Daffydowndilly Press

Daffydowndilly Press publishes rhyming poetry for children, written by adults. Please submit 30 to 45 pages of poetry.

Unsolicited manuscript submissions are welcome year-round. Your manuscript must be previously unpublished in book form.

Each of our collections receives an ISBN and is printed as a 6x9 book with a glossy or matte cover. Books are listed at Amazon and Kelsay Books, and authors receive 12% royalties on retail sales from each site. Library of Congress registration is optional. Poets also have the option to have their collection published on Kindle.

There is a $20.00 reading fee for Daffydowndilly submissions. We respond to each submission within fourteen days.

What We Publish

All Daffydowndilly submissions should be suitable for children aged 12 and younger. Each poem in the collection should be targeted to the same age group. We prefer rhyming poetry but are also open to free verse.

Daffydowndilly Press still accepts manuscripts with images or illustrations in the text. Illustrations inside our books are provided by the authors; we do not have an artist who will draw them for your book. We welcome illustrations if you have permission to publish them for commercial use. The inside of the book is black and white (no color).

We are drawn to work that relies on robust and fresh imagery and metaphor. We love lyrical poetry. Our tastes are very eclectic; however, we may reject manuscripts with poems that require too much unique formatting. 

How to Submit

Submissions should be emailed to kelsay.karen@gmail.com.

To submit, send an email with DAFFYDOWNDILLY MANUSCRIPT as the subject line. Submissions with other subject lines might be marked as spam by our email filters. Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email with your name, address, phone number, and PayPal receipt number.

Attach two Word documents (not PDFs) to your email: your manuscript and your marketing plan.

How to Format Your Manuscript

Include these elements, in this order:

  • The title
  • Your name
  • A dedication (optional)
  • Acknowledgments
  • Your poetry
  • Your biography


Send these in one Word document attached to your email. Do not send a PDF.

Use 12-point Times New Roman font. Do not insert page numbers or use all capital letters in your titles and headings. Use page breaks between your poems. Ensure your manuscript has been proofread for mistakes and typos.

Reading Fee

The reading fee is $20.00 per Daffydowndilly submission. You can pay below. Include your receipt number in your submission email.