Cardinal Rule Press (CRP) is a traditional publisher. CRP has a traditional royalty payment schedule, marketing plan, and distribution process. We are located in southeast Michigan.

We publish children’s books at this time and our imprint Violet Street Press produces parenting non-fiction titles. We have a third imprint, Bucket Filler Books that focus on the concept of bucket filling by author Carol McCloud.

We are known for our aesthetically pleasing books. We know what it takes to edit a story that is up to the industry’s top standards. Several of our titles have won awards and are well known in the market.

All of our books are leveled using Lexile and Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading.

Our books are reviewed by customers where books are sold. Our books are also reviewed by the book trade through platforms such as Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly. Learn more about review requests.

Any locations where books are sold. If you don't see the book you need, simply suggest it to your bookseller. 

Please review our author qualifications located on our Submissions page before beginning the application process.

If your manuscript is deemed a good fit for us, we’ll reach out to you about a contract. Authors receive a writing advance as well as royalties on book sales (twice a year) once the book is released. We seek illustrators that work on a work-for-hire basis.

We offer writing support, editorial services, full-color illustrations, layout and design, printing, warehousing, national retail distribution, online distribution, marketing services and a launch campaign.

Cardinal Rule Press also offers authors advanced marketing support and brand development services. These services are offered to our authors at no cost as a part having their book published by CRP.

Books will be distributed by Independent Publishers Group. IPG provides tailored sales and fulfillment to high-quality publishers and sells to accounts around the world, both in print and electronic formats.

The book will also be available at online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and more. Our relationship with our distributor is positive and gives our titles the opportunity for national coverage and attention.

CRP works with a distributor to fulfill retail orders only. We DO NOT offer fulfillment services for authors’ website orders. 

To accommodate website orders, authors can purchase copies of their book at a discounted fee and store these books in their home, office or personal warehouse and organize their own fulfillment for web orders.

We work on the timelines set by the industry, which are long lead times. Following these standards helps us maintain the integrity of each project. With a small team, we are able to dedicate the attention needed to each project. On average, the entire process takes about 12 – 18 months.

Please email info@cardinalrulepress.com to request to be added to our mailing list for printed catalogs.

We love connecting with professionals who review children’s picture books. Learn more about review requests here.

You can order books from our distributor IPG and Turnaround or any other wholesaler you work with.

IPG  | 1-800-888-4741 | orders@ipgbooks.com

Turnaround Publisher Services (UK ONLY) I 44 20 8829 3000customercare@turnaround-uk.com

Each of our books has a set of lesson plans for grades K-5, free for download on the select book’s page. We also have coloring pages for all of our books and questions families can ask their children before, during and after reading. Our books help readers to go beyond the page with additional learning ideas in the back.

You can learn about our speaking engagements here, and fill out an interest form here to get started.

Yes we do! We offer free virtual events almost monthly for schools. Sign up for our newsletter (look in the footer of this site) to receive updates on the latest events!