Layout help

by Melissa James
28th March 2018

Hi all!

I'm writing a children's book and I'm thinking about looking for an agent.

I've read that it's common to submit the first three chapters along with a synopsis and covering letter.

However, the total word count of my story is just under 2,000 words, which makes it an easy reader rather than a chapter book.

Does anybody know whether I should send the first three paragraphs? If so, is the usual standard to put each one on a new page or are they OK to be on one?

I'm new to all this, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Melissa

Replies

Thanks Andrew. It was supposed to be a picture book to start with but I’m struggling to cut the word count down. So far, it’s too long to be a picture book but too short to be a chapter book. I might upload it to the shared section of this site and see whether anybody can offer any advice. Thanks again, i really appreciate any tips.

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Melissa
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Melissa James
29/03/2018

Hi Melissa, another thing you might want to look into is the word count. If it’s a children’s picture book you’re planning, the average word count preferred is usually around 800. I mention this because i wrote a children’s story a few years ago and I’ve been finding out different things about getting it published since then. Word count was one of them.

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Andrew
Newall
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Andrew Newall
28/03/2018

Thank you Miriam, that’s a big help. I’m quickly learning it’s not quite as straight forward as I’d thought!

Really pleased I’ve found this forum. It looks like everyone’s very supportive.

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Melissa
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Melissa James
28/03/2018