Starting With the "Who"
There is so much to talk about. Today I want to write about the general people who should receive your dummy. Much of this is my opinion and in many cases doing something different may not be wrong. Obviously what I write on my blog is my opinion, but in some of these cases I will be talking about my preferences. Please do your own research and know that you can find success if you disagree with me on any of these points.
If you are planning to Send out your dummy there are a lot of things to think about. Who wants your dummy? How do they want it? When do they want it? All these are great questions. Today I'm going to talk about the "Who".
Recently I listened to Jennifer Laughran's Literaticast. You can find her podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/literaticast/id1261036909?mt=2 The podcast is absolutely wonderful and this one in particular is the most current one: "Schmagents get a Schmackdown with guest agent Kelly Sonnack" (@literaticat and @ksonnack on twitter) Near the end of the podcast Kelly talked about how if you want to work with an agent you should send the work to an agent first! If you shop your work around too much first, then you agent wont have any place to send your work! If an agent gets to you first they may offer invaluable advice about your manuscript. Also in most cases they will share the work with other agents within their agency. (This whole podcast is great and talks about what an agent should do for you and how to get an agent.)
It should be noted that an agent will usually review your manuscript and get back to you more quickly than a publisher. Some Publishers get back to people quickly but it's not uncommon for them to take a year (or more) to get back to you. I believe that it's usually assumed by agents that you are sending your work out to several other agents, while publishing houses it's assumed that the work is only being sent to them. Because of that you may not need to tell an agent that you have a simultaneous submission, but you will need to tell a publisher. Also many publishers do not accept simultaneous submissions. Be sure to check the guidelines for more information!
Agents After the Fact
If you do decide to send your work out to an editor or art director then you still have a chance to get an agent after receiving a contract (but before signing the contract). I have two friends who recently went with this method and both got an agent quickly after the fact. This somewhat decreases options as you will have to go with the house that has offered you a contract.
Small Publishers
There is the option to send work to smaller publishers. They are a bit easier to publish through. Advances and royalties may be expected to be lower (at least at first). A popular Small Press book may be in run for decades and may be a good source of passive income.
PAL Memberships
Make sure that your publisher is a PAL member. PAL membership allows you to become a full member of the SCBWI. Do your research. Just because a publisher is a PAL member it does not mean that it's the right fit for you. If you have friends who have published with a particular publisher first ask them about their experience. PAL publishers have a list of guidelines to follow. These do not mean that a publisher is perfect by any means. To read more about these guidelines look here: https://www.scbwi.org/about/pal-guidelines/ There is also a list of pal publishers here: https://www.scbwi.org/list-of-pal-publishers/
Sending Out Work
If you want to send your illustrations for publishers to consider for their books you can send that directly to publishers. I asked on #kidlitart chat on Twitter (Follow @kidlitart and search #kidlitart Thursday nights at 9pm ET and 6pm PT) and everyone who was asked said they sent their work directly to both art directors and editors (you could do the same with the full dummy). It should be also noted that many publishing companies have Acquisitions editors that have the ability to acquire books for their publishing companies.
There is so much to talk about. Today I want to write about the general people who should receive your dummy. Much of this is my opinion and in many cases doing something different may not be wrong. Obviously what I write on my blog is my opinion, but in some of these cases I will be talking about my preferences. Please do your own research and know that you can find success if you disagree with me on any of these points.
If you are planning to Send out your dummy there are a lot of things to think about. Who wants your dummy? How do they want it? When do they want it? All these are great questions. Today I'm going to talk about the "Who".
Who should receive your dummy? It use to be an easy answer. About 20 years ago the answer was almost always Editors and Art Directors. Agents back then usually came after the first book. I know this information came from at least one of the Writer's Digest books back in the day, and may have even came from one of the "Writer's Market" books.
Agents
Recently I listened to Jennifer Laughran's Literaticast. You can find her podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/literaticast/id1261036909?mt=2 The podcast is absolutely wonderful and this one in particular is the most current one: "Schmagents get a Schmackdown with guest agent Kelly Sonnack" (@literaticat and @ksonnack on twitter) Near the end of the podcast Kelly talked about how if you want to work with an agent you should send the work to an agent first! If you shop your work around too much first, then you agent wont have any place to send your work! If an agent gets to you first they may offer invaluable advice about your manuscript. Also in most cases they will share the work with other agents within their agency. (This whole podcast is great and talks about what an agent should do for you and how to get an agent.)
It should be noted that an agent will usually review your manuscript and get back to you more quickly than a publisher. Some Publishers get back to people quickly but it's not uncommon for them to take a year (or more) to get back to you. I believe that it's usually assumed by agents that you are sending your work out to several other agents, while publishing houses it's assumed that the work is only being sent to them. Because of that you may not need to tell an agent that you have a simultaneous submission, but you will need to tell a publisher. Also many publishers do not accept simultaneous submissions. Be sure to check the guidelines for more information!
Agents After the Fact
If you do decide to send your work out to an editor or art director then you still have a chance to get an agent after receiving a contract (but before signing the contract). I have two friends who recently went with this method and both got an agent quickly after the fact. This somewhat decreases options as you will have to go with the house that has offered you a contract.
Small Publishers
There is the option to send work to smaller publishers. They are a bit easier to publish through. Advances and royalties may be expected to be lower (at least at first). A popular Small Press book may be in run for decades and may be a good source of passive income.
PAL Memberships
Make sure that your publisher is a PAL member. PAL membership allows you to become a full member of the SCBWI. Do your research. Just because a publisher is a PAL member it does not mean that it's the right fit for you. If you have friends who have published with a particular publisher first ask them about their experience. PAL publishers have a list of guidelines to follow. These do not mean that a publisher is perfect by any means. To read more about these guidelines look here: https://www.scbwi.org/about/pal-guidelines/ There is also a list of pal publishers here: https://www.scbwi.org/list-of-pal-publishers/
Sending Out Work
If you want to send your illustrations for publishers to consider for their books you can send that directly to publishers. I asked on #kidlitart chat on Twitter (Follow @kidlitart and search #kidlitart Thursday nights at 9pm ET and 6pm PT) and everyone who was asked said they sent their work directly to both art directors and editors (you could do the same with the full dummy). It should be also noted that many publishing companies have Acquisitions editors that have the ability to acquire books for their publishing companies.
