Tova Seltzer

I’m an assistant editor with the Neal Porter Books imprint of Holiday House. I’m a graduate of the Columbia Publishing Course, and a former freelance developmental editor and sensitivity reader.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT AN AGENT.** I accept both agented and unagented submissions, but cannot help if you’re looking for representation.

Though my heart isn’t fully closed to middle grade, I’m primarily working on picture books only.

First and foremost, I generally look to be surprised by an unfamiliar premise or an approach I haven’t seen before. I value beauty and precision of language, every word chosen with purpose. I’m finding myself drawn to eclectic, story-forward projects more than ones that start from a place of wanting to teach a certain lesson. It’s difficult to tell you where the magic comes from, but I love seeing creativity that is off-leash and unapologetic. I’d rather see a big swing than a safe play!

In picture book nonfiction, I’m recently finding myself especially drawn to books relating to design, artisan crafts, and off-the-beaten-path creative pursuits. My childhood dream job was interior designer, and I never really grew out of it (although my dream job later changed to children’s book editor!)

Some things I’m NOT the ideal reader for:

-I’m not looking for Christmas or Hanukkah books. I would love to see books about other Jewish holidays and traditions!
-Despite my love of “weird” stories, I’m not the biggest fan of macabre Halloween energy or of gross-out humor.
-Stories with anthropomorphized protagonists OTHER than animals (i.e. concepts, inanimate objects, etc.) are a tough sell for me.

A few things that automatically increase my interest in a book:

• Things book banners hate
• Dismantling capitalism
• Weird girls
• Aromantic and/or asexual identities
• Families with two moms
• Fashion

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to tova.seltzer@holidayhouse.com

Submissions from this site can be sent to my primary email address.

Please include #MSWL in the subject line of your email and include a short summary in the body of your email.

Submissions can be attached as a Word document or a PDF. Please provide the full manuscript or dummy. I’m typically not able to respond to submissions that are pitch-only, without sample work attached.

My current turn-around time is about 6 months.