Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Before my Dec. 11 presentation, the 12 days of Centipede Dragon, and the holidays overwhelmed us, I was talking about how to choose a publisher. I mentioned as strategy to limit yourself in number of publishers you initially target for the first go-around, and then sticking with the basics with your research, like making sure the publisher accepts unsolicited work, and the type of book you are publishing. Start with a few current children’s books you adore, look up their publishing houses, and do your in-depth from there.

The 3 single-most important components to your submission will be your cover letter, your manuscript (text only), and a dummy of your book. Even if you are not the illustrator, remember that the dummy shows the editor who gets your submission how you pace your story. You have to convey to him/her just how serious you are about your book, so even if making a dummy adds more prep time, do it to make your submission stand out from the hundreds and thousands they receive per month.

Publishers may ask for other things, like a biography or a market analysis for your type of book. While I think the latter is a little unfair to ask of us, just make your best effort, but make your cover letter your priority, and your manuscript and dummy flawless. And I mean FLAWLESS.

Next week we’ll focus more on cover letter, which to this day, still somewhat eludes me!