One gazillion years ago when I started writing on stone tablets, I never needed an agent to get published. I just sent a story to an editor at a religious published house, and they published it. Imagine – no proposal, no marketing plan, no comp titles!
Of course, back then, Christian books were more likely to be two-color publications with way too many words and bad rhymes that only sold to a small group of buyers and never appeared in bookstores. There were no Bible-board books when I wrote the Baby Bible Storybook. That is one reason it sold so well. First to market. Not much competition.
Quality-wise, those were not the good old days! It is a far greater gift to the world to have lovely full-color, right-length books showing God’s love for children today. Blessed are we who can continue to write and illustrate them!
With all the competition now and online submissions so fast and easy, anyone can send anything to any publisher. And they do! Enter the gatekeepers. Once upon a time, the Children’s Editor (or 2 in a big house) read everything. Then they added a layer of assistant editors and then junior assistants to the editors to wade through the ever-growing slush pile.
Eventually, even the junior, junior editors were swamped, and picture book agents came into the children’s writing world in the 1970s. Today there are many articles entitled “98 Agents Looking for YOUR Book,” or “The Ultimate List of Picture Book Agents!” Twitter has several pitch sessions only for unagented writers. Specific agent wish lists can be found on Manuscript Wish List. The Official Manuscript Wish List Website – #MSWL: What do you wish you had in your inbox?
It used to be that an agent who saw one of three qualities would pursue the author as a client. Now unless there are at least two of the three, it is likely a pass.
1 Quality writing
Not even the 15th draft but one that has been critiqued by several groups read out loud, rewritten, put aside and pulled out again for fresh eyes. Rhyme is perfect, and every word is chosen because there is no word better for that sentence. Agents usually do not have time to rewrite and correct the manuscript of a potential client.
2 Big Idea
Agents want to see 2 or 3 manuscripts, each with a unique big idea. The premise of each book can be stated in 1-2 power-packed sentences with immediate connections to the reader/listener. “The night before school, Bjorn the unicorn can’t sleep. His Big Boy Horn has not grown in yet!” Agents want to use that pitch line to get editors’ attention.
3 Platform
In the hundreds or thousands, publishers look for committed followers who will buy your books. Online presence must relate to the book, genre, and/or subject. An influencer for men’s fragrance has lots of followers, but those people will not be the ones to buy the unicorn book. Agents want to send editors to posts geared to potential book purchasers.
In practical terms, since agents will be shopping the manuscript to editors who have to show it around a publishing house, they want a clean copy with NO illustration notes. The text should convey all the artist needs to know.
Fall the action picks up in contracts and publishing, so now is a great time to get positioned to attract an agent for 2023!
Multi award-winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, during library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! Robin is delighted to be represented by literary agent Cyle Young, HOME – CyleYoung.com.
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