Smaller publishing houses that accept unagented MG fantasy?

t0dd

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I've written a MG fantasy book that I'd like to publish. So far the agents whom I've queried either said "No, thank you" (though politely) or haven't replied yet. So I'm thinking of finding a publishing house that accepts unagented material (and is open to MG fantasy) - most likely one of the smaller ones.

Does anyone here know which publishing houses fit those qualifications?
 

Ferret

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Agent Query has a list of small publishers with descriptions and links. Just follow the link at the top, under publishing. http://agentquery.com/default.aspx

Also, if no agents are biting, there might be a problem with your query or opening pages. I strongly suggest that you post in the SYW section. You'll need 50 posts before you can do that.
 

clare

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t0dd

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Thanks for the replies. None of them seemed the right fit for my book, though.

There are a few agents I haven't heard from yet (one I e-mailed a query to yesterday morning), so I'll wait to see if they say "yes" or not.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Start with the biggest house that will read it. There's no point in underselling your book, or yourself.
 

t0dd

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Thanks, James - only the problem is that I don't have an agent yet, and almost all the publishing houses I know of that handle middle grade fantasy fiction won't accept unagented material.
 

Ferret

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How many agents have you queried? You should be able to find around a hundred or so that do MG fantasy. If you haven't worked through all of them yet, I strongly suggest that you post in SYW, get some feedback, and then send out another batch of queries.

Added: You'll need 50 posts before you start a thread in SYW, but that's easy. Do some critiques. Join some conversations. It's a great site, so your time won't be wasted.
 
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t0dd

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Approximately 20. Most said "No, thank you". A couple seemed interested, but then I never heard from them again. Most of the ones I most recently queried never replied at all.
 

Ferret

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A couple seemed interested, but then I never heard from them again.

They seemed interested? Do you mean they requested fulls or partials? Some agents take a long time to get back on those, so you might just need to wait a while longer.

Twenty agents isn't all that many. I think you should keep trying to find one, especially since you're having trouble finding suitable publishers that take unagented submissions.
 

t0dd

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They requested partials; I sent them; they never replied. And that was a couple of years ago.

I've done more searching through AgentQuery, but I've gone through most of the agents it lists as interested in middle grade fantasy and actively seeking clients; the bulk of those who remain were ones whose profiles didn't suggest a good fit for my book.
 

Ferret

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I'm querying a MG Fantasy now and I've found a lot of agents who represent it. My suggestion remains the same. Get fifty posts, post in SYW, and query some more. I don't have anything against small publishers that accept unagented work, but you haven't found any you like, and an agent can help a lot. It's a hard process, but don't give up too early. Good luck!
 

clare

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I am querying MG Fantasy too- I've found 194 agents accepting queries. Even if you only query one at each agency, and you skip a few who you don't think you'd like, you could still do 100, easily. And since so much time has passed, you can certainly re-query those same 30 agents- especially if you get your query letter looking great and get some feedback on your manuscript. Take Ferret's advice; don't give up!
 

suki

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Thanks, James - only the problem is that I don't have an agent yet, and almost all the publishing houses I know of that handle middle grade fantasy fiction won't accept unagented material.

You say you don't have an agent yet. If you have decided to stop querying agents and start looking at publishers directly, then I'd agree with James and don't limit yourself to small publishers - look around for all publishers who might accept unagented MG submissions.

BUT, if you still think you'd like an agent, you should not query publishers directly at the same time or before you continue querying agents. The reason being, you could burn through publishing houses and then find an agent, but leave that agent with no where to shop the book. Many agents are very turned off if a manuscript has been shopped around to publishers before they've seen it.

So, if you've decided to pursue publishers, then do so. But if you still hope to query agents, wait to query any publishers until you've exhausted your list of prospective agents.

~suki
 
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ruecole

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20 agents! You've barely got your toes wet! :e2thud:

Just because an agent doesn't say they're interested in your sort of book, doesn't mean they're not! Query every agent that accepts fantasy (and even those who don't specifically say NO FANTASY). Seriously.

Hope that helps!

Rue
 

jvc

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I agree with Ferret. When you reach the 50 posts, you might want to post the first chapter and your query over in the SYW forum. It certainly wouldn't hurt getting some feedback. And you really haven't subbed to that many agents yet, sometimes it takes a lot more than 20 subs before you find an agent that falls in love with your book. My advice would be to keep submitting to agents instead of publishers for the moment.

BUT, if you still think you'd like an agent, you should not query publishers directly at the same time or before you continue querying agents. The reason being, you could burn through publishing houses and then find an agent, but leave that agent with no where to shop the book. Many agents are very turned off if a manuscript has been shopped around to publishers before they've seen it.

So, if you've decided to pursue publishers, then do so. But if you still hope to query agents, wait to query any publishers until you've exhausted your list of prospective agents.

~suki
And what Suki said, too :)
 

t0dd

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Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've been mostly relying on AgentQuery for the names of agents who would be interested in middle-grade fantasy, though my most recent query - to Shawna McCarthy (I haven't heard back from her yet; of course, I only sent the query a couple of days ago) - came from seeing her acknowledged as the agent for "Under the Green Hill" by Laura Sullivan, which I'd recently read and enjoyed. I decided that if she'd agented a book that made it out onto the shelves at the bookstore, she must be good at her job, and "Under the Green Hill" was in the same genre as my own book.

I'll keep the "seek out an agent first" advice in mind.

Eighth post - only forty-two more before I can try the SYW forum.
 

abctriplets

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Keep in mind that most agents rep, what, a 100 writers? I'm not sure, that's probably on the upper end, especially for new agents (who are more willing to take queries). So that means in all of the thousands of books that have passed their way, they have only fallen in love with 100 of them (and perhaps less, since some writers might have gotten passed down to them through the agency). So it might take a while to find an agent who'll fall in love with your story.
 

K.L Hallam

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I'm in the boat of having gone thru just about every agent out there, and while I've had some critiques from agents, it seems most R's have bee about taste, without disregarding it outright. Also, every beta (in my genre) who's read my ms has either loved it, or very close. And I still love it. "sniff" My next step is to begin submitting to small presses, while I work on another ms, and query a scifi MG. Thanks for this list. And while I'm here, a list of favorite small presses from agents at Forward: http://forewordliterary.com/2013/08/small-presses-and-the-interwebz/
 
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Tromboli

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Sounds to me like you need to expand your research. Send to all reputable agents who accept MG. Almost all agents who do MG will also do fantasy. There are a few who don't but you can find that out in their bio/wishlist on their website. I'm not sure what you're looking for that you've only found 20 agents, but I guarantee there are more. Keep agent seeking and keep revising. MG is harder than most categories to publish with small press publishers (though not impossible) MG readers buy from bookstores and get from libraries more than the internet (small press + self publishing's main venue) so I suggest you keep fighting for that agent. Good luck :)
 
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Debbie V

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Sounds to me like you need to expand your research. Send to all reputable agents who accept MG. Almost all agents who do MG will also do fantasy. Good luck :)

What Tromboli said. Also, if that fails, some of the big houses have imprints that are open to unsolicited subs. Check them all.

However, if you aren't getting hits from your query or partials. The problem may be in your writing. Send both to SYW or ask for beta readers. Continuing to try to sell something that isn't in the best shape does you no good.

Meanwhile, work on the next story.