So You Want to Be a Published Author . . .
Scholastic Australia publishes books for children under three publishing imprints – Scholastic Press, Omnibus Books and Scholastic Australia. At this time ONLY Omnibus Books is accepting the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. Omnibus has published many award-winning authors whose work has come via the unsolicited pile and will continue to read and assess ALL unsolicited work very carefully. However, please note that, owing to the many hundreds of submissions received, the guidelines have now been changed.
Please note our office is closed during the Christmas and New Year break. Please DO NOT send manuscripts from December 1st through to January 31st.
Current Status: All submissions received up to and including 30 April 2013 have now been read. If you have not heard from us, your submission has been unsuccessful.
Omnibus is no longer able to return manuscripts, regardless of whether or not they include self-addressed stamped envelopes, so please do not include one.
ALL submissions will be read carefully, however, only those writers whose work is considered successful will be contacted.
Do not contact the Omnibus office to enquire whether or not a manuscript has arrived or the progress of the submission. If you include your return address on your work the post office will return it if it does not reach the Omnibus office.
If you have not heard from the Omnibus office within three months it is safe to assume the work has not been successful.
Only one manuscript per person will be accepted in any three-month period. Further work submitted in that time will NOT BE READ.
All manuscripts that are rejected will be disposed of within a secure paper recycling system.
If you send us a previously published or printed book as part of your submission, these will be donated to charity.
If your manuscript is accepted for publication, we will contact you. At that time we will fully explain the editorial and publishing process and your involvement in it.
Please submit a complete manuscript, not a synopsis or sample chapters in hard copy only. Omnibus does NOT accept email submissions.
Manuscripts should be typed with double spacing and printed double sided. Picture book texts must be presented on no more than two A4 sheets. If a picture book is any longer than this, it is not a picture book. Please DO NOT MAKE A DUMMY.
Work not set out as requested will not be read.
Please accompany your submission with a brief cover letter.
All submissions should include your phone number and email address in order to facilitate a quick response should you be successful.
Please do not include your CV in your submission.
Pages must be numbered and contain your name.
Please do not include an electronic version of your manuscript (USB or CD).
For a picture book, send only the text. If we offer you a contract we will be responsible for finding an illustrator.
Multiple submissions are not acceptable.
Please send your manuscript to one publisher at a time.
Please DO NOT SEND REGISTERED POST OR EXPRESS POST. Not only does this incur an unnecessary cost to you it actually slows down the receipt of your work.
There is absolutely no advantage in sending your submission with a cover letter from an Assessment Agency. We highly recommend that applicants avoid this expensive process completely, as the letters make no difference whatsoever in our final decision on whether work will be published or not.
Please send your submissions to:
The Senior Editor
Omnibus Books
175-177 Young Street
Parkside SA 5063
Australia
Don't be too surprised or disappointed if your first attempts are not successful. Children's book publishing is a highly competitive field, and writing children's books is not quite as easy as some might imagine. But we are always ready to find the next Harry Potter or Paddington Bear, so if you believe you can write it, we're ready to hear from you!
So You Want to Be a Picture Book Illustrator . . .
If you would like to show us samples of your work, the best way is to send your portfolio direct to the Art Director.
Your portfolio should consist of a few print outs in colour or black and white in A4 size. Do not send original artwork. Send a variety of samples that show the best of your style and subject matter. Please send a cover letter with some basic information about yourself, including contact details. Materials will not be returned. Please therefore ensure that you have copies.
Please be aware that we receive hundreds of submissions each week. We prefer to look carefully at the samples and reply with appropriate comments to those we consider publishable. This takes time and so it is not unusual that it takes up to 6 months to reply to artists in some cases.
If you are interested in sending us your sample portfolio, please address it to:
Patricia Howes
Art Director
Omnibus Books
175-177 Young Street
Parkside SA 5063
