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7 answers

You don't. What I mean here is that the children's publishing venue is tight and I mean TIGHT. It is one of the most difficult markets to get into, and most of the publishers DO NOT ACCEPT unsolicited work. In fact, most have years and years worth of backlogged material from which to select. You really need an agent but many don't handle this kind of thing and those who do are VERY selective in their choice of clients. You need to write professionally (and that is difficult without prior experience). Writing for children is very difficult and takes a certain knack. The publishers of this type of material receive hundreds of thousands of manuscripts each year (like all publishers do) and only about 1% are actually ever published (and again, those are mostly through agents). The supply FAR outweighs the demand in the publishing world. Also, you need to understand trends in publishing (including those in children's publishing). It's a highly competitive field and many publishers of this type of material have a stable full of writers on which they rely. Your chances are actually lotto odds of getting your work looked at and subsequently published. I am sure this is not what you wanted to hear but these are the cold, hard facts. Most work is returned unread. Now, if you are talking VANITY publishing where YOU pay an on line entity or similar to publish your book, that is different. Any of them will be glad to take your money and tell you how wonderful you are. They know how difficult the REAL world of publishing is, and they capitalize on this fact.

2007-03-10 07:55:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Although they say that it's difficult to have children's books published, I sincerely believe that people should not give up on their dreams. Go for it. First, you will need to have copies of your manuscript. Prepare a query letter that basically introduces you and asks the publishers if they would be interested in your book about XXXX (you fill in the details). Do not send the actual manuscript until they ask you to do so, but make sure the QUERY LETTER sounds interesting enough to engage their attention. If you have other published works, don't be afraid to say so. Send a one page synopsis about the book. Some of them might ask you to send a copy of the first two or three chapters of the book, so it is critical that those first chapters hold their attention.

Once they ask you to send the manuscript, include your Bio, written in the third person, eg - John Doe is an avid skier, and skydiver who has written five other children's books including XXXX. He has a BS in XXXX and an MBA from XXXX. He was born on the island of Hawaii and resides in North Dakota with his family - Blah-blah-blah.

Anticipate the possibility that you may get rejection letters, but do not let that stop you. Some of the most famous writers were told that they were no good and they persevered.

If you can find a reliable literary agent, you'll be in better standing because some publishers respond more positively to them than they would if they have to deal directly w/authors.
Bear in mind that if the agent is not in a position to get your manuscript out there so that you can be discovered, it will be all for nought. Research literary agents to see what the going rate would be in terms of agent fees because there are a lot of dishonest people out there who claim to be literary agents and all they do is take your money.

Keep at it and continue to polish up your craft. You deserve to see your dream become a reality!!

2007-03-10 16:47:13 · answer #2 · answered by bombastic 6 · 1 0

He is right. An editor from Harper Collins explained it to me recently. About 40% of the childrens' book market is celebs -- Madonna, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billy Joel, Rhea Perlman etc. Another 40% is existing authors publishing new books - Eric Carle, etc. That leaves 20%. There is such a backlog of childrens' books for them to choose from that few if any ever get published. A very close friend of mine was just lucky enough to be one of those. His book is highly successful right now - been on the Times best seller list, but all his proceeds go to charity and he had the backing of the NY Yankees to get it published. The childrens' market is glutted. Sending a book directly to a publisher will only result in getting it back with a very nice form letter rejection. Major publishers NEVER accept unsolicited material and NEVER deal with authors directly. Your only hope is to buy yourself a copy of Writers Market and start searching out agents who represent childrens' books. There are very few of them. You can also join Absolute Write Water Cooler forum online and study the forum for answers. Also visit Preditors and Editors site. Many agents and small publishing houses are scams. The self publishing route is a total nightmare. It costs a lot of money and you are completely on your own to promote the book and get it in bookstores. The book market has become so competetive that bookstores are starting to charge a dollar a book to put books on the tables near the doors. Shelves are crowded and the cost of retail space is making it harder and harder to get bookstores to shelve books they are unsure they can sell. That's why they stick to the proven best sellers. Sad, but true. Read through the resolved answers here. These questions have been asked often and there are a lot of good answers. C.

2007-03-10 16:17:11 · answer #3 · answered by Persiphone_Hellecat 7 · 2 0

children's books are some of the hardest books to get published! REALLY HARD!
75% of readers now are children! That's the sad truth too! just submit it anyway and keep making it better!

2007-03-10 16:10:26 · answer #4 · answered by hi!!! 2 · 0 0

Go through a literary agent. You can get a list of these buy getting the Writer's Market "Childrens Writers & Illustrators Market 2007" book and sending your manuscript to the agents who you think would be right for you.

Then sit back, eat chocolate, and wait for replies.

2007-03-10 17:02:29 · answer #5 · answered by Andrea 3 · 1 0

Send your rough draft to several publishing companies that do childern's books such as Random House.

2007-03-10 16:04:07 · answer #6 · answered by Ce Ce 2 · 0 1

this site has some info on children's writing
http://children.fictionfactor.com/

2007-03-10 16:32:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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