Morning all writers and artists,
I am new to this website and world of writing - professionally. I have written a children's rhyming story and am at the stage where I need to find a publisher. All I want is for said publisher to say 'yay or nay' with regards to the quality and potential for publishing.
I have read it to many poeple such as friends, family, work colleagues, a class of primary school children and many more, without blowing my own trumpet, it has received rave reviews. This has urged me to pursue this avenue further and hopefully have it published.
The fact that it rhymes - and I like to think rhymes very well - may be the ace up the sleeve when it comes to getting publishers interested. I feel it is as interesting and fascinating to the imagination of a child as well as being educational and understandable. There is plenty of alliteration and repetition and would be very beneficial for any individual facing difficulties with speech and writing.
Being self employed in all other aspects of my life I thought 'self-publishing' would be the ideal way to go forward. However, after reading various articles I feel a literary agent is the best way to go forward, as I'm a 'virgin' to the industry. I have purchased the writers and artists yearbook for children's books and will browse through the list of literary agents when it arrives.
I just wanted to ask of any help/guidance from more experienced writers and even publishers in this community.
Mainly, how would I go about copyrighting and protecting my story? Is this left to the literary agent to deal with or publisher?
What I would need to offer to an agent other than the manuscript?
Are there many legalities surrounding ownership and partnership when it comes to finding a literary agent?
Do agents and publishers have the deciding decision on how the script reads? I appreciate any constructive criticism and am happy to change the script - knowing full well it will no doubt be stripped apart - but how much input would I have If I feel losing certain parts result in losing plot details and interesting points?
There are numerous other questions I have, but just wanted to get some advice on the above.
I'm sure if there is a literary agent out there who is interested in my work, that is a giant leap forward for my story. I guess it;s just finding the right one?!
Thanks all.
Jim
Thanks for your reply Susan. Interesting, I always thought rhyming would be more sought after, fingers crossed it comes across as good when it reaches agents and publishers!
How much do you know about the illustrations and also agent and publisher input. I read that if it reaches a publisher they would find the relevanmt illustrator. The main character in my story is rather unusual and I always liked the idea of discussing with an illustrator as to the ideas I had, maybe something they could work to. Do they give you this freedom, or would you no longer be of any use?
Also, if either wanted a part - be it large or small - taken out from the story, would I have any say? I know I could say NO and they would probably say goodbye, but do they tend to be leniant?
Apologies for all the questions, just tell me to go away if you want!
Best,
Jim
Hi again - re the rhyming, I have no idea why, but just found when I researched various publishers etc that they didn't accept stories in rhyme. On the other hand if your work is exceptionally good I'm sure there are exceptions made. Might as well submit to a few and see if you get any response.
Thanks Susan and Lee,
I did manage to get a group of 25 7-8 year olds hear just the story without images. It was read by a colleague at the primary school I went to as a child. They all gave rave reviews and apparently it received plenty of laughter. They carried out a critique at the end where they outlined what the story was about and their favourite parts. The rhyming and alliteration was by far the most enjoyed.
I also had the english teacher proof-read. She has had a lot of experience proof reading existing author's work in the past, often testing with her classes. I feel it is at the stage where it is ready to submit, it's as good as I can get it. The fact that so many children were entertained and intrigued with the story even without pictures gave me a great feeling. They also drew images of what they think the creature - main character - would look like.
I will most definitley try and get hold of an agent, as I don't want to distribute my work to people willy nilly without discussing with the right person.
Susan, you mentioned rhyming isn't the best route to go down, is there a reason for this?
Thanks again,
Jim