Format for submitting a rhyming picture book

Imriaylde · Apr 21, 2016

I know rhyming picture books aren't all the rage right now, but I've written one, and I'd love some clarification on how to submit it to agents/publishers.

I know I'm not supposed to include page breaks or anything like that, but should I separate the verses with a line? For instance:

Dewy the droplet awoke one day,
Snug on a cloud in the sky.
Surrounded by wisps of a silvery gray,
She watched as the world floated by.

The blue up above was the prettiest hue,
The birds playing chase with the sun.
Dewy looked forward to all she could do
Now that her day had begun!

Or is it better to just smoosh all the verses together, with no line breaks in between verses? Or should I just dispense with the verses all together and submit a block of text?

Thanks for the help!

kenpochick · Apr 22, 2016

I would think that a line between verses as you have above would make it easy to read. I did find this when searching for an answer: http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/05/and-there-hanging-from-car-door-was.html

Tiggy · Aug 7, 2016

The line between verses makes things clearer. 96 lines of text would be very hard to read. I also leave a 3 line gap between pages 2&3 and 4&5 etc.

jlmott · Aug 8, 2016

This is a checklist for formatting a picture book manuscript correctly: http://www.book-editing.com/editing-articles/garner-first-impressions.html . She states the following regarding stanzas: No lines between paragraphs (except for verse), and no extra space between paragraphs. The whole list is really worth checking out.

Format for submitting a rhyming picture book

Imriaylde

kenpochick

I should be writing, not on AW.:-)

Tiggy

A lover, not a fighter

jlmott

Hello, I must be going