Updated July 2022: They specifically encourage submissions of Canadian authors. They don’t officially prohibit submissions from non Canadians, but we’ve removed them from listings because of this emphasis/focus.
Red Deer Press is a small press based out of Canada. They focus on publishing children’s books. They publish books for a whole range of ages starting with picture books and culminating with young adult books. Their books have good covers, are generally well reviewed, and have good distribution.
Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd. is the parent press of Red Deer Press. Back in 2011 they got into trouble for issues stemming from a problematic contract with a Red Deer author. You can read details of this situation here.
Since that time there have been no updates that I can find and no additional negative information. I assume that the situation was corrected and the contract was amended, but I think that any contract should be closely examined, and you should keep that in mind when approaching this publisher particularly. But it is also good to remember that this situation happened seven years ago at this point, and the individuals involved may no longer even be with the company.
They accept submissions through mail and email only. They ask that all authors only submit one manuscript at a time. Picture books must be submitted without original art. Picture books should be submitted in their entirety. For fiction they ask that you submit a query letter or three sample chapters (which is unusual, most presses want both of these things). For non-fiction submissions, submit a query letter or sample chapters with outline.
To learn more go here.
