Writing Tips To Score A Publisher

Going through writing my own children’s story, I have completed a lot of research that other aspiring children’s authors or even novel authors may find useful as I have.

In regard to actually writing and formatting a children’s book, pay special attention to the Illustrations as this is the dominant feature in a children’s book, whether it be drawings or photographs, they should draw the child’s attention in, telling the story without the words. They should also include childlike humor and nonsense in ANY children’s book. It should be VERY colorful to catch the children’s attention and always remember that a picture leaves no room for error within the text.

Example ideas for young children you could use are:

• Exercise (great idea with the state of obesity in the world)
• Being on Time
• Forgetting
• Making new friends
• Shyness
• Lying
• Night and Day
• Changes of Season
• Holidays etc.

With every manuscript you write, pay particular attention to the illustrations, even if

you aren’t going to be the one that creates them. Have an idea in your mind of what you would like to have in your book so that you have something to work with when it comes time to finding an illustrator or explaining your idea to your publisher.

When submitting your finished manuscript to a publisher or agent, think about the following things in regard to your cover letter and also your portfolio/resume. When putting your portfolio together it would help if you kept the following things in mind. Who you are- what is your educational/literary background, what awards and prizes have you won, including interesting personal background, of course include all your professional skills and strengths as well as the range of your writing and artistic involvements and interest in or empathy with particular groups.

What you do-
The genre(s) you are working with, the essence of your work(s) in a couple of lines eg. The theme, story lines, distinctive features, what other works are similar to yours and what makes yours different to these and the selling points of your work. How did you come to write this work and also include an interesting anecdote in the preparation of your work.

Who you are writing for-
A general audience, adults, mass market, specific readers eg. Crime fiction fans, children etc.

If you are a writer you should be able to write a convincing letter. Keep in mind that this is the first contact you will be having with any publishers or agents and it is also the example of your writing that a publisher or agent will see. They not only read the words on the paper, they also look at the way that it is formatted and the type of medium used. They look at the quality of the paper, the layout, the typeface, design etc. If you have a distinctive letterhead and business card that reflects your style you are more likely to present a professional image of yourself to prospective business partners then if you just sent a plain, typed letter with no formatting or editing. When deciding on what kind of letterhead and business cards you would like to use, think about your personality, make it yours and don’t just use a pre-made template.

Your business cards should carry the following information- Your name, address, telephone number(s), a brief description of your work (ie. Children’s author, photographer, illustrator). The letter head should also reflect the same style as your business cards, listing the same information. Doing this makes your presentation on paper more uniform.

You should also have a good quality black and white portrait of yourself taken by a professional. It should be 25mm by 20mm, it can be sent along with resumes and portfolios and ultimately may end up on the back of your published work! The presentation of the information is also important and you should check that all resumes, portfolios and manuscripts are on good quality paper, that it is well set out, is clear and easy to read, has all correct details, contains no errors and is no longer than 2 pages long.

Presentation of Manuscripts. The presentation of a manuscript should be as professional as possible. It should be typed (not hand written), with no mistakes (make sure to spell check) and should be double spaced, which leaves plenty of room for an editor to make comments on your work.

Guidelines of manuscript submission. A short covering letter should accompany all manuscripts. It must state that you are presenting a manuscript for consideration. You must keep it brief. Then the title page should follow. This says the title and author’s name (uppercase and centered); a copy write line ( © writer’s name and year) underneath. Your name, address and phone number. This information should be repeated on the last page also. The typing and format should be professional looking, generous (3-4cm) margins with double spaces. You should also number all pages on the top right hand corner. The normal protocol is to include a return self addressed envelope with return postage, for the publisher to return your manuscript. If you haven’t had a reply after 3 months, feel free to write a follow-up letter, but not before.

I hope this information has been useful to you, I know that it was useful to me. Good luck with your writing career.