Children's Books BlogEarly Discoveries Through Reading

Publishing children’s books?

I have written several children’s books throughout the years. I never tried to publish them because of lack of self confidence. Well, I was laid off about three weeks ago and it seems like it’s now time to start. Plus, I have another dream I need to help fund. I have been up and down with the “Writers Market” and frankly it’s too much information. A complete concise book on all the steps would be great. From format, query letter, submission, to acceptance and contractual agreements. I am not interested in ebooks or self publishing ,as I can’t afford that. So what are my alternatives? Is there a publishing house that’s more likely to accept them or do you think selling them in magazines such as Highlights would be a good idea? I have a book called “Formatting your Manuscript” but it’s not very helpful for childrens writing. Thanks everyone.

This is the most difficult area of publishing to break into. I just finished ghostwriting two children’s books for a very major publisher (one of the giants) and a celebrity who shall go unnamed.

This is how the children’s book market breaks down right now.

1) About 40% of the market is controlled by celebrities like Madonna, Jamie Lee Curtis etc. Celebrity kids books sell.

2) Another 40% is controlled by tried and true kids authors like Eric Carle etc. They sell too.

3) Another 15 – 20% is controlled by reprints of classic kids books like Curious George etc. They sell also.

That leaves at best 5% for new authors. And lately adult authors like Carl Hiaasen and one of those Higgins Clark women have entered the kids market – reducing your 5% and practically slamming the door on new authors.

In addition, major publishers like the one I write for have huge backlogs of books they have contracted with but haven’t gotten out yet. Kids books take a LONG time to come out.

Therefore, many major publishers including the one I write for have stopped even reading kids books. As a result, agents don’t want to read it either. Not if they can’t sell it.

Unless it is a very exceptional book, it doesn’t have much of a chance in the current market. Spend an hour in Barnes and Noble’s kids dept. and note what books are there. It will confirm this information. You will see almost exactly the breakdown I have described here. I got that info from an exec at the publisher I write for.

The best you can hope for is to go to the library and get a copy of LIterary Marketplace from the research section and start studying it. Search for smaller publishers who are still looking for kids books. Make notes – you cannot check the book out. Then go online and google the heck out of the names and make sure you don’t find any bad info about them. Visit Preditors and Editors and Absolute Write Water Cooler Bewares and Background Checks for info on the baddies out there. There are many.

Make sure you do not send any material to anybody until you are sure they are legit. Otherwise it is lost to you. Then follow submission guidelines and go for it. It is a terribly hard market to break into. A couple books with a small company may help open the doors a little bit for you later on.

Authors have to do research. You have to go to a bookstore and learn your market. Find out what sells and what doesn’t. One more hint … forget about holiday type books all together. They have too short a selling time and publishers are flooded with them. They get declined first.

Hope that helps. Even though it is not great news. Pax – C

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