Bunmi Ishola

Bunmi Ishola is a senior editor with Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group. She acquires books for readers ages 0-18 across the WaterBrook, Multnomah, Convergent, and Image imprints. The PRH Christian children’s program seeks a diversity of voices from self-identified Christian authors. We publish books that help kids develop a deep and lasting love of God’s Word, inviting them to look to Scripture to light their path through life; discover the abundance, joy, and adventure to be found in living out Christian values and virtues; and invite children to ask questions, broaden their horizons, and explore what it means to grow as a Christian in today’s world. [Please note: As I work for a Christian imprint, we are looking for authors who self-identify as Christian and whose writing would be informed by their faith and Christian values. I cannot acquire stories from other faith backgrounds.]

While I’m open to seeing pretty much anything (after all, you never know and I’m always open to being surprised!), here are some specific things I am looking for:

• Stories that show how faith and culture intersect / non-Western representation of the Christian faith / how culture can be an expression of faith
• Fiction or non-fiction that helps kids and/or teens explore the character of God (love, justice, “the God who sees,” provider, etc.) and how we can emulate parts of God’s character in our own lives and personal choices
• Stories that help kids think critically and develop their faith
• “Clean Teen” — I personally lean more toward rom-com or contemporary than fantasy or sci-fi stories but willing to be surprised

I am NOT looking for:

• Adult manuscripts. While there are adult editors within our group, I only focus on books for young readers.
• Unagented submissions. 
• Books that are overly didactic and moral-focused
• Non-Christian faith stories/stories of faith with no Christian ties
• Horror/overly spooky stories (I’m a bit of a wuss, so will only enjoy things are are more spoofy than straight-on scary)
• Fiction with animal main characters  (I generally do not love anthropomorphized characters, or animals being used to get around diversity issues. If animals are going to be at the center of the story, it would need to be done very purposefully, where you couldn’t substitute the animals for humans.)
• Books with racism plot lines.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to bishola@penguinrandomhouse.com

At this time, I only accept submissions from agents. However, non-agented authors can occasionally connect with me through conferences.

For agents, please send a short proposal along with any submissions. The proposal should include: author bio (including some details on the author’s faith background/interest in publishing with your division); previously published work with sales numbers; additional story ideas; and any platform information (social, speaking opportunities, church or non-profit affiliations, etc.) you think would be helpful for our marketing and publicity team to know about.