Children's Stories - Submitting Manuscripts to Publishers

First you must enjoy writing – you are doing it for your own satisfaction. I’m sorry to have to inform you that you won’t make a J.K. Rowlings fortune even if you do find a publisher – and you may not. The competition is fierce!

Picture books are a very specialized skill. You need to know how they are put together, the number of pages (32), the number of words (under 500 preferably), the relationship between the words and the pictures. You can do a course or workshop, but unfortunately many don’t give you these details. If you are working on shorter novels (easy chapter books with lots of pictures, for early readers) or longer novels, you need to know who your audience is. If fantasy, know the parameters of your invented world, and stick logically to its rules.

It is invaluable to find out how a professional considers your work, and the easiest way is to go to a reputable manuscript assessment agency. You should get a report of several pages length, and often marking on the hard copy manuscript as well. Don’t be too discouraged by this. There is something to suggest in even the best manuscripts, so if you feel upset, put it away for a week or a month and then come back to it and consider everything suggested. Of course opinions differ, but you’d be wise to think carefully about corrections, and decide whether to incorporate them or not. You can include an excellent assessment or a recommendatory letter to publishers with your submission. This may get your manuscript off the slush pile. In fact it may not even be considered “unsolicited”. Publishers appreciate knowing someone else has read it. Today they cannot afford to spend as much on editors as they once did, so there is less time for nurturing potential, and for correcting typos too.

In the best of all possible worlds, you will find a literary agent to handle your work for you. They find markets, negotiate contracts, help the whole thing along. The bad news is that they are more difficult for a new author to find than an actual publisher is. Once you’ve been published they are eager to take you onto their books, but most won’t consider unknown writers for children. The reason is that they are paid only by a cut from your royalties, and they know how tight the children’s market is. They only take on manuscripts that they are sure they can sell.

Research publishers. Use a big bookshop, or a children’s one. Most large cities have a bookshop specifically for children – search out yours. Work out which publishers produce work that is similar to yours in some way. Study review journals also, and join SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator) and perhaps a writing group as well.

To submit, your manuscript must look as professional as possible. Double spaced, one sided, Qammar
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paragraphs indented, a running header with your name and the title on. If you are doing the illustrations as well, you will need to make a mock-up of the book, with sketches for each page, and two openings in colour, as you will do them for the book itself eventually. Include a stamped addressed envelope for return. You might like to also include a stamped postcard for the publishers to return acknowledging receipt.

Phone and ask first what they are accepting, and check their submission guidelines on their website. At the same time, see if you can find the name of the children’s editor for addressing your cover letter.
Should you make one submission, or use the scattergun approach? The most usual today is sending to several publishers at once. Editors expect this, even if they would prefer that they were the only publisher targeted. As they can take up to six months to reply, it’s better for the author to send it to several at once. Keep careful records though – you don’t want to send it back to someone who has already rejected it!

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Children’s Stories – Submitting Manuscripts to Publishers

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