Submit. Then Revise and submit again.

by Susan J Berger

I think writing is easier than submitting. It's hard to send your story out knowing that there is a very good possibility you will be rejected.
Today I read a post on Literary Rambles on R&R (revise and resubmit) from the POV of agent Natalie Lokosil of The Bradford Agency and debut author Lindsey Becker. 

Lindsey writes of her journey to acceptance with her debut book. The Star Thief. Literary Rambles is always worth reading and is a great guide to agents. If you are not using it as a resource, you're missing a good bet.  I put the link to the post above.

Just in case you want to check out The Bradford Agency, here's a link to their guidelines. http://www.bradfordlit.com/submission-guidelines/

and Here's  a link to Natalie's page

http://www.bradfordlit.com/about/natalie-fischer-lakosil/

I've submitted to Sarah and Laura at The Bradford Agency. (Neither of them do picture books.) I think I would like to try Natalie.

 

Last week I got out two picture book queries - the snail mail kind.
Clarion Book, a division of Houghton Mifflin is now accepting unsolicited submission for children's books and separately for artwork.

Children’s Books:

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Clarion Books and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers are the hardcover imprints of the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers Division.

Please note: Presently, only Clarion Books is accepting unsolicited submissions. HMH Books for Young Readers will not be reviewing unsolicited submissions at this time.

While we accept unsolicited and unagented submissions, we do not respond unless we are interested in publishing the work or would like to request a revision. Our time frame for a response is up to twelve weeks. We regret that we cannot respond personally to every submission, but each manuscript does receive careful consideration.

Your manuscript should be typed and submitted via mail. We do not accept submissions by e-mail or fax. Please do not send a self-addressed return envelope or postcard, as materials will not be returned. Manuscripts will be recycled if we determine that they are not a match for our publishing program.

For picture books and novels, please send the entire manuscript. For nonfiction, submit a synopsis and sample chapters.

When submitting work to any publishing house, it is useful to check your local bookstore or library to get a sense of the company’s publishing style. This research may also help you determine which HMH imprint is best for your work. Please submit exclusively to one HMH imprint.

Submissions to Clarion Books should be sent to the following address:

Clarion Books / Submissions
3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10016

Illustration Submission Guidelines

The design department receives samples from potential illustrators of picture books and fiction book jackets for Clarion Books and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers. (Illustrations that are part of a picture book dummy with text should be submitted to the editorial department per the instructions above.)

Send color copies or tear sheets; do not send original artwork or slides. Please show a limited selection of your strongest work. Illustrations that feature children or animals are helpful, but feel free to submit other subject matter. Samples will not be returned. We will contact you only if we have a potential illustration assignment.

Our mailing addresses are as follows:

Clarion Books OR Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
Design Department / Art Samples
3 Park Avenue South, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10016

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
Design Department / Art Samples
125 High Street
Boston, MA 02110

I vow to do at least one submission next week. On a happier note, I have two books eligible for the Crystal Kite Awards. Two. How's that for wonderfulness?

Earthquake, 2nd Edition is a non fiction book about Earthquakes with factoids and some fun experiments. and Mom, is There a Santa Claus? is a picture book about - well the title says it all.

 If I had don't this post last week, I could have asked for votes.
Timing is everything.
SUBMIT!

 

Getting It Out There

You've written you book. And re-written it a number of times. You've sent it through critique groups, re-edited and sent it back to the critique group and repeated the process till you and your group decide you've written your story in the best possible way..
No it's time to submit it. What do you do? Look for an Agent to do it for you?
Send directly to publishers? Both of the above.
Rules have changed. In the age of eBook and self-publishing, very few publishers claim the right to exclusively sit on your manuscript while they take six or seven months to decide if they wish to see more of your work.

The Right Agent.

Method one: You can put together a list of recent books that you admire or that you think are similar to your work. Then, find out who represents those authors.. Many authors list their agents on the acknowledgments page in the front or back of their books. If you can’t find the agents this way, contact the publishing companies of the books on your list and ask their publicity departments who agented the books you are interested in.

 Method two: Go to AgentQuery.com, The internet's largest free database of literary agents. There you will find all kinds of wonderful tools to help you come up with a list of agents to query. Put in the keyword "Juvenile" and it will bring up another list.  I choose this method.

Method three: Go to Manuscript Wish List. This is the twitter link/site. Search the tags for your type of book.

Here's a link to the FAQ sheet for Manuscript Wish List.com

Bypass the Agent. Go to the Publisher

Submit directly to a publisher. SCBWI publishes The Book with a list of publishers. Author's Publishing is a free magazine which tells who is accepting manuscripts. I know there are other methods. I use these.

However you choose to do it, get it done. I know how hard it is to submit. I sent one out yesterday. Good luck to all of us.

 

 

 

 

Submission and reviewing sources.

By Susan J Berger
I have three sets of links for you:

Submitting

 Manuscript Wishlist http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/  This is a great place to find what agents and editors are looking for. Also be sure and visit  their twitter regularly. Search the hash tag #MSWL
@ManuscriptWList

Casey McCormick and Natalie Aguirre host Literary Rambles which is a treasure trove of agent interviews. You can sort the agents by the type of books they represent.

Sue Ganz Schmidt recommended this website to me Authors Publish.com It's free and she says sometimes they send you very useful information. I subscribed last night and got some very useful links. http://www.authorspublish.com/the-top-20-publishers-for-new-authors/

Reviewing

I got a request for a list I previously posted about: getting reviews. I had been researching the sites for Picture Book reviewers, but these sites also review Middle Grade and YA

I want to add Middle Grade Mania, which had a list of bloggers who review Middle grade.



Here is a list of reviewers I wanted to contact:

The Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/get_rev.htm Reviewing print books/CDs/DVDs is always free of charge. They charge a 50.00 Reader Fee for eBooks
I now have my books, so I will be sending one.

The Picture Book Reviews
https://thepicturebookreview.com/review-policy-disclosures/

If you’d like to contact me, please send me an email at:thepicturebookreview@gmail.com.

Review Policy: Hello! As of January 1, 2015:  I happily accept picture books for review.  If we love the book, I’ll write a review about it.   I accept physical copies only — ARCs, galleys, etc. are fine — it just needs to be something I can sit down and read with my family.Thank you so much for thinking of me.  I’m flattered that you’d like your book reviewed on my site. Also, good luck with your book!  Picture book authors and illustrators

I will be contacting her. 

Readers Favorites.Com

https://readersfavorite.com/book-reviews.htm  All reviews are free. They post on their Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You CAN pay for more stuff. I didn't want to. I submitted an ARC PDF for review on 9/25. The review was up 4 days later.

KidReads.com

Here's what their contact page says:

I am an author, publisher or publicity agent and I would like my book to be reviewed on Kidsreads.com. What do I do?
To submit a book for review on Kidsreads.com, please send it to:
The Book Report Network
250 West 57th Street
Suite 1228
New York, NY 10107
Although we cannot guarantee a review, we consider every book that comes into our office. Due to the volume of submissions that we receive, we cannot contact authors or publishers on the status of a book for review. Typically books are reviewed within 3 months of publication. We suggest you sign up for our newsletter, which will list the content that we are promoting.
Please note that at this time we do not review eBooks, POD Books and other self-published titles as we only offer books that are available with wide distribution offline as well as online.

Places I will not submit:

Kirkus Book reviews. HUGELY expensive. If your publisher is paying. Great.

The Children's Book Review

 $195 for a review. No thanks. They do have a place where you can giveaway a copy of your book. When I checked it out, they wanted me to pay them 65.00 for the privilege of giving away a book/

 Places to check out:

 Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

This is a collection of websites that TTLG has found interesting and/or useful. Because sites change so fast we cannot vouch for their content. If you have any comments or suggestions about this list please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be adding to these lists regularly so please keep checking this page for new doorways into the world of children's literature.

I have not checked them all out yet. Some are no longer active.  Some seem not to be reviewing sites at all.

Marketing

Planning your marketing campaign. Click the link for an amazing spreadsheet to help you plan marketing.
Incredible 15 tab excel spreadsheet for marketing Andrea Loney graciously shared this with me.
Start with the "About Tab" They sheet was authored by Jenny Blake and it's amazingly thorough, and perhaps more than you want. I would strongly suggest reading it. .
Jenny says Feeling Generous?
1) If you get value from this spreadsheet, please consider making a donation. I will be very grateful...we all know that authors only see royalty checks once in a blue moon (if ever)!
2) Spread the word -- please feel free to share this spreadsheet with your other author friends!
There is a link on the spreadsheet to where to send a donation.
Happy Writing.