Last year, I wrote and illustrated a children’s book for a Children’s Literature class. It was a fairly large class, more than thirty people; on the day we all presented our projects, my prof took me aside after class and said, “You really ought to think about pursuing publication - your book is that good.” She went on to say that she only said the same to one other student (a professional artist who’d done a wordless picture book that was just stunning). I was flattered to be included in the same company as my classmate and said I’d give it some good hard thought, but beyond reading some books on the subject I haven’t done much.
I’m tired of sitting in my office feeling the mute reproach of this book as it sits on the shelf, though, and I think I really want to try. I know there are people on this board who have ties to the publishing industry, or experience writing books and getting them published – what advice can you give me? Everything I’ve heard suggests the odds of getting published are long even for a good book - what can I do to shorten those odds?
We could do a stealth marketing thing. Those among us who have blogs and who prowl other message boards can post things like, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but Chef Troy showed me the manuscript of his children’s book. If I were a publisher, I’d grab it.”
Just send your manuscript to as many children’s book publishers as you can think of. Seriously, who’s going to publish your book if you don’t show it to them? *You *have to make the first move. Publishers aren’t going to approach you on the basis of what they read on some blog or message board, when they haven’t even seen the manuscript.
Alive is dead on. Editor John W. Campbell said it best: “The main reason editors don’t buy most manuscripts is simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are sitting on your closet shelf at home.”
Go get a copy of the Literary Marketplace or Fiction Writers Market (if Writers Digest Books has something else on children’s book writing, use that instead) and see who’s accepting manuscripts.
Also look up agents who have a track record of children’s book sale – and make sure they are willing to give you a list of their sales. To avoid being scammed, never, under any circumstances whatsoever, pay money to an agent. Never.
I should point out that I have, in fact, started doing my homework as noted above - finding publishers that do children’s books and so on. What I was hoping for here was insider information - “I work for a children’s book publisher and here’s how to get on the short list to be read,” etc.
And who knows? Maybe there’s a Doper or two who’s a children’s book editor, who’ll give me a leg up. grin To any such Dopers: it’s a great book, folks. I’ll be happy to get it in front of you - get in touch.
I’m just getting ready to start submitting, finally, after having the thing sit in it’s binder for 2 years or so.
Chef: Please note… most publishers have in-house artists, and your best bet is to turn it in without the artwork. Maybe note on your coversheet that you are “an aspiring childrens writer and artists”, and if you can’t get in one way, maybe they’ll hit on the other.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
To others: From what I read, they stated that you should only send your your MS to one imprint at a time. Do the teeming millions agree? Or can I send out 3-4 copies of my story, and hope one bites?
Note- I’m not doing the agent thing, at least not yet.
Bad idea. Extremely bad idea. If word gets out (and it will – editors talk to one another outside of work), you’ll find your career can be badly hurt.
What you’re talking about are simultaneous submissions, and nearly all markets prohibit them. If they discover you’ve done this, they’ll probably just send your manuscript back unread.
Simultaneous submissions cause big problems. What usually happens when a publisher makes an offer is that they begin to work on the book immediately. If you write back to them to say, “Sorry, I got another offer,” all that work goes down the drain. And if your book is good enough to sell at one publisher, it’s good enough to sell at another.
Also, the rule keeps the slushpile manageable. If a publisher gets x manuscripts a month with everyone sending them out one at a time, they’ll get 10x manuscripts a month if everyone sends them out ten at a time. Response times would stretch out ten times longer (they are not going to hire extra people to read slush – it isn’t worth the money). Many publishers don’t take unsolicited manuscripts already, so if the slushpile increases, the few that still are open to them will close and insist everything is sent to them by an agent.
Now, if your an established author with an agent, they can set up an auction with multiple publishers. Sometimes, this even works with first novelists – if the book has best seller potential. But you need an agent to even think about doing this; if you try to do an auction yourself, no one will bother to get involved.
The best advice is to pick a publisher (start at the one that seems the biggest), send them your manuscript, and write another book. If you get it back, work down to the next publisher on your list.
The best place online to get information on this sort of thing is the Absolute Write Water Cooler. You can get advice from the pros (especially Uncle Jim).
I came in to recommend the AW forums, but I see RealityChuck beat me to it. There’s a Children’s Writing forum that should be able to help you. I don’t know anything about writing for children, but if you have any questions on agent searches, feel free to PM or email me (same username there as here). Here is a recent SDMB post I made on how I research agents when this topic last came up.
That should be your final option once you’ve exhausted all others. I’m cowriter of a Lulu best seller, and it’s sold less than 1000 copies. You are highly unlikely to sell 100 copies via Lulu or any self-publisher or vanity press.
That said, if you want to go the self-published route, Lulu is a very good place to consider.
I actually work for a publishing company that does a lot of children’s books and accepts unsolicited manuscripts - I’ll ask the editorial assistant who wades throough the slush pile if there are any tips to help you get a leg up. I can give you the name and address to send it to if you want to e-mail me. But I’ll warn you: it really does have to be well above average and original to get noticed - everybody with a basic grasp of English thinks they’re qualified to write a children’s book, and most of them are woefully deluded. The volume of our children’s book submissions is about 5 or 6 times the volume of all other departments combined. Still, they are serious here about putting out quality work by unknowns, so it’s definitely worth it to give it a go.
This is known in the trade as the “magic handshake.” All would-be writers ask for it; few ever get it. Sorry, but Chuck’s advice is the best. Write the best book you can; study the field; comply with professional standards of manuscript presentation, query letters, and submission processes; send the manuscript to the most likely publishers or else try to interest an appropriate agent; don’t let rejection discourage you. It’s a process, even a slog, not an event.
Good luck. Get to work. Keep working. The work doesn’t stop at the sale, either.
I wouldn’t say we *all *ask for it. I’ve always expected to reach the top the hard way, and I’ve never asked a professional writer, editor, or agent for help to skip to the front of the line.
I’ve reached the stage in my writing career where I’m actually getting requests for the full manuscript, and the first agent to ask read it and rejected it, but will look at it again if I revise based on her suggestions (which is what I’m doing now). It’s been a long road to reach this stage, and I had to write five other books before I ever did.
I hasten to assure you that I’m perfectly willing to work for what I want, but if someone can offer me helpful advice, why wouldn’t I seek that out? (I know it was actually DeadlyAccurate’s reply to you that makes the “magic handshake” concept sound like something I should be ashamed of asking for, but I thought I’d respond to you anyway.)
My phrasing was unnecessarily antagonistic, and for that I apologize.
For the record, there’s a DFW Writer’s Workshop that meets in Euless every week. I haven’t been in a few years, but I still recognize some of the names.
I also had no intention of being antagonistic. I was just pointing out that wanting shortcuts to publication is common enough to have its own term, and that anything that has its own pejorative term is a trap that should be avoided. Seeking good information is not the same thing as wanting shortcuts. Excellence and professionalism and hard work don’t preclude looking for the smartest way to succeed; just the opposite.
I was remiss in not mentioning the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. They accept non-published writers and offer a range of conferences, workshops, chapters, publications, and other useful material.
