Resources for Publishers

We often hear that big hurdles publishers face with world kid lit include hearing about good books, finding readers to assess a manuscript, and finding qualified translators. We aim to address these obstacles with the help of the World Kid Lit community. We are also here to help spread the word about the great world kid lit being published!

Finding new global books

Our contributors highlight books under the #SeekingaPublisher tag (formerly Translate This!). If you have a specific regional interest, email us at worldkidlit@gmail.com and we’ll try to help.

Other ways to find new international children’s and YA books not yet published in English:

IJB’s White Ravens: annual selection of international children’s and youth literature
IBBY’s annual selection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities
Bologna Children’s Book Fair Illustrators’ Exhibition
dPictus where you can explore picture books from around the world and connect with agents
dPictus 100 Outstanding Picturebooks

Bilingual readers for a reader’s report

We keep a curated list of World Kid Lit Publishing Ambassadors: bilingual readers with international children’s book expertise, who may be able to provide a reader’s report, to help you assess new titles that you can’t read in-house, or to explore a publishing market you’re not yet familiar with. These readers may also be able to act as book scouts or translators, though not every bilingual reader is also a translator. The list includes readers of over 30 languages.

Please email us at worldkidlit@gmail.com for the latest copy of the Publishing Ambassadors list.

Literary translators

There are several professional organizations worldwide where you can find a literary translator for a children’s or YA boo, a sample translation, or reader’s report.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair translator directory
CEATL, the Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires / European Council of Associations of Literary Translators. CEATL lists the 34 member associations here, with links to their websites and translator directories
The Society of Authors/Translators’ Association. The translator directory here.
ALTA – the American Literary Translators Association. The translator directory is here
AALITRA – The Australian Association for Literary Translation
Irish Translators’ and Interpreters’ Association (ITIA) / Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Ateangairí na hÉireann. Translator directory here
ATA – American Translators Association) has a Literary Division. Translator directory here

Model contractual terms

3 Cs for Translators: Copyright, Compensation, Credit by Avery Fischer Udagawa
Authors Guild Literary Translation Model Contract
PEN America A Model Contract for Literary Translations

Funding and prizes for literary translation

Literature Across Frontiers has an extensive list of grants available.
PEN Translates: For UK-based publishers.
There is a wealth of information on the Book Trust In Other Words page
There are numerous prizes for which translated children’s and YA books are eligible.

Promoting your translated books

Please send us your translated books to review. We feature everything from picture books, emerging readers, to middle grade and YA, nonfiction and poetry to graphic novels and comics. We also include recent and forthcoming translations on social media, in our recommended reading lists, and in our annual list of children’s books translated into English.

Please check the lists below and let us know of any recent translations we’re missing; we’d love to include them.