First you have to come up with a great If it really was Once you're done the story you can Once The biggest mistake people make is not sending their work. You can't get published if you don't send it Be patient. 5000 children's books are published every year. Editors at big publishing houses receive about 2 times that many stories to review every year. When the letter comes back from the publishers it might say NO THANK YOU. It doesn't mean your story is bad, just that the editor who read it didn't think it was right for the publishing house. Just pick another publisher and send off your story again. I get rejected to this day. I received about 100 rejection letters before I got my first book published. If you're lucky... they'll say YES! and (Oh yeah... Remember, you don't go into children's books to become a millionaire. So hope your book sells well and move on to your next idea.) |
idea. You have to let the idea float around in your head for awhile. Most
good ideas will stay with you for a least a couple of days. When a new
idea pops into my head I usually write it down in a note book. You never
know when some bad ideas can be turned into good ones.
a good idea, I begin to rough out the story. Because I'm an illustrator
by training, I usually know what the characters look like, but I still
have to build the story around them. Rewriting can be really awful but
it's really important.
(if you're a good illustrator)
layout a 'dummy book'. My 'dummy books' are 8.5" by 11".
They're blank books. Most folks don't know that a picture book is either
32 pages or 24 pages. That's the rule so don't make your book longer or
shorter. Just like writing, drawing takes patience. I do a lot of revisions
before the pages look just right to me.
you
have your 'dummy' or
story done, it's time to send it out to the
publishers. Make a lot of copies of your
work and send out the stories to a lot of
different publishers. If you want to start
small though, just pick one and send them
the story. You'll have to include a self-addressed
stamped envelope if you want a quicker reply.
The publishers address can be found on the
copyright page of most books.
agree to publish your story. Thank your lucky
stars you've just joined the club. If you
wrote the story, they'll find a good illustrator.
Just sit back and let the artist work.