Epic Creators
As the only children’s publisher with a background in traditional storytelling, we know how to recognise, develop and/or nurture authors and illustrators who produce books that young readers eagerly enjoy from start to finish.
But we also know that, today, being a children’s author or illustrator isn’t just about sitting at a desk alone, then waiting in hope for some fan mail to arrive. Young readers engage with books even more when given
the chance to engage with creators – and we’re the only publisher that trains its creators to feel confident delivering engaging school and festival visits.
Storytelling Class Options
Submit
To Us
Send your writing and/or illustrations for consideration to be an Epic publication.
Epic Children’s Author Course
Learn the essential components of children’s story, and hone your “writer’s voice”.
Epic Storytelling
Creator Course
Gain the tools and the confidence to begin sharing stories with live audiences.
Submissions Guidelines
By ‘similar works’, we don’t necessarily mean genre, plot, or characters. Rather we mean target age range and story length. Note that most titles in the Fables & Fairy Tales series are minianthologies, containing stories of approximately 3,000 words each (though some are as short as 800 words, and others as long as 7,000!).
And when we say ‘the style we look for’, you’ll hopefully soon pick up on the techniques our creators use to engage and excite their readers. Our ethos is all about inspiring and empowering our readers, and this ethos is embedded at all levels: theme, plot, character, writer’s voice, detail, illustrations, etc.
After reading one or two of our titles, if you still think Epic will be interested in your work, go ahead and send it in during one of our submission windows! If you’re not sure… feel free to send it in anyway! Our editors might spot its potential – though it may be worth giving it a little edit before you do. And if you’d like to make extra sure, consider signing up to our Epic Children’s Writer Course.
Don’t worry if your story isn’t finished, or your artwork doesn’t have a plot yet. We’re happy to receive incomplete work, and may provide support to get it to completion.
Author Guidelines
When you choose to submit, make sure you…
- don’t feel you need to be/have an illustrator. If we think/agree your work needs illustrating, but you’re not an illustrator yourself, we will help you find one.
- only submit during a submission window. Any submissions received outside of this time are automatically deleted without being read.
- prepare a synopsis of up to 800 words. Tell us all the elements of your main plot, including the ending and any surprise twists – though only include the moments in any subplots that have a significant impact on the main plot. NB: Even if you haven’t finished your story yet, try to give us a sense of where it’s going.
- prepare to send the start of your story, up to 3,000 words. We always want to see how your story starts, to envision how it might capture reader interest.
- use the form below. We won’t accept submissions via any other contact form on this website, nor via email (unless we invite you to). This is partly so we can check how well you pay attention…
- copy and paste your synopsis and story extracts into the appropriate fields. The File Upload option is for illustrations only. If formatting is required for any part of your extract that can’t be achieved with the formatting tools in our form, please note this in the comments field.
Illustrator Guidelines
When you choose to submit, make sure you…
- don’t feel you need to be/have an author. If we love your work, we may ask you to illustrate the work of another of our creators.
- only submit during a submission window. Any submissions received outside of this time are automatically deleted without being read.
- prepare an example of up to three ‘action scenes’. As our resident illustrator Korky Paul says, “The best illustrations always show a character doing something.
- if your illustrations accompany a story, read the Author Guidelines above also. You don’t need to submit an extract, but we’d still like to see a synopsis.
- use the form below. We won’t accept submissions via any other contact form on this website, nor via email (unless we invite you to). This is partly so we can check how well you pay attention…