Hi everybody, this is my first thread, I suppose I should introduce myself, well, I’ve been lurking here since 1999 and after 4 years in the wilderness, I’ve decided to come out and ask a few questions, supply a few answers, throw in a few snide remarks, and perhaps be enlightened further by all of the people here, so far, so good, and I haven’t even been pitted yet! Woohoo!.
Now to my question, I like writing, I like writing a lot. One day, admittedly, whilst stumbling home drunk, I came up with a fantastic hook for a children’s book. I thought to myself, well, I might as well run with this idea, I’m in a poorly paid job, and if I can get this book out there, I may be able to supplement my income, as well as perhaps attain world-wide notoriety, or at least, fame amongst my circle of friends.
(I should probably get to the question now!)
So I have written the book, it needs a bit of fixing, and perhaps some shortening. My target audience is the 4-8 Year old range, boys and girls. I have limited artistic ability, though I have been working on the computer to come up with some illustrations. I think they suck, some others might disagree. I’m getting to the question! I swear!. My questions are as follows:
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Do I get a draft copy of the book and just send it to as many publishers as I can?
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If I’m not supposed to send it off to as many publishers as I can, what should I do?
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Are there publishers who specialise in childrens picture books?
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Do I make a final copy of the book, complete with my own illustrations, or do I just send a basic draft? Or do I send say the first few pages (complete with illustrations) and a synopsis of the rest of the story?
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If a publisher says something along the lines of “The book is alright, but your illustrations suck” is it up to me to find an illustrator?, Will the publisher help me find one? If not, where would be a good resource for finding illustrators? Perhaps a writer’s guild or something?
If you have experience in Publishing, or better still, if you’re a publisher, I’d love to hear your answers, thoughts, or other musings on the above, plus any tips you might have, assume that I know NOTHING. Also, if you have no experience at all with publishing, but you have some thoughts on the above, I’d still love to hear from you!.
Armed with some knowledge, I may just get this book off the ground!.
Thanking you all in advance!