Working for a Childrens Book PublisherMy Insights in to PublishingMy time working for a leading childrens book publisher gave me an insight into the world of editors, designers, publicity, marketing, sales and production staff and about just how much work goes into publishing a book.There was a real buzz about the office when a completed book, once a tatty manuscript that had been passed around from staff member to staff member, would arrive from the printer, beautifully bound with its attractive-looking cover and pristine pages that had never been flicked through before. If it feels exciting to all those people at the publishing company, what must it feel like for the writer? To have spent hours, days, months, maybe years, working on a manuscript and to see it, in book form, ready to enter the shops. It must be out of this world. This is the dream, the vision that all writers work so hard to make a reality.
ManuscriptsDuring my time working for a childrens book publisher I read many manuscripts and one thing that struck me about a lot of them was that the writers did not send in their most polished work. It’s massively important to ensure your grammar and spelling is correct and that your work is laid out correctly. You can almost feel the passion that goes into the work of a successful writer. Belief in yourself and your story goes a long way. The structure and the way your story it told is obviously very important.
Know the marketLearn all that you can about the market you’re writing for. Publishers, like the childrens book publisher I worked for, are often looking for stories for specific genres at a specific time, for example, the next horse series for young girls or vampire story for teens. We know now that the market is flooded with vampire stories so perhaps publishers will be moving away from that now. Maybe they'll be looking for the next Stephenie Meyer of another genre.
The slush pile at a childrens book publisherThe slush pile barely exists these days. It’s a term used for all the manuscripts submitted directly to the publisher from the writer. The slush pile where I worked was incredibly difficult to keep on top of. We had stopped accepting new manuscripts some months before and we had a huge backlog which was usually left for junior members of staff and work experience people to trawl through. It is very rare that a manuscript found on the slush pile would be published. Unfortunately, the quality of writing was often very poor and you didn’t have to be an editor to be able to see that.
Literary agentsThe majority of the manuscripts that we received that were read by our editors came directly from agents. It’s important to research these too. If you are sending your manuscript to an agent, find out who they represent first. Make sure they have a good reputation. Publishers sit up and pay attention particularly to the ones they know are good. Make sure you submit your manuscript to them in the way they specify. There are guidelines on agents’ websites and in the Writers and Artists Yearbook. It is essential that you do this.Writing websitesAn alternative to the slush pile or submitting directly to an agent are websites such as www.authonomy.com and www.youwriteon.comThe members of these sites are wannabe writers who upload their work for other members to read and critique. To submit your own work, you have to commit to reading and critiquing a number of other members’ work in return. Publishers and Agents keep an eye on these sites, particularly on the scripts that rank the highest, and it’s becoming more and more frequent that writers are ‘discovered’ in this way.
My suggestionsI would highly recommend that you become an expert in all of these areas. If there is a particular childrens book publisher who you would like to publish your manuscript, do as much research as you can about them. Get hold of a copy of their catalogue, these can often now be found on their websites. Try to think of your work from a publisher’s point of view. Who would your work appeal to? Have an age group in mind. Look in bookshops to see how these are determined. Are you writing for girls or boys, men or women? Who would your story appeal to? What genre is it?I know it sounds like a lot of work on top of putting all your energy into your own writing but it really is worth it. If you can write your book so that it fits somewhere specific in the market then it’s more likely that the publisher or agent will see this too. Publishers and Agents want to discover great writers with amazing stories to tell but we have to do our best to meet them in the middle. Good luck. I know you can do it! Return from Working for a Childrens Book Publisher to Get on in Writing for Children Home
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