UPDATED August 2024: They have not been open to unsolicited submissions for over two years now. Their phrasing implies they may reopen someday, but we are removing them from the guide and they will not be added to lists going forward.
Kane Miller is an award winning publisher of educational children’s books. In 2019 they bought Boyds Mills from Highlights. There was talk of re-branding as Boyds Mills & Kane, but it does not appear to be happening.
They have good distribution, their books are widely available at libraries, and they generally do an excellent job.
Their website is easy to navigate and there is a lot of content there, so I really encourage you to look through it before submitting to them.
They are open to unsolicited submissions and try to respond within 8 to 10 weeks. They ask that you do not query about the status of your submission.
They are currently focused on expanding their picture book list and are interested in stories with engaging characters. They specify that they are especially interested in those with particularly American subjects. They also consider board books, activity books, gift books, and series fiction. They are not interested in holiday themed books or any book that has been previously self-published.
They only accept submissions via email. They do not open any attachments, so include all the requested information in the body of the email. They are also open to art submissions.
To read their full submission guidelines go here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, The 2019 Guide to Manuscript Publishers, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The Authors Publish Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Publishing.
She occasionally teaches a course on manuscript publishing, as well as a course on publishing in literary journals.
