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Frequently Asked Questions I've written some stories. What should be my next step? Study the Children's Writers and Illustrators Market (Writers Digest Books). Read the articles and use the listings to help you target your submissions. The CWIM includes information on formatting, contracts, contests--you name it. I buy this book every year because it's so interesting and useful. You can also join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. The national chapter, SCBWI.ORG, offers a library of marketing and publishing resources, a website full of current news and event listings, and two national conferences each year. The regional chapters host networking events, smaller conferences, and publish their own dynamic newsletters. SCBWI-Michigan has a great website: www.kidsbooklink.org. How helpful are critique groups? I think they're a really good way to learn a lot about writing in a short period of time. Sometimes a writer can be too close to a story--we love the idea or the characters so much, or we know the plot so well, that we can't see the flaws or we forget to include important information that we have in our heads. Most writers (myself included) aren't good at everything. People bring different strengths to a critique group: some people are good with grammar, others are good at plotting, others are good at atmosphere-all the little details that make a story extra fresh or funny. The hard part about a critique group is deciding which suggestions to take and which to leave. People can't re-write your story for you. And it can be painful to hear criticism of characters and stories that you love. A good critique group will bring out your best, rather than highlighting your worst. Some writers hate critique groups. They only share their work with one person or only with editors. That's okay, too. But I like feedback, and I recommend that new writers who are frustrated by rejections should see if peer critique can help their work. I learn a lot from watching other people's stories take shape. And I think my stories are fuller and richer because my critique partners have helped me "love them into existence," as former Barefoot Books editor Alison Keehn described the revisions process. Can you give me the names of editors or publishers that would be good for my work? Nope. I don't mean to be rude, but that's your job--it's every writer's homework. (Even writers with agents need to keep know which editors and publishers might be a good fit for their work.) Here's the good news: figuring out which publishers and editors might like your work is a pretty straightforward task. Read current and classic books in your genre. Notice who publishes books like the stories you write. If your idea has already been done, see how you can make your story different and fresh. You can also request publishers' catalogs for the cost of postage. After you have a list of publishers who do your kind of book, use the CWIM to get their catalog information and determine if they're open to submissions, prefer queries, or accept only agented submissions. (Many closed publishers will accept manuscripts from SCBWI members and/or people who attend conferences where their editors speak.) Two times a year (February and July), Publishers Weekly magazine has special Children's Preview editions which list all the books coming out for that season. Studying these lists will give you an overview of who's publishing what. Can you read my manuscript and tell me if it's any good? Probably not. I have a full-time job and get lots of these requests. If I accommodated them all, I wouldn't have any time for my own writing. By the way, it's not an editor's job to tell you if your writing is any good, either. You need a critique group or a professional critique to help you with that task. Some friends and colleagues who give very thorough critiques are writing coach Esther Hershenhorn and mid-grade and YA novelist April Young Fritz. Do I need an agent to get published? No. Many wonderful publishers are open to un-agented submissions, and many of the houses which are closed to unsolicited manuscripts will accept queries. An agent can't sell a manuscript that isn't marketable. And because there are fewer children's agents than there are publishers, it can be harder to get an agent than to sell a book on your own! If you are having trouble getting your foot in the door at the publishers whose lists you like, here are some suggestions: 1. Only send out your best, most polished work. This improves your chances of a sale, and can help you build a relationship with individual editors over time. As agent Steven Malk says, you want an editor to be excited every single time she sees an envelope from you in her in-box. 2. Carefully target your submissions. Editors and agents at every conference I attend mention that many of the submissions they receive are inappropriate for their list or genre. 3. Attend conferences to learn about editors' tastes and meet other writers. |
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