Jolly Fish Press

[K.L Hallam]

Thanks, Undercover. BTW, your website looks like a great resource for finding publishers. Thanks for that too.

[dascmom]

Last week I got a request for the full manuscript of my Middle Grade LGBTQ Fiction and I sent it early this week. Karen Lee, have you received a response on your full request yet?

Also, I read through much of this thread to get a feeling for the closing and the "resurrection" of JFP. Is there any more information on how JFP authors are doing with the new ownership? THANKS!!

[MurderOfCrows]

Well, I met with one of their agents - before I knew they'd shut down their adult line - and they were very receptive and professional. Very good meeting, very positive - interested in manuscript once the adult line's back on it's feet.

I think they're really making a come back, but they're streamlining their YA/MG offerings before moving on to resurrecting the adult line.

[Filigree]

I'll keep an eye on them, then. I was very interested in querying for their adult fantasy line, but then the closure/sale/trade/whatever happened, and it was pretty clear they were going to be YA/MG for a while.

[K.L Hallam]

Last week I got a request for the full manuscript of my Middle Grade LGBTQ Fiction and I sent it early this week. Karen Lee, have you received a response on your full request yet?

Also, I read through much of this thread to get a feeling for the closing and the "resurrection" of JFP. Is there any more information on how JFP authors are doing with the new ownership? THANKS!!

I have not. They asked me to send to the editorial dept. with a link and I sent it in another email but received NO confirmation, so I'm kind of wondering ... (because I worry) if they ever got it. They asked for the Full on Jan. 10th. Just here, waiting and querying my YA project.

Any idea what their submission response times are? QT doesn't show much action in the data. And best of luck to you, dascmom. Mine is MG, STEM related. I've foun very little information on them. I do follow on Twitter.

[Undercover]

North Star Editions bought them out, as some of you may know. They've amped up Jollyfish's books with promotions and adding them on Netgalley, which I think it a super great sign. I had my last book on Netgalley which got me quite a bit of reviews. I know they get pro reviews too like Kirkus, School Library Journal and Publisher's Weekly.

They also own Flux and I recently accepted a book deal with them and they've been awesome. Very professional, timely on everything. I talked to a Jollyfish author and a Flux author and both are very pleased. They sent one author to the ALA Midwinter in January, all expenses paid. They do a ton of promoting too.

As far as I know they got rid of their adult line. I read something somewhere and it sounds like they got rid of it for good and are just focusing on YA and MG. YA family friendly for Jollyfish and YA with Flux for more dark edgy titles.

[MurderOfCrows]

As far as I know they got rid of their adult line. I read something somewhere and it sounds like they got rid of it for good and are just focusing on YA and MG. YA family friendly for Jollyfish and YA with Flux for more dark edgy titles.

I can say for the fact that some of their editors are fighting to get the adult line back, since it literally came from their lips to my ears in person, right after I pitched a book to them. So yes, for now MG/YA, but this could change.

[K.L Hallam]

Thanks so much Undercover and Congratulations on the book deal.

[dascmom]

Thanks for this information. I am excited about Jolly Fish Press, but have a feeling I may be in for a long wait on my MG full request. I didn't receive an email to let me know that my full manuscript was received, and I have since sent another more updated version, as I spent the weekend polishing it again. No response to this email, either. (I'm a little compulsive when it comes to editing.) I will post when I receive a response to my full manuscript submission. Good luck KL- I hope you hear soon- please post! And congrats Undercover on your book deal!

[Vixin]

Pitched to them at a writing conference, not knowing they weren't doing adult stuff anymore. Had an interesting conversation with their managing editor- said if I could market my novel (130k high fantasy) as YA and it was family friendly enough to be YA, they could accept it and look at it. Luckily for me, two of my main characters are teenagers/young adults, have a harry potter-esque situation, have a lot of teen angst/drama, and help save the world. I could definitely see it marketed as YA, and I'm looking forward for them to review my MS.

[K.L Hallam]

Thanks, dascmom. I will let you know what happens. I just read on QT they take " a loooong time" to respond. Well, they are reading full MSs and making marketing decisions. Good luck to you. Keep us all posted about your experience. Thanks!

[K.L Hallam]

I did email after three months and they said they were still in the process of reviewing my MS. fingers crossed! Good Luck, dascmom.

[bethanyr32]

I sent them a query for a YA novel at the beginning of March and just got a reply back with a request for the full MS. So that was about 5 weeks from query to request.

I am curious if anyone has info on how things have progressed with Jollly Fish Press after the sale; they were on my to-query list before that all went down. Publicly it looks like they're back to business as normal, now that the dust has settled. Sure hope so...

[K.L Hallam]

Congratulations on the submissions bethanyr32 I'm still waiting. My full was sent Jan. 10th.

[bethanyr32]

I figured the full would take a while, but still, that's good to know that it may be quite a few months. Congrats on your request, and good luck to you too, K.L. Hallam.

[K.L Hallam]

aIt's a month later nd I'm still waiting. I've already used my nudge card. What if they've forgotten me? I have another ms on sub with two agents. All the suspense is maddening. Good luck out there! And please, as there's little info online, update any of your dealings with Jolly Fish.

Still hanging on!

[Undercover]

aIt's a month later nd I'm still waiting. I've already used my nudge card. What if they've forgotten me? I have another ms on sub with two agents. All the suspense is maddening. Good luck out there! And please, as there's little info online, update any of your dealings with Jolly Fish.

Still hanging on!

Hang in there, K.L. I can completely understand the maddening part. Actually January isn't that horribly long. That's like 4 months only right? I once had to wait on a publisher's response for 18 months! One good thing I've learned is that you hear back more with publisher's fulls than you do agent fulls. Seems like agent fulls get dropped with a non-response all the time. They responded to your nudge, correct? That's another good sign!

Have you started writing something else in the meantime? Maybe you can nudge again if you don't hear back in 6 months. Just hang in there!

[K.L Hallam]

Thanks so MUCH, Undercover.

Exactly what I wanted to read about was how long publishers take. I am writing other books.
I'm querying a middle-grade fantasy and just stopped querying my YA historical thriller since working with Manuscript Academy last week. I'm in the middle of drafting a YA contemporary. (NaNo) Submitting short stories and writing book reviews for my group: Kidliterati -- I certainly have enough to keep busy -- but it's STILL ... I can't stop "The Brain" lol. It sure helps hearing reality from others.

[Undercover]

Sure thing, K! It took 5 years to connect with a publisher for my last book. Never give up! You're doing everything it takes to make it happen. As long as you keep writing and keep submitting, things will happen eventually. Keep us posted!

[K.L Hallam]

And the update: After waiting 8 months (2 nudges) I finally received a pass on Aug. 1st.

"Thank you for sending us your full manuscript of XXX After careful consideration, we do not think it is a good fit for us. This does not necessarily reflect the quality of your work. We encourage you to continue querying us on your future writing projects. Our doors are always open." ~ A form.


My mistake was not sending it out to more than one publisher when they'd asked to read the full. Live and learn.
Onward!