How to use this Page

For all you writers and illustrators who have days where you feel like the publishing industry could make you stop, scream and pull their hair out, this cute illustration sent in by Julia Rosenbaum is for you. 

Julia has always wanted to be a children’s book writer/illustrator…and so she went to law school. A few years after that interesting episode in her life, she learned how to use Photoshop and became a graphic designer. She is now working on her original dream: writing picture book manuscripts and creating illustrations. You can find her online at juliadraws.com and on Twitter @julia_draws.

Here are a few more Answers to the Questions you sent in and the answers from the Writer’s Retreat the other weekend with Agent Sean McCarthy and Associate Publisher at Penguin Putnam, Steve Meltzer.

1. Because agents now often don’t respond if they aren’t interested in a query, that makes almost imperative to send simultaneous queries. Is ten to a dozen too many to send out at once?

The consensus was to send ten queries at a time. No one thought you should send one query at a time and wait to hear back before sending your work out to someone else. Here are my thoughts about other similar questions I get asked: You may get five agents asking to see your full manuscript from the query letters you send out. Some may ask for an exclusive submission. If they do, you will need to way their request against the other agents. That exclusive submission request might throw that agent out of the running or they might be at the top of your list of agents you would want to represent you. If they are, then make sure you find out how long they expect to have an exclusive for your manuscript.

Is this amount of time acceptable? It may be, but now you know how to proceed. I personally think six weeks would be my limit, other people may be willing to wait three months. As long as both of you are on the same page it should work.

What if you send out your full manuscript to five agents or editors and one gets saying they are interested, before you say yes to them representing you and blow off the others, you should email saying you haven’t heard back from them and another agent is interested in offering you representation. Many agents appreciate you letting them know so they can pull your manuscript out of the pile to see if they are interested in your story. No need to do this if an agent stated up front that if you haven’t heard back in three weeks they are not interested.

Say you submit to an agent who turns around and works with you, offers a lot of advice that you use when revising your manuscript, and asks to see it again, IMO, you should make sure you resubmit the manuscript to them, before offering it to another agent.

If you have submitted the manuscript to editors, you should always make sure the agent offering representation knows who has seen it right up front. You don’t want to get in the position of signing a contract with the agent and then have them say they didn’t know it had been read by numerous editors in the industry. They might be thinking they could sell it to the same people you already sent it to. Now you have someone who doesn’t want to work with you and may even cancel the contract with you. Supposed this happens after you have turned down another agent who was interested in your work. Now you have lost out on two agents at one time. Oh yes, this can happen and it doesn’t matter if the agent should have asked these questions, you are now the one who is on the losing end of this scenario.

2. What’s the best way to label a manuscript/book that falls on the borderline between middle grades and young adult? (Think ages 10 to 14. For example, I’m talking about a horsey book, and that is the age at which the most girls are the most horse-crazy, and the best time to market such a book to them.) Would agents/editors want to see it called upper middle grades? Tween?

Sean McCarthy and Steve Meltzer said don’t put MG or YA in the query, put the age group and let them decide where it fits. The other idea you can use is to go to the book store and peruse the shelves. Where would the store shelve your book? What are the titles of the other books on that shelf? You could include a couple in your query letter.

3. What amount of books do you need to sell to have a publisher think your book was successful?

The general number was 20,000 copies, but it could be lower. It depends on the amount of your advance and the projected amount of sales the publisher expects after all there meetings and calculations. As Steve pointed out, a publisher who expects to sell a million copies of a book and only sells 600,000 copies might consider that book a failure. While a book that they projected 10,000 sales and sells 20,000, might be considered a great success.

4. I read on your blog to only use one space between each sentence in your manuscript. I had someone tell me they have asked editors and were told it was okay. Would you double check with Sean McCarthy and Steve Meltzer on this?

I did and both said it would not stop them from reading your manuscript. But I will not tell you that not doing this is okay, because I am trying to get you to do things according to the standard. My goal is to tell you how to do things that will make sure no one will find fault with. If 50% or even 20% of the editors and agents could pick up your manuscript and go on to the next on sitting on their desk because of the extra space, then I say, “Let’s do it right, so you are only judged on the content of your writing.” Over the years, I know little things can make a big difference.

5. I never heard of using capital letters the first time a character is mentioned in a synopsis. Would you ask about that at your retreat?

This is another one that would not stop Sean and Steve from reading your synopsis. I had said that I didn’t think this was a deal breaker when I told you how to format  your synopsis, but again that is the standard. It makes it easier for the editor or agent to read, which shows you care about them and that you approach your writing as a professional who knows the industry.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Every month Simone Kaplan answers questions in her newsletter that people send into her. I thought the one she answered this month was a good one that you would be interested in reading. Here it is:

Question: Let’s say a number of good manuscripts come into an editor’s office. All have good grammar, good punctuation, etc.; and all are by first-time writers. In other words, all things are equal. What would make one manuscript stand out so much that the editor would want to publish it? Donna R

Simone’s Answer: First, Donna, I have a question for you: when was the last time you walked into a bookstore and asked for a book with “good grammar, good punctuation, etc.”?

I thought so!

Good grammar, clear sentences, and a cohesive structure are the basic requirements of a manuscript. Without them the manuscript doesn’t stand a chance of publication.

So let’s turn the question around. What were you looking for the last time you went into a bookstore or library? It could have been a book about a subject that intrigues you or the young person you’re with. It could be because you’re looking for a different way to look at bedtime battles or visits to the doctor. It could be because the child you were with loves dinosaurs or trains or fairy princesses. In other words, it could be because of the subject.

But given several books about the subject in which you’re interested, which is the one you’ll pick? I’m willing to bet it’s the one that delights you—or the child you’re with. The one that delivers lovely language, great insights, humor. One that, for whatever reason. is compelling. One that makes you want to read it again.

Editors are looking for the same thing. Something that surprises and delights them, something that makes them sit up and take notice, something that brings a smile to their face, a tear to their eye. They might be looking for manuscripts about specific subjects or in a specific genre. But once that requirement is satisfied, it’s the manuscript they love that is the one they want to publish.

And here’s another thing. When you’re in a bookstore, what is it that makes you hand over your cash or your credit card and decide to take the book home as opposed to get it from the library? The fact that you love it, right? That you think you’ll be able to read it again and again. That it’ll become a meaningful contribution to your family’s literary tradition—and if that sounds pretentious, it’s because it is! But it’s also true.

Editors are looking for the same thing. They need to justify spending upward of $50,000 on the manuscript. They need to be able to want to live with the work, feel that they’ll enjoy working on it, and know that it’ll make a tangible contribution to the bottom line of the house for which they work.

There is much about the publishing process that is fuzzy. Much of it has to do with taste, personal preference, and aesthetic judgment. But publishing is also a business; and there is much that has to do with hard facts, such as how much the book is going to cost to produce, how many copies the sales department feels they can sell, how much revenue the subsidiary rights department feels they can generate.

So the decision about whether or not to publish a book happens at the place where art, business, and taste intersect.

The only way to make sure that your work stands out is to write a stand-out manuscript. And correct grammar and punctuation are only the beginning. So focus on writing your best work. And use spell check!

Have a question for me? Send your question about any aspect of picture book writing that intrigues, confuses, or frustrates you to [email protected]. It could appear here along with my answer.

ABOUT SIMONE KAPLAN

Simone Kaplan has more than two decades of insider experience at major publishing institutions such as Henry Holt and Company and HarperCollins Publishers, during which she’s personally accepted, edited, and rejected hundreds of children’s picture books. She knows how the words of your manuscript can jump off the page and spark the interest of an editor or agent. She has also learned about the process of creating picture books and can break it down so as to be most useful to authors at every stage of their development.

She provides creativity-enhancing, skill-building, heart-expanding support for the creators of picture books so they can write the best possible books they’re able to write.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

One of my students, Henry Minns, came up with a great set of questions for me and was kind enough to let me reproduce them here.

1. Can you describe the processes you go through when working on an illustration/animation commission from start to finish?

It starts with a publisher contacting me and giving me the text of the book. Then my agent starts negotiations about the fee and the deadline and all the specifics of the contract (what exactly they will be using the work, when I get paid, how much the royalties will be etc). I usually receive the first installment of the advance at this point, once I’ve signed their contract.

Then I start work on sketches for the characters in the book and e-mail these to the publisher for approval. Then I’ll start planning out what will be on each page (leaving room for the text). I do this with little thumbnail sketches. Once I’ve got this worked out I start on the rough drawings for each double page spread in the book. As I complete these I e-mail them off to the publisher for approval. If there are any changes requested then I make them.

Usually I get paid once all the rough drawings are approved, and in theory the publishers shouldn’t request any more changes to the drawings after they’ve been approved. I’ll now start work on the final artwork, usually working through the book from start to finish. The cover is generally left until last as the publisher usually has something very specific in mind for this and the marketing department might get involved too.

The final artwork is all submitted as CMYK format TIFF files, either uploaded to a publishers FTP site or posted to them on a DVD. I would usually be paid again at this point.

If the book is for a trade publisher (one that sells books in bookshops, rather than educational publishers who sell direct to schools), then it will be published anytime between 3 and 18 months after they receive the artwork. Sometimes I’ll receive the final part of my advance then.

2. Which commissions do you enjoys the most, and which are most beneficial to you (if these aren't the same)?

Generally I’d say I enjoy the commissions most, where I have the most say in what I’m doing. With some books I am just given the text and left to get on with it (which is great), other times the publisher is really specific about what they want (which makes it quicker and easier but not as fun).

3. Would you say that a technical or manual process has a more important role in your work (I mean computers opposed to pen and paper)? Why?

I would say that drawing is by far the most important process, but whether it is digital or pen and paper doesn’t make much difference to me.

4. Which programs do you find most helpful when illustrating/animating?

I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 almost exclusively, but I also occasionally use Corel Painter X. I have also used Alias Sketchbook Pro and Art Rage for digital drawing from time to time. I work on an Apple MacBook Pro (2Ghz, 2Gb RAM), connected up to a 22” screen, an A6 Wacom Intuos 2 Graphics Tablet and lots of external hard drives (about 2TB altogether). I also have a pretty powerful PC but I don’t find it reliable enough to work on (I use it for storage and occasional games).

5. The AOI helps new illustrators publish their work etc. How helpful were they in terms of where you are now career-wise compared to when you were just starting out/fresh out of your degree?

I found the AOI really useful when I was just starting out, I had a portfolio consultation with Fig Taylor and found their Rights publications very useful. I wasn’t really taught much about copyright and contracts at college so the AOI were great for that. The online forums are still a really great resource for advice and information from very experienced illustrators. I have to say I wasn’t very impressed with the new Varoom magazine and am no longer a member, but still use the forums.

6. How would you compare your work to that of other modern illustrators and animators in the same league as yourself?

Hmm, not sure about this, I guess my current work has some similarities to Alison Jay, Niamh Sharkey and maybe Lane Smith (but I’d consider all of them to be in a different league to me!).

7. Whose work do you admire within illustration and animation; who or what inspires you from outside your own medium of work (if anyone/thing)? -What first inspired you to follow the route you have taken?

Far too many to mention them all here, but Shaun Tan, Dave McKean, Craig Thompson, Jeff Lemire, Alison Jay, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Kent Williams, Joel Stewart, Oliver Jeffers, Lane Smith, Niamh Sharkey, Mandy Field, Chris Stonehill and Peter Malone have all influenced my work in one way or another. Not all of these are children’s book illustrators and I’m also influenced by the drawings of lots of animators too (mostly found via the Drawn! Blog).

8. Is there anyone's work that you don't like? - do you have and rivalries or competition?

I tend not to like work that’s obviously a rip-off of someone else’s style. I think too many children’s picture books are watered down versions of other illustrators styles, like Quentin Blake rip-offs, or Michael Foreman rip-offs.

9. What is your favorite style of illustration/animation?

Hard to say, but I guess I like illustrations with a lot of texture in them, that’s probably the only common thing, other than that I like all kinds of wildly differing styles of illustration.

10. How do you keep your work fresh? Do you need to consciously adapt your style or does it progress naturally? (I don’t mean to suggest that consciously adapting a style is any less talented than it occurring naturally…)

Personally my style always seems to come about like this: I see someone else’s work that I really love, and try to figure out what it is I like about it. Then I try to incorporate that into my own work, but because of my own particular strengths and weaknesses it never comes out like the other persons… and so it goes on. So I guess you could say that every now and then I consciously try to adapt my style (or technique) but that in the end it’s probably a natural process.

I think it’s really important to make yourself aware of as many different illustrators/artists as you can.

11. Where did you study for your degree?

Falmouth Art College, I received a 1st Class Honours Degree in Illustration.

12. Where and what did you study before your degree? Do you feel that you gained anything from your previous education i.e. A levels?

I started out doing A Levels in Archaeology, Classical Civilisations , Chemistry and Physics, with the aim of being an archaeologist. After getting a place at university I changed my mind and came back to college to do a GNVQ in Art and Design. I’m really glad I did this as I don’t think I would have been as motivated to work as hard as I did if I’d done the GNVQ straight out of school.

13. What advice would you give an aspiring illustrator/animator? -In hindsight, would you have done anything differently?

Get a sketchbook that fits in your pocket (so there’s never any excuse for not having it with you), and draw as much and as often as possible. I still feel that my drawing skills are the weakest bit of my technique and really wish I’d spent more time a college just drawing.

13. Where would you like your work to lead you? Have you any aspirations or plans for the future?

I’d like to continue illustrating children’s book and perhaps write one, one day. I’d also like to branch out into other areas of illustration, perhaps book jackets or editorials.