Thank you for your interest in having your book stocked in our shop. Regrettably, it is not possible for us to accept every book that is submitted to us.
Our shop is small and shelf space is limited. This means that we tend to carry single copies of most titles and restock as we sell them; we do this to try to ensure the biggest range possible for our readers. We recognise that ordering single copies is logistically not easy for independent authors due to postage costs, and this is why we will often ask if a book is available via Gardners. However, we are also open to pitches and working directly with authors, as we’d rather that you made the most possible from each sale. We are proud to stock Sally Doherty (Toby and the Silver Blood Witches), Claire Linney (Time Tub Travellers), and N M J Coveney (Everything Not Saved).
We are a children’s bookshop, and we are only interested in pitches for books written specifically for children or young adults. We do not knowingly accept books where AI has been used, including use of AI to generate a cover.
How to pitch
Please send us a short synopsis of your book via email, including the title. Tell us who it is written for, the format (hardback, paperback), and how long the book is. Please also include details of RRP and the wholesale cost to us. We also appreciate details such as who the illustrator is (if applicable) and why you feel it’s a good fit for our shop. Please do not bring a sample into the shop – it is difficult for us to consider books when we are also open and serving customers, and regrettably, it is easy for books to be misplaced in the huge stacks of advance reading copies we receive. If we would like to see more, we will ask for images. We recognise that we haven’t always been the greatest at responding to pitches, but we will aim to respond within three weeks. Please don’t be disheartened if the answer is “no”. Our space is limited and it is not possible to accept everything. We will not respond to generic pitches (the same email sent en masse).
What we’re especially interested in:
Local history for children
Beautiful hardback picture books, suitable for gifting (The Saltwater Fairies by Elisabeth Riley was a stunning book created by a Yorkshire-based artist). We are currently very well stocked for softback picture books, so we are not likely to take these at the moment.
YA fiction (please be mindful that most paperback YA books retail at £9.99. In our experience, readers are prepared to pay slightly more, but £16.99 paperbacks can be difficult for us to sell). Please also be sure that your book is also actually a YA book. Books such as Icebreaker, Fourth Wing, and A Court of Thorns and Roses are not YA books, and comparisons to those are likely to flag the book to us as being for older readers.
Graphic novels for children and young adults
What we’re not interested in:
Books written for adults. We are a children’s and YA bookshop.
Books that have used AI. We will not knowingly stock books that have been created using AI. This includes covers.
Things to know
There are a lot of books available, and they can’t all be displayed with the cover facing out all of the time. If we stock your book, most of the time it will be shelved in alphabetical order on the appropriate bookcases. It is also not possible for us to recommend or reference every book on social media. This doesn’t mean that we don’t support you, it’s managing the expectations that it is not possible for us to aggressively market every single book we stock, although we do our best to promote as many as possible.
If we take your book, we will also list it on our website.
Ready to pitch?
Great! Drop us an email to hello@wonderlandbookshop.co.uk, following the guidelines above. We’ll aim to get back to you within three weeks. Please don’t chase us by phone for a response; we’ll do our best to get back to you within the given timeframe. However, please remember we are a small business and can experience busy periods. We’re sorry, but we will not respond to generic pitches, or pitches of books for adults. Thank you!