Ques Regarding Publishing My Children's Book and Agents

First of all, Welcome to AW. You've come to the right place if you want to learn how the publishing business works.

Please don't take offense, but the questions you're asking reveal that you really, really, really need to do some research in the field before you do anything else. For one thing, literary agents don't represent artwork for kitchen and bathroom decor. Asking for their professional opinion on your work would brand you as a complete rookie.

Take some time to read as much as you can about the business, starting with the Online Toolkit:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39596

Seriously, don't send anything else off to anybody until you've read the resources listed in that thread. It will save you from committing a faux pas (or lots of them...).

As JudScotKev mentioned, if you are interested in publishing for children, then you have some reserach to do before you even think about agents. She gave you a link to a good place to start.

If it were me, I'd start by reading ALL the threads I could find in the Writing for Children forum on publishing and submitting picture books.

Generally, picture books follow a very specific and proscribed format, and the competition to break into publishing picture books as a writer or illustrator is steep.

SO...go do your research - ie:

- research what the proscribed expectations are for picture book manuscripts - they follow a very particular format, based on the realities of printing;

- research what kinds of stories are marketable today - I'd start at the library or a book store with a really good kids' section - read every picture book published by the trade publishers WITHOUT a character/product tie in (ie, ignore all the Dora/Elmo/Cheerios/Arthur/Etc.... books) - then take another look at your manuscript and illustrations and see if they are of the same quality;

- read all of the picture book critiques in the Children's Share Your Work Forum (password Vista);

- Then take another look at your manuscript - how does it compare to the manuscripts and (more importantly) the comments made on those manuscripts in the SYW forum ;

- revise your manuscript based on what you have learned from your research and reading other's critiques;

- Then post your revised manuscript in the children's Share Your Work Forum for some critique OR find some knowledgable beta readers;

- ONLY after you are sure what you have is a marketable picture book manuscript, in proper format, and ready to be queried.... then start reading up on agents who rep picture books - there aren't that many. Look at what they will expect in a query/proposal. Know that these days, most agents and publisher art directors expect to see your art in somekind of electronic protfolio - ie, you won't be sending them originals.

You can research agents to find some who are reputable and rep picture books at agentquery.com, querytracker.com, publishersmarketplace.com and here on AW in the bewares & background checks forum. But before you do that, make sure you manuscript is really ready.

From your posts, you have a lot of work to do. But if you really want to publish picture books, then it will be worth it. BUT, know that the picture book market is really competetive AND it generally isn't a jumping off point for other kinds of art ventures. So, if you want employment/publication in other art ventures, then a literary agent isn't likely what you want for those other ventures.

good luck with your research.

~suki

My point is that there are different types of agents, and different types of art markets. You are asking about two very different things.

Literary agents mostly focus on writing. Some represent author/illustrators, and a few do represent illustrators who are not writers. But what they will not do, usually, is represent your art to be licensed for anything but books. If you are trying to build a career as an artist, then that is a very different process than building a career as a picture book illustrator.

If your primary focus is becoming an illustrator--doing the artwork for other people's stories--then SCBWI is your best resource. They offer workshops, support groups, classes, etc. Plus most of their conferences include a chance to show your portfolio.

But the portfolio in that case should be entirely focused on artwork for children. No abstracts. So if much of what you hope to market is abstract, suited for other things than children's books, you are looking for another kind of agent. If you even need an agent for it. I don't know.

JudScotKev is right-there are different types of agents and you are talking about two different types. I don't know much about it, but I met an illustrator at a SCBWI conference who had an artist agent represent her work as an illustrator and also for greeting card work. You don't have to have an agent to work as an illustrator, and I don't know the percentage who do, but even if you don't have an agent to represent you, there are very specific ways to send info/artwork to publishers.

First of all, listen to the advice the others here have given. I put some information in the quote below, but I don't think there's any way around you hitting the reality wall.

artistic76 said:

This past summer, I made an attempt to write and illustrated a children's book. I managed to complete 24 pages, consisting of the illustrations and one or two sentences describing the illustration.

1 - non-pro artists generally do not get to do their own illustrations. The publisher will choose an illustrator from their stable. (Pros can get pictures attached, but they have to be awesome.

2 -- at 24 pages, you're not finished with your book. 32 pages is standard for a PB. (Including a page for title/copyright info. The # of pages MUST be a multiple of 8, no exceptions - that's how the pages fold. 32 is the max that will fit on one sheet of printed paper, so it's the most economical for publishers.

The book is for young readers, up to age four or five. It's based on a character and follows the character on a journey. It's almost like an Eric Carle book, just to give you some idea of what I am talking about.

Don't take this the wrong way, but - that's your opinion. There are a lot of people who think they can turn out a PB just like___________. Very (VERY) few actually can. You say "up to" age 4 or 5, but is this a "read to me" book, or an early reader kind of thing? The two are different.

I was so proud of the book that I actually had it copywritten with the library of congress. Months before, I had taken a graphic design course and the instructor insisted I copyright any work I submit for consideration.

Then your instructor isn't qualified to be giving you information on it. The publisher registers the copyright. Doing it yourself is right up there with the "Poor Man's Copyright" in the list of "Advice people give when they don't know what they're talking about." If you're using the illustrations on-line, you might want a trademark (IF you're using them in trade for profit, etc.), but other than that don't do it.

Anyway, I had sent query letters to a handful 0f publishers in new york, all of whom replied that they only read "agented material." Upon furthering my research, I found, yet again, another new york based book publishing company that accepts unsolicited material and also listed on their website submission guidelines. Long story short, I submitted a proposal and the illustrations as the asked to supply them if they were ready. They say they reply in four months if they are interested - well, I submitted it in mid august, it's already mid-december, so my guess is that they are not interested.

Most of the big ones only want agented material, but they will look at things that catch their interest. (Seriously, illustrations can kill your book). Small publishers will take unagented subs (as will some like DAW -- Penguin) you just have to do your homework.

As for the silence -- you subbed in the busiest part of their year. Be patient, those reply windows are only estimates.

In any case, I still want to pursue this idea of mine, still. Not only that, I have some artwork too, that I want to show and get a professional opinion on.

You can post your text in share your work (children's) here (password: vista) You'll get input on the writing, meter (for rhyming books), etc. You can probably post a link to an on-line portfolio if you want people to crit your illustrations.

My question is this: Agents. How can I go about finding one without seeming completely clueless about the whole ordeal? I mean, from what I understand, they do not ask for money upfront, however, is it that all I need to know to distinguish literary agents?

VERY few agents rep PB (not all children's books are picture books, so not all agents who rep children's rep PB). You have to go to their site and see what they list as their areas of interest. Real agents will have sales and a good reputation. Check Publisher's Marketplace if you don't mind the subscription fees. Check Preditors and Editors. Check here in Bewares and Background checks.

I have prepared a query letter to send out, and I have a book that lists possible agents, but I'm nervous about mailing it out.

You send a cover letter and full text (most of the time - again, check the guidelines) with a PB. DO NOT attach illustrations if it's an e-query as attachments as agencies generally won't open attachments due to risk of virus. Those books are a decent start, but you still have to check them out. They don't vet them.

From what I understand, even agents take a 3 month period to respond, and that's IF they want to respond. Needless to say, I also want to mention to the possible agent that I want to have my other artwork submitted for consideration for various design products such as kitchen/bathroom decor (sheets, tablecloths, napkins, et), and such, and I want to see or at least have a professional opinion regarding my work.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO.

JUST NO.

Don't do it. Literary agents are looking at the story - ONLY the story. Brandable characters are nice, but their interest is the story. And branding would come at a later time after the character is established - at the publisher's discretion. Not yours.

THEY DO NOT critique art work and give opinions to people who aren't their clients. They don't have time to do pro bono work for everyone who sends them one of the THOUSANDS of queries they get a year. It's not their job.

So, anyone down a similar path - how did you go about?

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