children's book manuscript

Hi there,

I'm definitely not an authority on the second question, although I've had books turned down because it would be too difficult to translate them into obscure African dialects and maintain the wordplay!!! OK, that's an exaggeration, but close enough. Publishers seem to like to be able to translate books into every language. Then again, maybe I've just been pitching to the wrong ones (I'll be watching this thread with interest!)

As far as using colourful and interesting fonts, I'd say a definite NO! From my experience of browsing publishers' websites and interviews, etc. etc. I gather that they really hate novelty approaches with PBs, e.g. coloured paper, ingenuous pop-ups and/or unusual fonts. Personally, I imagine the theory behind this is that your story should be good enough to stand on its own. If it needs 'props' to catch a publisher's attention, then the writing simply isn't strong enough. It should be able to catch the world's attention through words alone.

That's my tuppenceworth, anyway. I'll be back to listen to the pros on this subject!

Good luck. It's exciting having a manuscript that's ready to send out.

symphony

natsplat said:

Should you find a fun font to present a children's picture book manuscript, or will it look unprofessional? Does it indicate your personality or do you look ridiculous?

Click to expand...

It looks unprofessional. Stick with either Times New Roman, 12 pt., or Dark Courier, 12 pt.

Good luck!

I live in California and I'm familiar with a lot of bilingual Spanish/English books. Children's Book Press is one big publisher. Scholastic does some bilingual books, but they're more likely to publish two separate editions, one in each language. Depending on the focus of your actual story, that might be an option if the bilingual publisher passes. Would the story stand on its own without the dual languages? That would make a difference, I think.

I doubt you would find much interest in a bilingual Maori/English book outside NZ, but a book that was targeted to a non-Maori audience that included Maori words would have international possibilities in the educational markets. For example, in my first grade class we teach a different continent every month. For Africa, I have a counting book that shows the animals of Tanzania and the numbers 1-10 in Swahili. For Japan, I have a similar book that counts monsters (oni) in Japanese. I'd love to have something similar for Maori. I do have some English versions of Aboriginal folktales, but I've never seen anything like that for Maori. I'd buy it if I did....

What you are describing is a type of book that sells well. There were two similar Spanish/English books out a few years ago....I wish I could remember the titles, I'm sure you'd find that helpful....

It is a bilingual book, but not in the sense of a story told in one language with a parallel text in the other. So your correspondence should make it clear that you have written a book in English with Maori words included, with the intention that the context of the English sentence will make the meaning of the Maori words clear. You should also identify the intended audience--which I think is a family that does not speak Maori in the home. It's a book for learning the language, not for native speakers.

You have a good idea. What you need to keep in mind is that you're selling the idea as much as selling the actual book you've written. So in that sense you're submitting a proposal--it needs to explain what kind of book you have, since just saying "bilingual" could mean a couple of different things.

Does this help?

Presenting a manuscript

This is also a good time to point out that other flashy stuff -- decorated envelopes, little stuffed animals, lots of calligraphy, etc. really don't help. In fact, they often scream "amateur". There are plenty of editors (and editorial assistants) who've spent 20 minutes cleaning their carpets of confetti that a would-be author thought would be "fun" to include in the envelope. Trust me, none of those folks got a contract.

The best advice: keep your submissions clean, professional and as non-flashy as possible. That's the way the pros send 'em.

You should look up bilingual book publishers. They are out there and bilingual books are very popular all over the world right now. Definetly keep the font simple. Most publishers/agents prefer Times New Roman. Hope this helps!

You could try posing these questions to Jennifer Laughran, she's the Ask the Agent right now and she does children's books.

I found the book I was thinking of: Say Hola! to Spanish and Say Hola! to Spanish Two.

Best of luck!

Good luck! Be sure to let us know what happens.

Hi Natsplat--
Re the font-- Do Not, I repeat, Do Not try to be cutesy. It looks unprofessional. Period.

The second question--not sure, but I vaguely remember Boyds Mill Press liking stuff like that...maybe check them out?

And Angela--I bookmarked you Thesaurus--very cool!!!