So, you’ve written a
children’s book manuscript and you would love to see it published. What are the
top 5 things you should (or shouldn’t!) do?
1. Do your research
There are many
children’s book publishers out there but not all of them will publish the style
of book you have written. So visit bookshops and look online to find out which
publishers would be a good match for your
manuscript. Prepare a shortlist.
2. Follow submission guidelines
Check your target
publishers’ websites and follow their submission guidelines exactly. Publishers set these guidelines
for a reason — they receive hundreds if not thousands of manuscripts a year and
need an effective system for managing this. (Some publishers don’t accept
unsolicited manuscripts. In this case, you might need to consider finding
yourself an agent.)
3. Ensure your manuscript is grammatically
flawless
It’s a very, very
competitive market. Publishers are not only looking for great stories, but
they’re also looking for authors who display the right level of
professionalism. You might have written the best story in the world, but if
it’s full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, you will be vastly
reducing your chances of success. If you know you might be weak in these areas,
consider getting a professional editor to give your work the necessary polish
before you submit it.
4. Friends and family mean nothing
to a publisher
Please do not mention
in your covering letter that ‘My friends and family have all read the
manuscript and think it’s wonderful!’ Publishers don’t care. And unless you
have particularly honest friends and family, you should probably take their
opinion with a grain of salt too …
5. Don’t be abusive if rejected
This might sound
obvious, but you’d be surprised at the number of times publishers receive
letters from rejected authors telling them at length that they’ve ‘made the
biggest mistake of their lives’! Remember, you might want to submit other
manuscripts to these publishers so a polite ‘thank you for your time and
feedback’ note is a far better investment in your possible future career!
