Educational Publishers: What Can a Catalog Tell You?

 It's a good idea to collect catalogs if you want to write for the educational market. A catalog can tell you a lot about a publisher. Ask your local librarian or a school librarian if they have extra catalogs you can have. Publishers send new catalogs out about twice a year. Most media specialists and teachers have a stack of them somewhere waiting for the trash can. Or you can contact the publisher and ask them to send you one. The will be happy to oblige.

Take a look at your catalog and answer these questions:

1. Is it arranged by subject or grade level?

     A. Check to see how high and how low the reading levels are.

     B. If they’re arranged by subject, are they arranged by grade level within the subject?

               *This tells you the range of books they will be interested in.

2. Are there separate imprints? If so, what characterizes each imprint?

               *This may help you hone your interest in writing for their line of books.

3. Are the books published in series of titles or single titles?

              *If they only publish series, they are probably not interested in seeing a manuscript for a stand-alone book.

4. Look at some of the sets. Are all the titles by the same author or a variety?

             *If all books in the set are by the same author, it’s unlikely they would accept a proposal for another book in that set by a different author.

5. What is the last date a title was added to the set?

             *This will tell you whether they are continuing to add to this set.

6. What leveling information is available?

             *If they have included AR, as well as GRL, they are probably targeting the classroom, as well as the library market.  (We'll talk about leveling next week, so don't fret it you don't get it yet.)

7. Have any of the books won awards?

             *Maybe yours will.