How long on average does it take to get a picture book published once it is written?

Question

Also, do you need an agent for picture books?

Answer 1

If you have a publisher interested, it takes a pretty long time before the book is published and available in stores - the publisher usually hires the artist and you have to wait for the artist to illustrate the book and then you have to wait for the book to be put together and printed, etc. It's probably a minimum of a year after you've signed the publishing contract.

You'll most likely need an agent. It's getting tougher and tougher to break into the industry - more and more publishers require agented submissions and won't accept any queries from anyone without an agent representing them.