But some things are more specific, and preferences can vary from publisher to publisher. Word count, for example, is something we don’t see too many guidelines on because so much can depend on what a publisher’s goals are.

So let’s talk about what Tu Publishing would like to see in word counts and simultaneous submissions.

Word Counts

First of all, when we say we are not looking for chapter books at this time, we are specifically referring to the “intermediate reader” or “transitional reader” chapter books like Magic Treehouse. They’re shorter books for kids who have just become fluent enough readers for their own independent books, with real chapters. They are not to be confused with “early reader” books, which have fewer words and are targeted to a slightly younger reader than a chapter book. While we love chapter books, for our first few seasons we want to focus more on older readers. There is no such thing as a “YA chapter book.”

Middle grade novels are generally for ages 8–12, or about 3rd grade to 6th or 7th grade. Readers tend to be pretty fluid through publishing categories—a third grader might still be reading picture books for older kids and chapter books while devouring middle grade books, all at the same time. But middle grade novels are a specific section of the bookstore and have specific requirements. That section might be called “Independent Readers” or “Middle Grade” or “Children’s Novels,” depending on the store.

What happens if the book is too long? (Sketch by Howard Tayler)

Generally, middle grade novels are no less than 30–35,000 words at the minimum, and usually a whole lot more words than that. They can range anywhere from 30,000 words to 70,000 words or longer, especially in fantasy. If your “novel” is only 17,000 words, it’s too short. A 90,000 word manuscript might be a touch too long for a middle grade audience unless you’re J.K. Rowling and have already hooked tens of millions of readers with three or four books. Especially given the current economic climate—in which paper and shipping and everything else involved in printing a book is costing more—it’s best to keep a middle grade novel under the 50,000–60,000 word range, because then the design of the book can still be beautiful while keeping the page count relatively low, which ensures that even reluctant readers won’t find the printed book too daunting.

YA novels are for the 12–18 age group—the teen section of the bookstore—and word count might range from 45,000 words on the low end to 100,000 words on the high end. To tell a complex enough story for a sophisticated YA readership, though, 45,000 might be a bit low. However, plenty of really awesome YA writers have done it in that many words, so I wouldn’t rule it out. But again, if your YA book is 17,000 words, it’s either a short story or not finished. Again, remember the economy: too long can be hard to work with, as well. Consider whether your 100,000 word opus might really be two novels in a series or if perhaps some of the subplots might be simplified or saved for another book. If not, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but it’s something to be aware of.

These are all just guidelines, of course—like the Pirate Code, they’re not laws. But if you’ve got a 250,000 word “YA novel,” you’ve actually likely got three to five different books masquerading as one (or just one honking adult novel, depending on the subject matter). If your story is for older readers yet is only 10,000 words long, you’ve got an extremely long short story that will require a different publishing venue.

So far our submissions have adhered to the publishing guidelines quite closely, but clarification is always useful to ensure that writers have the information they need to determine whether their book fits us or not.

Simultaneous Submissions

We accept simultaneous submissions, as stated in our submission guidelines. This means that we don’t mind if you send it out for consideration with other publishers or to agents while you’re submitting it to us. We understand how slow the submissions process can be. In fact, we’re rather slow ourselves, because everyone involved in Tu Publishing is either juggling a day job while we work to launch this on our own time, or a student juggling a full-time load, as our future interns will be doing. We hope someday to be doing this full-time, but understand that our time is limited and we do the best we can.

An actual submissions pile (though not ours)

What this also means is that we’re not asking for exclusives. Don’t tell us in your letter that you’re granting us one for a limited time. It won’t get a submission looked at any faster, and might annoy an editor. “Only so many hours in the day” means exactly that! And given that we are on the hunt for exactly the right titles for our launch season, we’ll probably consider pretty ponderously at first.

It also means that if some other publisher snaps up a project before we’ve had the chance to look at it, we lose it unless the writer lets us know that there’s interest in another quarter. That’s a risk everyone in publishing takes nowadays. We’re willing to take that risk, because only careful consideration will ensure that we have the best projects for our launch season.

We understand that the whole submissions process can be quite nerve-racking and distressing. We understand that each publisher and each agent has different requirements, which makes it confusing sometimes. We want to make sure that writers have all the information they need to be able to feel successful at it, and hope that this information assists in the process.