Mango & Marigold Press: Market Spotlight
For this market spotlight, we look at Mango & Marigold, a children’s book publishing house focused on stories with protagonists of South Asian origin.
Founded in 2014, Mango & Marigold Press is a children's book publishing house. They create board books, illustrated books, early readers, and "art series texts"—all with protagonists of South Asian origin.
The editors say, "With the impending birth of her oldest child, founder Sailaja Joshi searched for books about her Indian culture. Upon reading the few stories that existed, Sailaja realized that many of them were inappropriate or worse, insensitive. Sailaja knew the power of representation and set out to change home libraries. We began with releasing Hanuman and the Orange Sun. And we saw the magic of kids seeing themselves firsthand."
A few recent titles include Always Anjali, Finding Om, and Bindiya in India.
What They're Looking For
Mango & Marigold Press looks for picture books, illustrated books, and early readers with protagonists of South Asian origin.
The editors add, "We love stories that help to tell the stories of the South Asian experience, whether it be from the perspective of the diaspora, religion, or home country. We look for stories that are own voices and encourage both authors and illustrators to submit their work."
How to Submit
Potential authors can submit to CEO Sailaja Joshivia via email to hello@mangoandmarigoldpress.com. Queries should include a hook, summary (including target age), social media stats and marketing information, and biographical information.
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In this Writer's Digest Boot Camp starting June 22, the agents of P.S. Literary Agency will show you how to make your submission stand out. How do you write a children's book with commercial appeal? How do you decide what category and genre your book belongs in? How do you find agents and publishers to submit your manuscript to? How can you attract both child and adult readers (and buyers)? The agent instructors will answer these questions—and more! They will also critique your work and answer any questions you have about writing and selling books for children.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
