How to use this Page

In honor of Independence Day, we thought you'd enjoy this special selection of writers' markets that celebrate being American. From cake decorating to motorcycling, there's bound to be something for you. So as you're barbecuing, picnicking, or enjoying a fireworks show, remember to take mental notes of potential story ideas. As always, although we try to be as accurate as possible, make sure you double-check with the editor for any changes in guidelines and their current needs. Happy 4th of July!


http://www.artistdaily.com/
About: American Artist is a magazine of ideas and inspiration for practicing artists living in the United States. It includes both profile articles and step-by-step demonstrations. Service articles provide methods by which artists can improve their skills and collectors can improve their knowledge of fine art. It covers a balance of art mediums including oil painting, watercolor, acrylics, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking.
Needs: Feature articles on contemporary American realist artists; instructional articles written by artists themselves explaining in detail their techniques, including brand names of materials used; articles on the business aspects of art; articles on art materials and equipment.
Pay: $500 for articles of about 1,500 to 2,000 words, on acceptance.
Guidelines: http://www.artistdaily.com/media/p/45249.aspx
Submit: Send a query letter along with your resume and clips to Michael Gormley, Editorial Director, American Artist magazines, 133 W. 19th St., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10011

http://www.parents.com/american-baby-magazine/
About: American Baby is a monthly magazine for expectant and new mothers with a child up to two years old. "It's the complete guide to new parenthood, giving young families all of the information they need on prenatal care, baby's growth and development, and family health and lifestyle changes, including mom's beauty needs, relationships and family finances."
Needs: How-to, general interest, humor, fitness, personal experience, beauty.
Pay: Varies, but writers report $600-$800 for a 1,000 word article.
Submit: Send a query letter with SASE to American Baby Magazine, 375 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017

http://www.americancakedecorating.com/
About: American Cake Decorating is a magazine for cake decorators of all levels--those who pursue it as a hobby as well as those who make a business of it. It publishes step-by-step instructional articles, hints and tips, expert commentary, quick decorating ideas, a gallery of cake photos, book reviews, new products, a calendar of events, and topical articles.
Needs: Birthday (including Sweet 16, Bar/Bat Mitzvah) cakes, novelty and special occasion cakes, wedding cakes. Looking for work in more traditional American media such as buttercream, royal icing, and/.or chocolate.
Pay: Varies, but writers report $0.02-.05 per word.
Submit: Mail or email a query letter with images to editor[at]americancakedecorating[dot]com or to Space Downtown, re: American Cake D

Display Comments Add a Comment

Remember, today is the absolute last day to submit your picture book to CBAY Books. After today, we are going to close submissions again for a little while (specifically until we've responded to all of these.)

If you are planning to submit, be sure to read the submission guidelines, and then drop your manuscripts our way.

Add a Comment

The final days are approaching until we start picture book submissions. Based on some of the questions and emails I've been getting, I can tell that people are starting to get nervous. To help reduce some of that stress, I've compiled a handy little checklist to go through before you hit the send button submitting your manuscript to us. Admittedly, this list is geared for this particular submission, but you can use it for just about any submissions (both online and off) that you make.

For a printable version you can check off yourself (that does not have my colorful commentary of each item), click here.

Cover Letter:

• Correct Editor/Agent Name and spelled correctly -- getting this wrong will get our backs up every time
  
• Correct Publishing House/Agency and spelled correctly -- ditto
  
• Correct Address/Email address -- or it might not get to us at all
  
• Formal salutation -- remember, this is a professional introduction
  
• Introductory paragraph providing context (why you are submitting, where you met editor, etc.) -- tell the truth, after all we don't really care that much, this just helps us jog our memories
  
• Pitch paragraph(s)
• Title of manuscript -- amazing the number of people that forget this
  
• Manuscript’s genre -- useful
  
• Age range for manuscript -- granted, we can tell when we read the manuscript, but this helps us in the beginning know whether or not its even something we are looking for and whether or not you know
  
• Summary of manuscript -- this is where you really sell us on the work
  
• Series paragraph (optional)
• Title of series -- a bad tentative title is better than nothing
  
• Projected number of books in series -- if you're working on an extended plot series (think Harry Potter) you should know, otherwise, the number you want to write
  
• Biography paragraph
• Publishing experience -- do not list every instance. Send a CV for that. Hit the relevant highlights here
  
• Relevant education
• Trade organization memberships (SCBWI, etc.)
• Thank you for allowing submission/Request to send manuscript if a query -- word politely, after all there's no point in alienating the editor/agent by demanding
  
• Signature -- remember to actually sign a physical letter (I forget all the time!)
  
• Your correct contact information
• Email -- if it's wrong I won't be able to reach you
  
• Phone -- ditto
  
• Website -- if you have one. If you don't, it's not necessary.
  
• Blog -- if you have one. If you don't, it's not necessary.
• Address -- optional in electronic submissions
  
• Proofread letter -- missing words in letters happen, but it can be annoying and make for strange sentences
  
• Spell-check -- computer should do it, but always double check
  
• Have someone else read & critique letter -- you will never find all of your own errors. This is very important to have someone who is honest with you do this
  
• Professionalism -- making sure it isn't too casual
  
• Coherence -- nerves can come out in writing leading to odd sentences (or sometimes a word is missing or its homonym was used)
  
• Interesting portrayal of pitch paragraph(s) -- did it interest your reader. If not, it probably won't interest me either.
  

Manuscript:

• Formatted Properly -- seriously, folks do this right. It's such a little thing but so frustrating when wrong. And it makes the things very hard to read.
  
• If printed or attached as document:
• Double spaced
• 12 point font (Arial, Times)
• 1 inch margins
  0 Comments on Checklist for Submitting as of 1/1/1900
  Add a Comment

Just think, in only 5 days (5 days!) our submission period for picture books will begin. We’ve been bracing ourselves getting very excited over the prospect of all of those submissions. We've also been getting some great questions that I want to share with you today.

If I'm submitting several books in a series, should they all go in one email or still be submitted in separate emails?

Actually, if you have several books in a series, you only really need to submit the first one. After all, if we don't like the first one, we probably aren't going to be to into the rest of the series, especially if they build on one another or are interdependent. What you should do for that first one though is make sure you include in your cover letter that it is the first in a series and then describe the series a bit.

However, if you would still like to send multiple books, be sure to send them in separate emails. With the dummies this is essential to make sure the emails don't get to large and don't come through, but even with the manuscripts we prefer that they be separate for internal housekeeping reasons.

Can I submit early?

No.

Really, there would be no point. We're not going to look at them before the 15th. In fact, this week is a busy week to ensure that we will have time to start processing through the submissions next week. Also, we're trying to keep that email open for questions right now. If a bunch of submissions start coming in, those questions are going to get lost.

Can I submit more than five?

No.

Seriously, if you can't narrow it down to five, you aren't being discriminating enough. Have a trusted, yet honest, friend help you. I really should only be asking for 1 or 2, but I'm aware that what I think is your best isn't what you may think is your best. So, I'm giving you the benefit of a few more submissions. After all, picture books are short and can be gone through pretty fast.

I don't have a completed dummy, but I am a professional illustrator interested in illustrating my own book. What should I do?

In that case, submit with the authors and do a regular manuscript submission (Subject line: Fantasy or Science Fiction Picture Book Submission), but attach a sample illustration from your book instead of a dummy. Illustrations should be high resolutions jpgs, gifs, or pdfs.

My dummy does not contain any color illustrations. Can I still submit it?

Obviously if you are never planning on black & white or spot color illustrations, you do not need to change your plan now. My request for a color cover and at least one full color illustration is to get an idea of your style, not because I am only considering color picture books. I'm willing to look at any illustrative style or medium or color palette. The more complete the dummy, the better sense I will get, but I can still work off rough but comprehensive sketches. However, again, please have at least the cover and one illustration complete. It's hard to visualize your water color style if all I see are pencil sketches.

Add a Comment

As everyone knows, there is always a polite way to go about doing things. In this age of reality shows where screaming makes you famous and atrocious behavior makes you money, this concept is sometimes forgotten. However, there are people (like say me and every other editor and agent on the planet) who appreciate courtesy. In fact, it will make you look more professional than the rude louts we all cringe at having to deal with. So, in that spirit, I have compiled a small list of polite things to consider when making an electronic submission.

1. If you are doing multiple submissions, you need to send multiple emails.
   I am not saying you can't do a simultaneous submission if the editor/agent doesn't require exclusive submissions. That's fine. What I am saying is don't use the exact same "Dear Editor" email and then type a bunch of different editor emails into the To or Bcc field creating a mass email. For one thing, we can tell when this has happened, even when you use the Bcc field. (It's pretty obvious.) For another, it means that you haven't taken the time to personalize the email to anyone which means you probably haven't bothered to learn if your manuscript is even a good potential fit for the editor's list. You can use chunks of your cover letter for every editor (the pitch and bio paragraphs won't change much), but otherwise you should carefully consider each person you submit to, and make slight changes to suit that editor. Just as you shouldn't make xerox copies of a cover letter and stick it in a bunch of submission envelopes, you shouldn't send carbon copies of your email cover letter. Besides being kind of rude, it makes you look lazy.
2. Do not make demands.
   Unfortunately for submitters, editors are the ones with all the power. (And let's face it, most of us only have a little bit compared to the Senior Editors or Editorial Directors or Publishers or other departments like Marketing that have a say in acquisitions. Very few have my luxury of owning the whole show.) We decide what is printed, when, and in what format, and our decisions are controlled by market forces as much as they are by our own tastes. This means that authors are in no position to make demands. Besides being annoying, they make you look clueless.
3. Do not tell me that passing on your book would be stupid or the greatest mistake of my life.
   Do I really have to explain this one? No one, including me, likes having their intelligence doubted. It almost instantly puts a person in a negative mood no matter how much they try to resist it. Why would you want a person who is about to read your manuscript to now be in a less than stellar mood? And let's face it. I've done (and will do) many stupid things in my life, but passing on a manuscript has never even come close to making the top 1000.
4. Do not lie to me.
   Lying makes you untrustworthy, and no one wants to do business with someone they can't trust. So, don't tell me that I critiqued you at a conference and asked for the manuscript if I didn't. Don't tell me your manuscript is under consideration with XYZ editor at ABC house if it's not. I will know if you're lying. Trust me.
5. Do disclose if you are doing a multiple submission.
   They're fine with me, just tell me you're doing it. Also, let me know if it's under consideration at another house (an editor has told you he/she is considering it) or another house has offered for it. Although if you do have an offer and are submitting to me in the hopes of starting a bidding war, don't bother. I don't do bidding wars or participate in auctions. Finally, let me know if you are agented. (Because from that moment on I'll need to be talking to him/her not you.)
6. Do not email asking for progress on your submission.
   If your m
   Add a Comment

Today I have a valuable artice from Beth Ann Erickson of Filbert Publishing.

Are You Making These Silly Mistakes?
By Beth Ann Erickson

Sitting on this side of the editorial desk is amazing. I hear stories about how hard it is to get published, all the while reviewing queries that cross my desk.

This unique perspective has vividly illustrated an interesting phenomenon in the publishing world: It's not hard to get published, what's evidently hard is writing something publishers need. Let me explain.

When it comes to queries and proposals, we rarely reject a manuscript due to sloppy writing. Writers tend to be an educated and talented lot. Nine times out of ten the problem lies in one of these areas:

The author hasn't read the submission guidelines.

We publish (maybe) one piece of fiction per year. Yet 99 percent of all queries received are for fiction. We're clear about this in our guidelines, yet the queries flow in. Of the remaining one percent, most queries are not in our genre. We probably receive one appropriate query every six months, if that.

Next problem, getting the name wrong. My name isn't “Bart.” Maury's name isn't “Mary.” Our name isn't “editor” either. Personalize the query for a better chance of getting it read.

Finally, we don't publish books over 100k words. We say this in the guidelines.

Yet, we receive queries for (up to) 250k words. That's simply too long. It makes for a big, expensive book that we'll have trouble selling.

Simple fix? Read the submission guidelines carefully before submitting. Your competition isn't doing this so you've got an automatic leg up.

No SASE

Snail mailing a query without a SASE will usually not receive a response.

When I've got my marketing hat on, I know it's imperative to make it effortless for a prospective customer to respond to my offer. I slip in a SASE. I make the order form easy to navigate. I do everything I can to make the process simple because even one extra step can depress response by a LOT.

Not including a SASE is a big mistake. Some writers will include an e-mail address, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a response. That would require effort on the part of the publisher. I'm not saying we're a lazy bunch, but I can say we're busy and sending rejections is not fun. Any “not fun” activity gets put off until... well... until we've got a spare minute to craft a response, correctly type in the e-mail address, and hit “send.” And that spare minute can be a long time in coming.

Also, sending queries via e-mail can be tricky as well. More than once, I've received a frustrated e-mail from an author asking why I didn't respond to their query. Sometimes I didn't realize they sent a query.

Spam filters can catch your e-mail. Sometimes an overzealous “deleting” session can toss it in the “trash” unread. Who knows?

Follow up your queries with a polite e-mail or send it snail mail and include a SASE.

Not researching your target publisher

Know your reader. It's every writer's mantra. If you can touch your reader, you'll sell your work.

The same goes for the query process.

Capture the voice of your intended audience... the publisher. Read what they've published. Find out what they're looking for and give it to them. Ask yourself, “Wh

Display Comments Add a Comment

For whatever reason - lack of a proper filing system springs to mind - there are problems when it comes to submitting my plays to various theatres or competitions. This point was brought home recently upon reading the guidelines to a 10-minute competition that could be a fit for my short plays. This is a yearly competition and as I recall it was the lucky (IMHO) recipient of one of my literary offerings last year but the problem is...which one.

In the past I opened a file to keep track of which plays were sent to whom but along the way, I stopped making notes. Now I'm forced to play a guessing game in order to hide my ineffectual (read: non-existent) filing system. Should I own up to this fact in a covering letter? Something to the effect:

"Dear blah-blah,

Please find my short play, blah-blah, for your 10-minute competition. Perhaps it might look familiar and could have been one of last year's entries but then again, maybe not. If it doesn't strike a familiar chord, then consider it my official submission."

Be that as it may, I'm going to check through my "sent" file and see what turns up, if anything. If not - it's another guessing game. Did I mention that my play wasn't among those selected to be performed. Then again maybe I meant to send it but never got around to doing it. Go know!

Add a Comment

Another writer question, the answer for which I think will help more than just one writer. If any of you have questions about what we’re looking for or anything to do with the submission process, please let me know, and I’ll be glad to answer here on the blog (anonymizing your question so it can be generalized).

i was really glad to see Lee and Low’s new imprint. I’m a long time fantasy/sci-fi fan distressed by the cultural sameness of  the genre.  I have a middle-grade novel that I am currently doing some final revisions for before submission. Because I realize time is valuable commodity for editors, I wanted to get a sense how expansive your fantasy/sci-fi terms were, before I submitted.

My novel is fantasy the way Harlan Ellison’s, short fiction, or Octavia Butler’s Kindred is fantasy.  It is a slight conceit used to push the character forward. I do not engage in a discussion of big ideas like Xenogenesis, Foundation etc., nor provide a full-fledged alternative universe like Cordwainer Smith, William Gibson or Anne McCaffery.

So my question is, is that enough? Obviously, you cannot decide on the individual merits of piece without seeing it, but I wanted to be sure I was targeting the appropriate house. Also, Lee and Low’s main imprint requires a chapter by chapter synopsis, but you only suggest a synopsis. May I assume you want a simple one page synopsis (plus first three chapters)?

First, addressing the question of what kind of fantasy we’re looking for:

Fantasy in children’s and YA books is pretty wide open. It can be anything from changing one little thing in the real world (people can fly or be telepathic, etc., or there’s a secret magical cult of ninja vampires, or the Knights Templar secretly fight the undead, unknown to the wider world, or, I don’t know, a girl like Matilda finds out she can teleport things, but maybe nothing bigger than a pencil), to changing a whole world in the future or alternate history (dystopian SF like The Hunger Games or steampunk like Leviathan), to alternate world high fantasy, either through portals (like Harry Potter) or just starting out in that world (like fairy tale retellings).

I’m not sure what you mean by a slight conceit to push the character forward. If you mean something akin to just one little thing changing—such as the ability to time travel, but not control it, as happens for the main character of Kindred—sure! That works, definitely. There are a LOT of middle grade and chapter books based on just such an idea, a small tweak of reality as opposed to huge sweeping differences in worldbuilding.

But I just want to be sure that you’re also familiar with what’s out there right now for children and teens, and not just what was published in the 70s and 80s by some of the best authors on the adult side. If you haven’t already, I suggest going to your local bookstore (or library, but the bookstore is better for seeing more current books all in one place) and looking at the middle grade and YA shelves to get a good idea of how broad the definition of SF/fantasy is in that section. While Octavia Butler’s work is classic and everyone should read them, they’re not what teens are reading right now (at least, not exclusively—of course they’re still reading her, or she wouldn’t be a classic).

Same goes for middle grade readers. Some books will always be classics, but when thinking about writing for a middle grade audience, you want to start from the idea that modern kids will be reading this, so you don’t want to use titles written for adults 30 years ago as your comparison point. As I look at my shelves filled with Shannon Hale’s Goose Girl and Princess Academy,

Add a Comment

"So Eleanor - an update on your attempt to get one of your plays produced?"

In spite of submitting to 10-minute play competitions, I'm no further ahead than when I started this exercise in futility many years ago. I'm aware that competition is fierce but my plays are good - at least IMHO and on top of that they're comedies. Heaven knows we all need a laugh these days.

So now I'm re-thinking this obvious effort of futility and perhaps give up the whole idea of submitting my plays, altogether. This decision was made five minutes ago when I checked a site containing the list of playwrights whose plays were accepted and - surprise - my name wasn't among them. This came after other plays sent out were also rejected.

Obviously - at least it seems obvious to me - the plays aren't as good as I believe them to be. Some of them were written years ago but they are so "neutral" that they are still applicable and can be performed. Maybe not.

No more tweaking in the hope that changes will make them produce-able. No more submitting. Rejection thy name is playwriting.

Add a Comment

Walter Moers, author of Rumo and The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, is one of the best-known and most successful German authors and illustrators. In his new novel The City of Dreaming Books, Moers invites readers to experience the strange world of Bookholm, a book-obsessed metropolis in the land of Zamonia. Translated from the German by John Brownjohn.

Add a Comment

SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITY: AN ONGOING DIALOGUE WITH SELF
BY Eleanor Tylbor


PLAYWRIGHT
Oh look! The Blankety-Blank Theatre is asking playwrights for plays. Hmmmm...interesting... Wonder if they're accepting plays from outside the U.S. Probably not...

INNER VOICE
There you go again! Negative. Always negative! Maybe they are!

PLAYWRIGHT
Yeah... Could be. Neh. I mean, this is a well-known and substantial theatre. They have enough playwrights domestically

INNER VOICE
So? What does that have to do with anything?

PLAYWRIGHT
Nothing but somehow I have a feeling they don't

INNER VOICE
You and your dumb feelings! How many opportunities did you let slide by based on your "feelings"?

PLAYWRIGHT
Let me read the guidelines, here... Hmmm and mmm - course I'm right. All the people and judges involved are from the U.S. Why would they waste time reading a play from an un-American? I suppose it would be a similar situation if it were reversed. You know - a Canadian theatre holding a playwriting competition? 'Course I wouldn't know having never won...anything, anywhere, anyway at any time. Oh to see my work actually up on a stage!

INNER VOICE
It doesn't say anything one way or the other. Why don't you query them and find out at least?

PLAYWRIGHT
Yeah... I could... I suppose... Maybe... I guess it would be a good idea. Let's see if they have an e-mail address... Hmm... Says here they have a lot of people reading all the entries. Well - that just about screws me. Wonder if they specialize in drama...or comedy...

INNER VOICE
So query and find out!

PLAYWRIGHT
Know what? It really scares me that lots of people will be reading my play. People who don't even know me or anything about the history of my play! How can they judge the merit of my intellect?

INNER VOICE
Nobody in Canada knows anything about it - or you either, doofus!

PLAYWRIGHT
True... It's just the idea of strangers reading my play and passing judgment on it. 'Oh look', they probably say to each other. 'This is laughable! She calls herself a playwright?' I bet they do that! Have a good laugh at our expense!

INNER VOICE
You're creating barriers again!

PLAYWRIGHT
Perhaps...Let me read some more about this theatre. Just as I thought! I could end up having a reading and not a production!

INNER VOICE
So what's wrong with that?

PLAYWRIGHT
What do I have to gain from a mere reading? I want a production! No - I need a production! I could just as easy get a group together and have a reading of my play. I don't have to spend who knows how much on postage and wonder whether anybody even read it.

INNER VOICE
So do it! Stop complaining for heaven's sake and do something. Your play will never see the light of day by sitting at a computer reading theatre submission guidelines.

PLAYWRIGHT
I'm sick and tired of submitting and daring to hope that maybe - just maybe - the play will be produced! All the while waiting and waiting for news. Checking the mail and the Internet for some response and all the while doubt creeping in and over-taking hope. What else do playwrights have to live for but hope?

INNER VOICE
You're telling me this? Me who shares your anxieties?

PLAYWRIGHT
What happens though if I can't find anyone who wants to read?

INNER VOICE
What happens if you do find people who want to read? If you don't take the first step, you'll never know. Go for it!

PLAYWRIGHT
Oh look here... this looks like just the theatre I've been looking for. I got a good feeling about this one.

Add a Comment

Germans have all the Spass! Check out Walter Moer's 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear with songs, dancing and puppets. Whoa! Broadway...please bring this to America! Zamonia on the Great White Way! I smell a Blockbuster!

Display Comments Add a Comment