How to Publish a Children's Book

How to Publish a Children's Book from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

The children's book market is very competitive. Here are some basics to get you started.

Steps to Publish a Children's Book

1. Research the market. Search for children's book publishers on the Internet or you can ask your children's librarian for information on publishers.
2. Choose publishers that take the sort of work you have written.
3. Get each publisher's guidelines.
4. Follow the guidelines exactly. Some want you to send your story. Others want you to send a query letter first.
5. Write a cover letter outlining why your story is a good one for the publisher to add to its list. It helps if you know what's on the list already.
6. Make sure there are no errors in your final copy. Double space your story and leave margins of at least one inch all the way around.
7. Begin' the first page about half way down.
8. In a header put the title, your name, and the page number. This goes on every page.
9. Address the envelope exactly as instructed in the guidelines.
10. Send to as all publishers that might take your story.
11. Record each submission; when and where you sent it.
12. Three months later, write a polite reminder saying that you hope the publisher received your text. Include a stamped, self-addressed post card asking so it's easy for the publisher to reply. Not all will, but you still have to try.
13. Keep writing and sending out more stories.

Publishing Tips

• Unless you are a professional illustrator, do not send illustrations. Publishers choose their own.
• Do not staple the pages together.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Publish a Children's Book.

Photo: Flickr