Get to know Orca editor Vanessa McCumber, including what she’s looking for in new submissions!
Hello, taanishi and ÍY SȻÁĆEL! My name is Vanessa and I edit books for our youngest readers (ages 8 and under). Before coming to Orca, my previous work included supporting Indigenous language revitalization projects, business writing and editing, and tutoring academic writing. I studied linguistics and English language at university and wrote my thesis about historical punctuation and sentence structure (yes I am that nerdy!). My role at Orca brings together my editing skills, my passion for language and literacy and my commitment to Indigenous community.
I am Métis and mixed-European settler. My Métis family names include Adams, Asham/Isham, Bird, Haywood, Johnstone and Thomas. I live with my family on the traditional territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ People.
What are you looking for in a submission?
I would love to read Indigenous stories across as many genres as possible! I also appreciate projects with representations of disability, neurodivergence and intersectional identities informed by the authors’ own experiences.
What format should submissions be in?
Please submit a Word doc or PDF in an easy-to-read font. Don’t worry about making it look like a “real book” with designed pages or sample art—we’ll work with you on that—but you can include basic notes about the envisioned illustrations if they would help us understand the story. I really appreciate a cover letter that helps me understand who you are, why you are telling this story and who your audience is.
What are your favourite books?
I find that whichever books I’m editing become my current favourites because I get so excited about and connected to them. I love getting to know and learning from the authors. These books have so much thought behind them and it’s a privilege to be part of the creative process.
For my non-work reading, I like books that help me laugh, feel seen, get creative, imagine a different world, learn something new, experience warm fuzzies, understand another point of view. And I appreciate when the writing tickles my brain with the perfect word choice or creative sentence. I still have a much loved, much taped-back-together book from my childhood called Sleepy Dog (Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Norman Gorbaty). It’s one of the first books I remember reading by myself, and that pride, excitement and comfort that I felt is something I hope to bring to our readers.
What are you enjoying working on right now?
It’s wonderful to work on books that share Indigenous languages with readers—whether by including words or phrases in an English story or by providing full translations in dual-language editions—because celebrating language brings us closer to our cultures, communities and ancestors. Raven Gets Tricked (Andrea Fritz), Hummingbird / Aamo-binashee (Jennifer Leason) and pêyak little duck (Sandra Lamouche, illustrated by Mando Littlechild) are examples that I’m excited to see published soon!
I’m also excited to be a part of the Meg and Greg series for children learning to read. Authors Elspeth Rae and Rowena Rae and illustrator Elisa Gutiérrez put so much thought and care into these stories that are not only accessible for readers with dyslexia or other language-based learning difficulties but also just super fun to read!