics we need.
Go gently with anthropomorphism. Be careful about giving human traits to plants, rocks and other objects. How far you take it should depend on the age of the reader.
I look forward to receiving your diverse, photo-based baby book about visiting the doctor in a new town during the first week of daycare. Admittedly, that is a tall order for a short book!
Young adult and teen fiction
Over the past decade the young adult category has stretched very wide, and we believe there is not enough fiction or non-fiction written specifically for teenagers aged 13 to 17. We want to change that. We are especially keen on stories about:
growing up in disadvantaged or lower income neighbourhoods
dealing with heavy periods
thriving in sport
teens caring for nature and looking after animals
Lower middle grade
We are also looking for stories for children who are just starting to read on their own. These should be shorter, simply written and richly illustrated: books young readers can really sink their teeth into.
Over to you
If your story fits, we would love to read it. Check our website, read the guidelines carefully, send everything in one document, and help us find the books that will put more children on the page.
Explore our other editorial insights and stories here!
