Thank you for taking an interest in Marble Press! We are an independent, traditional publishing house offering advances and royalties to writers and illustrators.
We publish juvenile, literary, and commercial fiction books, picture books, early-middle-grade books, (early readers), middle grade novels and graphic novels and YA novels. We are interested in narrative nonfiction and books that challenge traditional forms.
From October 26th 2023, Marble Press is only accepting manuscripts from represented authors and author-illustrators. We will read from established authors as well as new talents.
AGENTS: Please, send PB and MG manuscripts by email to michael.green@marblepress.com Send YA to jodi.keller@marblepress.com
UNREPRESENTED (Closed temporarily) authors and illustrators, please send email to submission@marblepress.com.
Please, name your submitted file properly: YourName-TitleOfYourStory, E.g.: JaneDoe-TheThreeLittlePigs.docx. Don’t forget to add your personal details (your name, email, website, telephone number) and your story’s details (title, word count, genre) at the top of the manuscript. See more details below. Please, no rhyming picture books, unless you are an accomplished poet. We value good storytelling, rich plot and intriguing characters over clumsy rhymes.
TRANSLATION RELATED: (STILL OPEN) We are looking for foreign books to publish. Please send your proposal to translation@marblepress.com We accept proposals from scouts and translators.
Send us charming, character-driven stories that delve into the wonderful complexities of a young child’s world.
Send us humorous, quirky, and/or out-of-the-box stories. We have been known to enjoy a bit of absurdist, nonsensical humor once or thrice. Subtle humor is fun, too.
We love non-clichéd stories about the everyday lives of children. This may include family matters, adapting to the evolving changes in society, and themes of culture and diversity.
We want to read adventure-filled journeys, including magic or mystery, where the main characters have a potent and substantial arc.
We are looking for uplifting, emotionally gripping stories about love, resilience and encouragement.
In general, we enjoy reading about other cultures, countries, and traditions as well as transformational stories, and stories about making a difference.
We are interested in both early-readers (5 to 8-year olds) and middle-grade novels and graphic novels.
We are interested in early-reader series, including graphic novel formats. We want to build long-term relationships with our writers and illustrators.
After two years of living with the pandemic, it is time for a fresh take on life. Help us make middle-schoolers laugh, cry, and fall in love with reading again.
There is always a place for relatable, compassionate stories about middle-school fun and hardship.
We want to read adventure-filled journeys, including magic or mystery, in which the main characters have a potent and substantial arc.
Share your uplifting stories about love, resilience, and ingenuity.
We are always looking for commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction, graphic novels and graphic nonfiction.
Here is our WISH LIST:
JODI KELLER:
Character-driven: Characters that stay with us long after we’ve turned the last page. Characters teens will want to follow, wherever their story takes us, whether the setting is contemporary, historical, or fantasy
Talk to us: We’re looking for voices that are raw, honest, and real. We want to be moved, always up for a good cry. Wry humor is also a plus.
Mirrors and windows: Stories that reflect that complex lives teens are leading, one they can take comfort in, and know they’re not alone. And ones that open their eyes to other experiences, whether that’s present day, historical, or another world entirely.
Contemporary fiction that speaks to the range of issues teens face today in an authentic way without being message-driven.
Historical fiction that brings the past to life in a way that reminds us some experiences are universal. It might shed new light on famous figures we thought we knew, or have a unique take on pivotal time periods.
Fantasy that stretches our imagination, at once magical and familiar/accessible.
MICHAEL GREEN:
My taste in YA tends toward the literary standalone, and voice is the first attribute I look for. Like so many editors in the business, I’m interested in reaching the John Green/Laurie Halse Anderson/Adam Silvera audience. Compelling stories, believably told, achingly resonant.
Online submissions only. Send emails to submission@marblepress.com.
Put PB or MG or YA and your book title in the subject line. Don’t send more than three manuscripts at a time, and keep at least a three-month period break between submissions, unless you receive a request to submit other stories.
Your query should contain:
1. Title of the book, a concise elevator pitch, word count, and age range.
2. For MG and older audiences provide a 1-5 page synopsis. The synopsis should include:
– a summary of the main plot with the subplots and plot twists from the first chapter to the last one,
– a short description of your primary and secondary characters.
For PB or board book submissions, skip point 2.
3. A bio that describes your occupation, publishing history, your website/social media links, and any other information relevant to your submission, e.g., a few sentences about what inspired you to write the book. Please indicate if it is a non-exclusive submission.
4. A listing of three comparative books published in the last six years. A few sentences describing how your book is similar or different.
Both for PB, MG, and YA, e-mail your query letter and attach your full manuscript as a Word document.
Email your query letter and send a the manuscript as a Word document. For bigger files, like a dummy use a link. For a picture book dummy, we’d love to see at least five fully illustrated pages and six additional pages of sketches. Ideally, we’d love to see the full dummy sketched out with some finished, colored pages.
In the case of graphic novels, we want to read your synopsis, the whole manuscript, and see a minimum of ten pages of sketches.
We accept illustrators’ work for consideration. E-mail or provide a link to a low-resolution postcard/pdf with your best works and a connection to your portfolio to: submission@marblepress.com.
Put artist to the subject line. Please, don’t send files bigger than 3Mb.
The three key elements we are looking for in portfolios are characters, environments, and sequential work.
As a publisher of juvenile books, our target audiences for illustrated books are:
6 months to 3-year-olds (board books),
4 to 8-year-olds (picture books), and
8 to 12-year-olds (middle-grade books).
We want to see diverse children engaging in different activities and expressing various emotions. It is also nice to see adults, and some animals. Besides the characters, we are interested in seeing how you tackle drawing environments, from a child’s room or a kitchen to fantastical surroundings like or a dragon’s den. Any interior, room (pick your favorite), a city/town street, a forest or park scene, and some fairy tale environments with or without characters will do. As books need visual consistency, sequential works are appreciated.
If you are into creating conceptual pieces, we would love to see those.
We look forward to seeing your work!
We give careful consideration to each submission, and we’ll respond to queries within six to eight weeks. Due to the high volume of submissions, we are only able to respond to those submissions in which we are interested.
We don’t require exclusive submissions, but ask that you notify us by e-mail if you sell your book to another publisher.
