The answer to my number one question from friends.
If you’ve ever thought:
I want to publish a children’s book! Where do I start?
This post is for you.
This post is how to get into children’s book publishing the Traditional Publishing way. Let’s jump right in:Traditional publishing: Having your book published by a publisher with an editor. The publisher is in charge of sales, distribution and marketing.
Self publishing: When you make and publish your own book. You would then be responsible for your own design, print, sales, distribution and marketing.
Step 1: Do your research
Read as many children’s books as possible.Study the characters. Study their story arcs. Take notice of the books you keep close to your heart, or the stories that are missing. Also make sure to read NEW picture books, not just the classics or the cool books you liked when you were a kid.
Suggested reading: Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication
I highly recommend listening to this podcast which will have answers to all of your publishing questions: Writing for children podcast
I also enjoy this podcast which is more about the creative process behind children’s book authors and illustrators: The Children’s Book Podcast
This book helped me understand the world of publishing right away. Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Guide Market It will give you names and addresses of Publishers, Editors and Agents, and lots of publishing tips.
Step 2: Jump right in!
If you are a writer, aim to write 3-4 children’s book stories.
You do NOT need to hire an illustrator to illustrate your book idea, however I do still suggest making a dummy! You can make a dummy (laid out in a 32 or 42 pages) just by printing out the words of your book, cutting out the sentences, and taping them to blank papers folded together like a book.
If you are a writer and a illustrator, aim to write 3-4 children’s book stories. Then I suggest making 1 book package for your favorite story.
A book package is:
A word doc of your story (I use microsoft word).
A dummy which is your entire book laid out in a 32 or 42 pages (I like to use Indesign but you can use anything you can get your hands on).
Three final pieces of illustration (I usually like to do the cover, plus 2 of my favorite spreads. I like to use Procreate).
Here is a template to help you with your dummy layout:
Dummies don’t have to be perfect! Keep in mind, agents, editors, publishers all might have a say in making your book the best it can be. You want to aim for professional and well thought out, but NOT final. Here are a few photos of a mini dummy I created for an old project (which is still available if you’re an editor reading this 😉 It’s about a boy who fell in love with a flower).
Step 3: Get feedback & revise.
When I was starting out, at this stage I was petrified. Here’s the short cut to what helped me:
Join the 12x12 Challenge You can sign up, and try to write a picture book once a month! (It’s ok if you can’t as well! It’s not mandatory, but I liked the goal setting). There are many writers and illustrators here, at every level. The goal is to share your stories, and get feedback. You will get alot of feedback. What I really liked about it, was seeing where there were similar threads of feedback, that’s where I found nuggets of truth that needed to be improved in my story.
Note: Feedback could go on forever 😂 At first, I took it ALL in. I wanted to learn and revise, and I was committed! But then I realized quickly, that you don’t need to make all the edits. It’s up to you to decide when to revise, and when to let some feedback go, because its in a large group setting.
Once I felt like my stories were in a good place, I submitted them to contests and agents.
I should add I no longer do 12x12 Challenge because I have a lovely critique group with my agency that I can try to make time for when needed. However 12x12 Challenge was a wonderful place to start when I didn’t have a group of people to talk children’s book publishing with.
Step 4: Create your website
Finding an agent to represent your work is like a job interview. Who are you, what are your qualifications, what body of work can you share, why do you want to become a children’s book author or illustrator? I suggest making an easy website that showcases all of these wonderful things about you! Wix and Squarespace are a great place to start.
Here are a few examples of some LOVELY author websites!
Here is an example of my author illustrator website:
Step 5: It's showtime! Time to get out there, and find an agent.
It’s showtime! By this point you will have written some great children’s books, have a book package ready to share with the world with the hopes of it being published, as well as created your website showcasing who you are, and what you like to write and/or illustrate.
It’s time to draft an email to send to a list of your favorite agents with the hopes of finding representation! Treat this like a cover letter for a job you are applying to, with links to your website, and if you have a book package to share, and explain why you’d LOVE to work with this agent.
Where do you find agents? This is where the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Guide Market book comes in handy to find your bearings. You can find names of agencies who represent authors, illustrators, or author illustrators. Make sure you only reach out to agents that suit your work. For example if you are children’s book author, or a young adult novel writer, be sure your agent represents that genre of work. They will often have wishlists as well.
As you google your way through agencies and agents, it’ll start to make sense, I promise. In your gut, you’ll fall in love with your favorites. You can find agents on social media as well. My current agent found me because I was actively sharing my work on social media, which felt like a real fairy god mother moment. I’m SO thankful for Christie Megill! I just adore her like no other. We’ve never met, but when we do I can’t wait to exchange ghost stories.
Then just to explain how this works if it’s getting confusing, here is how a book gets published:
The Talent—the Author and/or Illustrator will write/make a book. That’s you!
The Agent—works at an talent agency. They will review the Author/Illustrator’s book package. Some edits may be made to make the perfect book pitch with the Author/Illustrator. Once ready, the agent will send out to a short list of editors. It’s SO exciting! This is my favorite part.
The Editor—works at the publishing house (this could be Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster etc.) They will review book submissions from agents who are representing the talent. If the editor loves the book, they often have to get more internal approvals (such as the Publisher, Sales, other editors), and if given the green light, a book will be published!
Step 6: Follow your magic.
My last bits of advice:
Please know, rejection is a HUGE part of publishing. Rejection will happen to you hundreds of times. Your agent will share your book with let’s say a list of 20 editors. If all those get rejected, they may send out again to 20 new/different editors.
However let’s say your books gets 40 rejections, if it were me I would then revise my story because something isn’t landing (sometimes editors will give feedback) and possibly send to another list of editors.
After a bunch of rejections, its also okay to put your story up on the shelf, and work on a new story idea. As my agent says, no story really goes away, it just might not be the right now. You can always revise or revisit it later.
Your first stories will be awful. Mine were awful. Famous authors and illustrator’s first stories were awful. Art NEVER starts perfect—it takes time to mold, practice, and shape it into something beautiful. The visual of Bambi learning to walk comes to mind.
Guidelines, not rules. I’ve been following all publishing advice, and believe in the traditional process of writing, illustrating, and getting published. It has worked for me, thanks to hard work, the support of a team alongside me, a lot of dreaming, action, hope, and the perfect timing. However with that said, I’ve also seen unique circumstances where talented people break the molds, forge their own path, and break the rules! There is always more than one way to climb a mountain.
I really believe that you can achieve any goal you set your mind to, especially when it’s something you love so deeply. Don’t give up. Have grit. Keep learning. Keep practicing. Keep trying. Keep your head up. It’s a thrilling and magical experience, and I can’t wait to hear about your book publishing journey!
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