PB Questions...

MS - I'm not entirely sure, since standards vary between the UK and here in the states. When I've submitted pb ms, I've formatted them as you would a novel, but I don't know that that's necessarily the best way or the right way to do it.

QL - I've read that unless it's publishing credits, don't include it.

Dave, since you're in the UK, you should probably pay more attention to the advice of UK agents/editors/writers when it comes to formatting issues. Hopefully, Torgo will pop into this thread at some point.

Yeah, I think you should look for a UK site that discusses the standard format. Because I know that for novel query/submissions, the standard is quite different. Fewer people over there = less need to be streamlined. So folks over there take letter, outline/synopsis, and first three chapters, or so I've heard. Only a few agents want all that over here. So... don't believe anything a Yank tells you.

Standard manuscript format is the same in the UK and US, which I think is what David is after? My understanding was picture books should use the short story version, as they're so short and don't have chapters. Or at least, that's how I'm formatting mine, so I hope it's right.

Format as you would a novel. You can start the text on the first page, but it should be separated from the title. Also, exact word counts are better than approximations. As long as the format is professional and the work outstanding, minor details won't be deal breakers.

Read everything you can about the person you're subbing to to get an idea of what they want in a QL. Some like the pitch paragraph, some want to get to know you a little, some want the simplest letter possible. This is dealer's choice.

Good luck.

You don't necessarily format as you would with a novel. It depends. If your manuscript is more a type of verse (not rhyming verse, necessarily, but verse--where sentence rhythms are important), then you can format it double-spaced, but laid out more like a poem. So a 400 word picture book might be laid out onto four or five pages.

You don't have to indicate where page turns occur unless certain page turns are critical to your text.

You don't need to provide anything about your ability to entertain children, adults, or even the ability to read your own work for an audience. I just saw a big time author/illustrator that could not do any of that either. It was atrocious. I still admire his work.

Learn your art.