what I’m looking for
I acquire for Roaring Brook Press and I’m eager for submissions from creators of marginalized identities. I’m looking for strong storytelling across all age ranges and genres. I want stories that readers will carry with them long after reading. More specifically, here’s what I’m most interested in:
picture books
for fiction and nonfiction: a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end
expressive, commercial art across all genres
sister stories, especially about middle children
trees, gardens, flowers, or forests with lush, saturated illustrations
a New Orleans story by someone from New Orleans
what I’m not looking for
I’m not the right editor for:
chapter books
anthologies
circus stories
time travel set in our world (unless it’s used for hijinks in a picture book)
sports- or music-focused novels (unless they’re thrillers or horror)
middle grade
a gothic boarding school mystery
speculative fiction exploring difficult truths
a childhood game of make-believe turned real, with supernatural elements, high stakes, and lots of emotion
young adult
atmospheric, unsettling ghost stories and fairy tales
epic fantasy stories with thoughtful worldbuilding and complex characters
all things southern gothic
messy characters making huge mistakes
more favorite elements: life-defining friendship, monsters, sweeping romance, revenge, heists, stolen identity, an unreliable narrator