I’ve recently (April 2021) been seeing a lot of noise for one of this indie publishers latest book ‘Setsuko, Song of the Sea’ by Fiona Barker & Howard Gray. All of which looks so well deserved, beautifully illustrated and sounds perfect.
Another northern publisher which is always positive, and a children’s book specialist, sounds like my favourite kind of publisher. Will definitely be looking into seeing some of these books in the ‘flesh’.
Website: www.tinytreebooks.com
Facebook: @tinytreebooks
Twitter: @tinytreebooks
Instagram: @tinytreebooks
In their own words…
When did you start publishing?
Tiny Tree Children’s Books was established in 2016, but we had published a small amount of children’s picture books before the imprint was officially launched.
What made you want to start an independent publisher?
We started Tiny Tree because James Shaw, our managing director, had not long had his first son and wanted to begin publishing picture books. From there, we grew into the publisher we are today.
What genres do you specialise in?
I suppose you could say that Tiny Tree specialises in children’s picture books but, more recently, we have grown to publish chapter books and middle grade novels for older children.
Where are you based?
We are based in Marple — a small town outside of Stockport in Greater Manchester.
Do you have a submission window, if so when?
Our submission window is always open and we would love to hear from you. All we ask is that you follow the submission guidelines on our website.
What is your submission procedure?
We ask that all prospective authors and illustrators send through one manuscript or portfolio at a time. Once this is received, we aim to provide an answer within six weeks. However, this timescale can change depending on our schedule. If we decide we like your work, we’ll have a conversation to discuss the next steps.
You do not need an agent to submit your work to us either, but we do welcome submissions from those with representation too.
Who are you (team photo if possible)?
Tiny Tree is James Shaw and Anthony Barlow. James is our managing director and editor. He handles editorial decisions and design work for the vast majority of our books. Anthony is our marketing manager. He runs our social media, books our events and works with bookshops to stock our books.
What was your background in the book industry before this venture?
James grew up in publishing. Matthew James Publishing — our parent company — was a family business and he continues to operate that today. Anthony had previously worked as a journalist and events organiser prior to publishing.
Talk about some of your books if possible, upcoming, favourite?
Our latest book is ‘Setsuko and the Song of the Sea’ — a picture book by Fiona Barker and Howard Gray. We also have ‘A Tiger Named Lee’ by Sinéad Murphy and Shannon Cresham coming in June and have a brand new series, D.M. Mullan’s Curious Tales, launching in July.
