
How to Submit
There will be three parts to the submission process:
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​Publisher Registration
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Book Submissions: 1 December 2024 – 31 January 2025
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Option for Book Creators to share information: 1 December 2024 – 14th February 2025
1. Publisher Registration
If you've missed the original registration deadline, please read the information at the end of this section.
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We are asking publishers to complete a registration form for the project. Please complete this even if you have no books to submit this year.
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This form enables us to gather information about the number of titles that are being published overall. It also allows you to share information about you as a publisher without having to enter it when you submit each book, and ensures we have the right named contact to liaise with about the survey.
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This form will ask for the number of titles you publish overall within this age range (this information should be similar, if not the same, as the information you will need to submit for the 2024 Reflecting Realities survey, so shouldn't create extra work).
It will also ask for the approximate number of titles you hope to submit (please refer to the eligibility guidelines when making this calculation). Having an indication of how many books are likely to be submitted at this early stage allows us to prepare for and schedule the book review process. ​
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You will be asked to share the following:
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Whether submitting as an imprint or publishing house
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Company name
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Key contact name and email
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Number of books published 2024*
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Number of books published in 2024 featuring human, animal and inanimate objects as lead characters*
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How many books you expect to submit for the 2024 survey.*
*When asked for quantities of books, this applies to fiction, non-fiction, picture books and reading scheme titles for 3-11 year olds.
Some publishers may find it useful to use an Excel version of the form which they can share in-house to gather all the relevant information before completing the online form.
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Excel version of Publisher Registration form – please use this as a draft and send your final registration via the online form.
Missed the registration deadline?
Please don't worry.We can extend the deadline to ensure as many publishers as possible can take part.
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The most important information we need initially are the named contact and ideally the number of books you are likely to submit. Please complete the Expression of Interest form as soon as possible so that we have this information form.
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Following this, please complete the full registration form as soon as you can, and ideally by 31 January 2025.
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If you only publish reading schemes, you can complete the simplified registration form. We won't be reviewing individual titles from reading schemes, but we hope to be able to use this headline data to give an overview of representation in this genre in the rerpot.
2. Book Submissions
Publishers are asked to submit information about each eligible book. It would be helpful for someone who knows the book well, or has worked on it, to be involved in completing the form. We don't need to receive individual submissions for titles from reading schemes.
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Publishers are asked to share the following information about each title:
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Company and key contact name
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Publication details
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Confirmation that book meets eligibility criteria
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Book format
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Any overarching themes
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Fiction and non-fiction categories
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Target age range
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What conditions, impairments or differences are depicted in the book
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Any accessible formats and features
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Any other relevant information
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Confirmation that you have shared the book creators form (see below) with the relevant people​​
We have created a Macro enabled Excel file that can be used for bulk submissions. If you would like to use this, please contact us to request the file.
Please note the following if you are submitting books via the Excel spreadsheet:
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Enable Macros when you open the form.
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The Macros allow you to select multiple items from the drop down menu.
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You will have to reopen the list to add each item.
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Please ensure you read the additional notes under each question to help you complete the form.​
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When saving, please save as a Macro enabled file (using the extension .xlsm) and name with the publisher or imprint that you have registered as.
Alternatively some publishers may find it useful to use a Word version of the form which they can share in-house to gather all the relevant information before completing the online form.​​
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Word version of book submission form – please use this as a draft and send all final submissions via the online form.​​
​Sending copies of submitted books:
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Publishers are asked to submit physical copies (ideally 3 copies) as well as a digital copy of each book. Having various formats helps ensure that reviewing is accessible for everyone.
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We are happy to discuss alternative solutions with smaller publishers if submitting physical copies is a barrier.
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The address for physical copies and process for submitting digital files has been sent to registered publishers. If you need us to resend this information, please get in touch.
As you can imagine, there are some substantial storage implications involved, so please do not email copies to our email address.
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3. Option for Book Creators to share relevant information
As well as inviting all publishers to submit eligible titles, the project will also offer book creators themselves the option to share any experience or research that influenced the book. (By 'book creators', we mean authors, illustrator and, in some cases, translators.)
The steering group felt strongly that it would be hugely helpful to know how lived experience and research influences quality of representation. However, they are only too aware that there’s often an expectation that disabled people share personal medical information when this wouldn't be expected of non-disabled people. By giving book creators the choice to share or not, it’s hoped that the subsequent Reflecting Disability report can start to explore this area, with the acknowledgement that any insights will be anecdotal.
When you submit each book you will be asked to confirm that you have sent the book creator form to the relevant people involved in the book’s creation. The form is about relevant research, not just lived experience. You should not make assumptions or judgements about whether any book creators are disabled or not. This form should be sent to ALL creators.
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The form gives book creators the option to share any experience or research that influenced the book. It is a simple form that allows them to share as much or little information as they choose, or none at all. There is no expectation or obligation for them to do so.
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Please encourage all book creators to return the form, even if they have not shared any additional information (they can do so without having to provide any information that could connect them to an individual book). This means we can ensure that forms have been received and every creator has been able to make this choice themselves.
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Book creators will be asked the following:
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The option:
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to share information about what informed the representation
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not to share any information
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ISBNs of submitted books
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Whether they are an author, illustrator or translator
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If they select to share, there are open ended sections where they can do this.
We will send all registered publishers an optional template email that can be used to share the form with book creators.
