Let’s start the conversation.
Start Here Before You Contact Us
We put together these short videos to give you an honest look at publishing before you reach out. Watch them first. They’ll save you time and give you a clearer picture of whether we’re a good fit.
Watch this video we made for the Tucson Festival of Books:
We Don’t Accept Unsolicited Manuscripts
Before you send us anything, please email us. Just a short note describing your concept, written like a human being and not a press release. If it sounds like a fit, we’ll ask for more. Send your query to staff@smalltoothdog.com with the subject line “book query.”
We’re currently looking at picture books and preteen reads that focus on kindness and caring, building community, or personal development. Those aren’t rigid boxes. They’re directions. If your story lives somewhere in that territory, reach out.
We Grow Authors, Not Just Books
A lot of publishers care about what’s on the page. We care about that too, but we also care about you as a communicator. When you work with us, you’ll get support learning how to talk about your book in person, online, and in front of an audience. We’ve helped authors become speakers, workshop leaders, and educators. That’s part of how we work.
RIGHT CLICK on the video to get the controls for any of these videos.
What We Expect From You
Publishing doesn’t end at the printer. It starts there.
Your readers connect to you before they connect to your book. That means you need to show up online regularly, not just around your launch date. Talk about your process. Engage with parents, teachers, and other authors. Treat your book as a living conversation and not a one-time announcement.
We’ll help with tools, strategy, and templates. But the energy has to come from you. The authors who do well with us are the ones who build communities around their voice and not just a following around their cover.
You don’t need to be a marketing expert. You just need to care enough to show up consistently for your readers.
What Working With Us Looks Like
- You send a query email describing your concept. Include your social media links.
- We get to know each other. We talk together about your platform. You join us for workshops if needed.
- If things fit, we have a conversation and send a letter of agreement for hybrid publishing.
- Our editorial team works with you on the story.
- Our art director, Michelle Buvala, guides the visual development.
- We handle layout, ISBNs, and proofs.
- Together, we build press materials, social content, and festival presence for your launch.
- We keep promoting your title and supporting your growth as an author long after the book ships.
What We’re About
Small-Tooth-Dog Publishing Group has been publishing children’s books in Arizona since 2016. We just hit our tenth year. In that time we’ve put out 18 titles, built national distribution through IngramSpark, Amazon, and Bookshop.org, and shown up at places like the Tucson Festival of Books and the American Library Association Conference.
We publish books in the arts and creativity for kids and adults. We’re a welcoming company and we’re actively working to include diverse voices and support marginalized communities in our catalog and in our work. We’re on that road and we take it seriously.
Want to Go Deeper Before You Query?
If you want a one-to-one conversation with our publisher before you commit to anything, Sean offers paid video consultations at seantells.com/things. The fee is $36. If we end up working together, that fee comes back to you.
If you’d rather ask questions in a group setting at no cost, join us on Monday nights on Facebook. The link is facebook.com/groups/ashtpublic.
A Few Things We Don’t Publish
Board books, religious titles, books written to teach a single lesson, poetry collections, or chapter books. We also don’t work with authors who see themselves as passengers. If you want someone to just print your book and hand it back, we’re not the right fit. If you want a partner who stays in it with you, keep reading.
Ready to Query?
Email staff@smalltoothdog.com with the subject line “book query.” Write like a person, not as a graduate of a pitch-writing retreat. Tell us what your book is about and why you wrote it. That’s enough to start.