BellaOnline Forums Career Writing for Children Does anyone have any tips in getting published

HI All!! I'm new to this game. Started writing about a year and a half ago. Began as sort of a self challenge. Turns out I love it!! So far I think I have 1 mid grade novel and 5 picture book manuscripts that are worthy of publication. I have just recently sent the picture book manuscripts off to about 10 different publishers. And yes...I've read all the books and guides to childrens publishing. So far 3 rejections - either sorry...not taking unsolicited query/submissions or sorry doesn't fit our current needs. Since I'm unpublished and not a has been singer/movie star/fonzie I wonder if my stuff is even getting read. All I ever hear about is the dreaded "slush pile" and I imagine my work is being used to wipe up some college interns spilled latte. Please tell me there is hope. Can anyone out there share their experiences with me?

Start here at BellaOnline:

http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/7723.asp

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art39094.asp

The links above are fantastic resources.

I was recently offered a book contract by a medium sized publisher in the UK for what I write the most of on the internet - and that is meditation for children.

He read my hundreds of articles here at BellaOnline and at my personal web site.

So, what worked for me was to first write hundreds of articles for free and become a web presence.

I think the problem comes when people think that after 10 rejections they give up. Many popular authors went through 100s of submissions before they found a publisher willing to take a chance on them. Don't give up. Pick up a copy of Writer's Digest's Writer's Market for a complete listing of publihsers. Also make sure the publishers you're submitting to already are publishing work similar to yours.

Writing something absolutely brilliant is probably the best way...although it's never worked for me.

I just saw in Woman's Day magazine that they are hosting (for the 2nd year I believe) a Children's Book Writing contest.

I cannot remember if it was the May or June 2006 issue that i was reading, but I do know it was current (I checked because I was in my Dr.s office!)

Here's the website for it:
Woman's Day/ Scholatic Books "I Want to Be a Children's Writer" contest

They had hundreds of entrants last year according to the article; but it still could be worth it!

Thanks for the link! I am going to send mine in.

I know that Michele Lang got published in ebooks at first (via Triskelion publishing), and now she's an up and coming author who's going to be in paperback and on the shelves by September 2006!! Her books are awesome...

http://www.michelelang.com/

I have been writing for years but since I am my own worst critic, I can't seem to finish any of them and always start over from a different angle. I did send a manuscrpt into a publishing company but they only publish magazines and not books. I got a letter from them and they said they enjoyed reading my manuscript but they were not into book pub.
I got excited with my rejection notice because I became a "struggling writer" with that. lol.

I haven't tried online publishing yet so thge other idea came from Moe.

Get a copy of the Writer's Market. You can get it at your local library if you don't want to shell out the cash for it.

It explains what publishing companies accept and don't accept and if you need an agent or not. It is a very helpful book and also lists agents in it for you if you have to go that route.

Other than that try to get some short stories published in magazines to get some notarity also.

One other option is what Stephen King did a few years back. Get a website and charge people like a dollar a chapter to read your book online. If you are not known try offering a chapter for free and if people like it, they may purchase the rest of the chapters.

Good luck and I hope I helped a bit too.

This probably goes without saying...someone who would like to be published really should pay close attention to spelling and grammar. When editors receive sloppy manuscripts, the writer immediately loses credibility, and even if the content of the book is interesting, the work is much more likely to be bypassed. I don't write books for children, but I would think that the statements shared above are valid in any genre.

Patricia Cummings, owner, Quilter's Muse Publications
www.quiltersmuse.com