There is nothing more decadent than a summertime read.

As I kid, I loved the freedom from textbooks and school assigned reading when I could browse a bookshelf and select whatever caught my fancy. We all have favorite spots to read but, in the vacation laced days of summer, I especially loved flipping the pages with smore sticky fingers by the shadowy light of a camp lantern or diving into the pages with my toes in beach sand and waves for an audience. With these gleeful moments in mind, 24 Carrot Writing is embarking on Book Pick Summer!

Every month, we’ll be posting some of our favorite books in the Book Pick section of our website. Join us for Book Pick Summer and add your own favorite reads to our Facebook page.

Happy Reading! 

~By Amanda Smith and Kelly Carey
​
Over the last year, you might have noticed some smart, funny, poignant author acrostics popping up on your social media feeds. These inventive introductions are brought to you by author Nancy Tupper Ling. 24 Carrot Writing talked to her about the intersection of author promotion and poetry and the importance of supporting fellow writers.

Tell us about your author acrostic project and how it got started? 
 Several months into the pandemic, I decided it would be fun to include some author interviews on my blog. But how to make them a little bit different? I wanted something playful, visual, and easy-to-read when people were flipping through social media. Why not an acrostic of their name?  Soon I added a brief bio and the covers of my guest’s books.  In the last few months, I’ve made all of the acrostics into a flipbook, thanks to my web designer, Eric Dubois. Feel free to flip through: https://www.nancytupperling.com/author-acrostics/

What is your connection to poetry that spurred your decision to solicit acrostic poems?   
Funny you should ask. There was a time when I swore I would never be a poet like my mom, Jean Tupper. That was “her thing” and I wanted to write short stories instead. Well, that didn’t last. In college I began to submit my fledgling poems to various journals. Gradually, after many revisions, a poem or two was accepted, and then more. Winning the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize definitely helped my confidence as a writer. What I love about poetry is how something as small as a haiku or as long as a sonnet can be so power-packed. This is true with “Author Acrostics” as well. I hope readers learn so much about each writer—their soul, their essence, in a tiny space.

Why do you think it is important to promote your fellow authors?   
The road is long and we’re all still learning, even after we’ve been published. Certainly, the pandemic reminded us that even if we might think that we prefer a solitary writer’s life, we still need one another for encouragement and growth.  The journey is most valuable when we can be generous with our talent and our art.

What do you hope to accomplish with your acrostic project?   
Honestly, I don’t know if I thought about this in the beginning, but what I have come to love most about spotlighting an author is the responses I get about their books. Either people learn about books they had no idea about, or they are reminded how much they loved a particular one, and they go back and reread it. It’s the librarian in me who wants to find the perfect read for the readers out there.

What is next for you? 
My next book is a children’s anthology with my co-author, June Cotner, called For Every Little Thing: Poems and Prayers to Celebrate the Day (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers). Arranged from waking up to falling asleep, this collection is all about finding gratitude in each day and its delights.  

Kelly and Annie are both author acrostic participants, and this week 24 Carrot Writing is thrilled to be featured. Thank you for inviting us, Nancy!

by Kelly Carey

​I love this holiday!

Yes, June Year is a holiday!

When it comes to writing and goals setting this is my favorite holiday. Some like January when you tap out lists of goals and resolutions with the enthusiastic optimism of the diapered New Year’s baby.  But June is the month when the mature goal setter emerges to take stock, assess, and for those who really want it, decides to persevere.

Remember those sparkly goals you set six months ago? What? You forgot about them! ACK!

Get them out. Oh good, some of you remember your writing goals for the year. But, what’s that? You sort of lost track? You petered out in March and now you are aimlessly drifting through writing projects?

Remain calm – the June Year holiday has come just in time!

Get out those 2021 goals. How are you doing so far? Hey, look, you hit a few! Hooray – party with a few carrots!

You missed some? No worries. You still have a full six months left in 2021 to hit those targets. Use the June Year holiday to celebrate all you have accomplished so far in 2021 and reset your goals for the second half of the year. Get ready to finish the year strong – 24 Carrot Writing strong! 
​
Happy June Year everyone! 

by Kelly Carey

With a book contract in hand, and a polished website, I found that the next step was to create a newsletter.
 
I know what you're thinking. More non-writing time! You’ve already spent so much time building a website. Which for non-tech folks, like me, meant hours figuring out why a column wouldn’t center right, or how to upload a good photo, or what color scheme to use, and hyperlinks. The website rabbit hole can make Alice’s adventure feel like a trip to the mailbox. But trust me, the newsletter is much easier, the benefits are worth it, and all the skills you learned creating your website transfer right over.
 
As soon as your book is announced, folks will be asking you for news. I couldn’t leave the house without bumping into someone who wanted to know what was new with my book. When asked, I would hand over my business card with my website address and say, “Go to my website and sign up for my newsletter and you'll be the first to know when the cover is revealed, when I have a publication date, and when I'm having a launch party." I found that folks appreciated being invited to sign up and this method allowed me to answer the "What's new with your book?" question in a solid and productive way.

​The newsletter doesn't have to be a daunting endeavor. You’ll publish your newsletter on your schedule and only as often as you decide. My book launched in April of 2020 and my first newsletter dropped in July of 2019. In total I put out 5 newsletters in 2019 and 8 in 2020. You can check out a list of my newsletters here. 

​The unexpected boon for me was that I collected almost 100 emails in the months before my launch from folks who signed up for the newsletter. To boost my subscriber list even more, I set a goal of reaching out to 10-12 friends every month to ask them if I could sign them up for my newsletter. The responses were overwhelmingly positive and that is how I got the bulk of my newsletter subscribers.

I announced my launch event in a newsletter and I think having a robust subscriber base really helped attendance. When I announce my second book (fingers crossed), I'll be grateful that I have a healthy group of subscribers and I’ll be ready to blast out the news to folks who were my first fans.
 
And my newsletter went beyond just my subscribers. People forwarded my newsletter to their friends and colleagues.  I’ve also seen folks put my newsletters on Twitter and Facebook too - so hooray! 

One way to expand the reach of your newsletter is to make sure it offers the recipient something more than just you tooting your own publishing horn. I often added the "What I'm Reading" section as a way to not only plug books from fellow writers but to offer my subscribers some helpful book recommendations. My friends and family are always asking me for book advice for themselves and their kids and putting book suggestions in my newsletter was a perfect way to add value. When I posted the newsletter and tagged the authors of books I had recommended they often retweeted and reposted it to their followers – bonus!! ​

There are no rules - no deadlines for your newsletter -- so it's totally your call on when and how often you post. Need one more nudge? You can check out this guest blog on 24 Carrot Writing by marketing guru Colleen Riordan about why authors need an email newsletter.

​You’ve done so much work and you want to make it easy for readers to get excited about your book and to get their own copy – maybe even an autographed copy at an author visit. Why not make it easy for readers by sharing all this news in a newsletter? ​

• ~Guest post by Kristine Asselin

Thank you to 24 Carrot Writing for asking me to blog for them today. It’s a pleasure to be here talking about one of my favorite things: The Query Letter.

A bit of background: It’s no secret that I’d queried a lot in the early 2010s (I’ve written about it in a bunch of places -- Articles about Querying and Writing - Query Godmother). After a few false starts, I signed with my third agent in the summer of 2013. This past summer, after seven years with the same agent, we parted ways—and I was honestly feeling like a bit of a failure. I’d been hoping for feedback on a manuscript and wasn’t prepared for my agent to be downsizing their list. In the middle of 2020, I took it really hard.

All this to say that anyone can be in the query trenches.

Writing a query can be scary. Remember, a query letter is a tool. It’s a way to put your words into the world. Don’t overthink the query letter. It’s manageable. There are parts to it.

1. Introduction (and opening paragraph):
Sometimes this is called the “hook” part of the query. Include the title, the word count, the target age, and the genre of the book. A short tagline (elevator pitch) can be included in this section as well. It is not mandatory, though. If you have something personal to add, like that you met the agent at a conference, or took their workshop, do that here. If you don’t have anything personal, don’t force it.
2. Book section:
Think of this as your back cover copy. This is the most important part of the query. Be specific, but brief. Try to express how your book is different than others. Use specificity about character goals, stakes, and motivations. This section should be the longest—after all the query is about your BOOK. Make sure you are answering these questions in this section:

• Who is the main character?
• What do they want more than anything else?
• What is stopping them from getting it?
• What problem do they face?
• What choices do they have to make?
• How does the problem get worse?

3. Bio:
Something about yourself and your expertise. What makes you the person to write this book? If you have any relevant published works, mention them here. Keep this part business. Don’t include things about your family or hobbies.

Query strategies:

• Do your research, determine what the submission guidelines are and attach what is asked for. This will differ by agent. Some want the whole book; some only want a few chapters or pages. If you’re querying a picture book, it will typically be the whole piece.
• I generally advise starting by sending out five query letters. When you receive a pass, send out a new one. (Look at this blog for ideas of where to find agents.) Keep track of your process and replies in a spread sheet or tracking tool.
• Don’t send too many queries at one time. If you feel like revising or refining the letter, you can’t do that if you’ve sent out too many at once.
• Don’t let querying get you down. If you feel overwhelmed, it’s okay to stop and take a break.
• Don’t take anything personally. But that said, take any and all feedback seriously.
• Putting your work out in the world requires having a bit of a tough shell. You have to be honest with yourself. When you get responses, make changes as appropriate. Be ready to change the manuscript if necessary, but don’t let it affect your confidence in yourself and your work.

I’ll be honest, I have yet to sign with a new agent. However, my request rate is over 20%, so I feel like my query letter is working, and there are several people considering my work. Keep track of this sort of data, so you know when to revise and/or move to the next manuscript.

Jumping into the querying pool can help you put aside your fears and anxieties about your work. Querying is forward motion. It is taking control of your career.

Know yourself and what works for you. I wish you all good luck in 2021.

Robert Thibeault designed an amazing and genre-specific cover: 
​

Hopefully, you can see how it would not only fit alongside the books in its genre but also stand out. It looks great as a thumbnail. Very important in this digital age!
 
Pro Tip: Choose a type of cover that sells well in the genre. What you love as a book cover might not be what your reader loves. Sometimes as authors, we have to put our personal preferences aside!
 
Here’s a closer look at Tom’s cover, so you can see the details: 

You can see here how an artist and book designer make a cover—it wraps around. Isn’t that cool?

REACHING YOUR READERS:
 
While Tom was waiting for his cover art masterpiece, he put up a freebie so people would sign up for his mailing list. 

 Having an email list—direct contact with fans—is the most important piece of the publishing puzzle.
 Without this, every time you publish a new book, you start from scratch looking for fans.
 
Tom gave away the first few chapters of his book and audio files of his book to entice people onto his list. Check it out here. Go ahead and sign up—Tom is going to KICKSTART this book, and you get to walk through the steps with him! (See the countdown page here!)
 
Don’t just hide your freebie and the sign-up to your list on your personal website—plug it into one of the sharing sites that go directly to fans. Right now, two of the biggest sites are BookFunnel and StoryOrigin. Using sites like these, Tom doubled the number of fans he had on his list!
 
Pro Tip: Story Origin is still in beta, so it’s currently FREE to use! Nothing beats free!
 
Once you have fans, interact with them on a weekly or regular basis. Use email companies like MailChimp or mailerlite to do this professionally.
 
Pro Tip: Make sure to consider who your fans are and give them what they are looking for! Remember that the people who sign up for your list are readers of your genre (or parents of the readers) and not just other writers or your friends.
 
Formatting/Book Design: Use a program like Vellum (only for Macs) to format the inside of your book, or use the free program at Reedsy.  Reedsy is a great one-stop-shop for finding indie-publishing support in general.

PRODUCTION:
 
While growing his email list, Tom finished all the production pieces.
 
Here’s a list you can use:

1. If you are writing a series, you’ll want the series name for the cover, and the first chapter of the next book included at the end of the first book.
2. Acknowledgments
3. Author bio and headshot
4. Description or author testimonials for the back cover, a description for online venues
5. Dedication
6. Copyright page
7. ISBN numbers (You’ll need one ISBN number for each distinct type of book.) Tom is publishing an ebook, paperback, and hardcover, so he has three. You purchase these through Bowker.
8. You can register your US copyright if you want to protect your Intellectual Property. This is easily done before your book is published.
9. Name of your publishing house and graphic, if you want.
10. A call to action for the back of your book. Very important. When people purchase your book, you’ll want to have them sign up for your mailing list or buy your next book!

 
Upload all the pieces (formatted correctly) along with the final cover artwork to Ingram Spark.

Pro Tip: if you pay to be a member at ALLi you get a code for free uploads and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP has free uploads.

Upload your ebook to KDP and choose to either have your book in Kindle Unlimited or use a distributor to go wide (like Draft2Digital)
 
Pro Tip: Sites like Ingram Spark and KDP are often wonky, so make sure to save all your keywords and descriptions and bios elsewhere and paste them in. We have had some tense moments in the past!
 
Pro Tip: You can purchase keywords that work in your genre at K-lytics, KPD Spy, or Publisher Rocket, to attract the right online buyers. Oftentimes as authors, it’s hard for us to think about what search words readers use! These keywords help people find your book when they search for it.
 
If this seems like it’s a costly process, it can be. We generally budget $1,000 for a novel. (For an original cover like Tom’s from an artist, it’s much more!) But you can publish on a shoestring budget, by buying your cover premade (there are so many sites to use--just search for ‘premade book cover’) or by bartering. If you know someone who is a cover designer, and you are a great editor, trade those skills!
 
Pro Tip: It’s okay to publish with the budget you have and then upgrade things as you go!

FIND YOUR "WHY?"
 
One of the most important questions to ask, before you start this process, is, “Why?”
Why are you indie-publishing?
 
If you want to see your book in your local bookstores:

1.  Make sure to use Ingram Spark as a printer and distributor--not just KDP. (Most local booksellers don’t stock books printed by Amazon at KDP.)
2. Allow booksellers to make a profit off your book by giving them a good percentage—40% or so. (This will be one of the questions you have to answer when setting up your accounts with IngramSpark and KDP.)
3. Take returns. (Another account-setting up question you’ll run into.) Otherwise, booksellers won’t consider carrying your book. They will be able to order your book out of the Ingram Catalog once your book is published, or they can consign the book directly from you.

 
If you want to make the most money you can:

1. Focus on ebook sales.
2. Make the percentage that booksellers get as small as you can.
3. Ideally, have multiple books coming out in quick succession.
4. Check out Julia Koty’s cozy mystery series as a great example—she’s launching multiple books in the next few months!

 
Whatever you do, don’t go it alone. Some of the best resources for authors starting out on the Indie-pub path are Joanna Penn’s podcasts, the Facebook Group 20 Books to 50K, and joining an indie pubbing group. We have a virtual one at the Writers’ Loft if you’d like to join (email writersloftma@gmail.com to get on the email list). It’s run by Dave Pasquantonio who is also a freelance editor and knows a ton about book promotion. We promise, once you get going, things get easier, because you keep running into the same people, the same sites, and most of the people you run into are very supportive! So that’s another part of the job—be supportive of your fellow writers.
 
Pro Tip: Don’t shortchange your readers—oftentimes the beautiful things that we love about books are simple enough for indie-publishers to achieve. See the gears that Tom added to each page number, the way his cover artist put the Pocket Moon Press logo into a gear, and how Tom invites his reader to read on into the next adventure! 

Phew, we covered a lot, right? Thanks to 24 Carrot Writing!
 
Feel free to leave us questions in the comments! Just out of curiosity, did we make you open up a billion tabs? We might just give a prize for the person who fesses up to opening a ton of tabs! Heather generally has at least 25,000 tabs open on her screen on any given day. (Let us know in the comments and we’ll pick someone at random.) Did you sign up for Tom’s email list so you can follow his further adventures in Kickstarting? We can’t wait for that process. (That’s another blog post)! 

~by Amanda Smith

So, you wrote something. And now you wonder what the steps are for getting it published.

First of all, congratulations! Writing on a consistent basis, to the point where you have a book, is a huge accomplishment. (If you want to write children's books and aren't sure where to start, this blog by Kelly is for you.) Writing a book, however, is only the first step. Sending a freshly written manuscript to an agent or publisher would be like asking Paul and Prue to judge a cake after you had only gathered the ingredients.
 
Here are some basic steps towards publishing:

Critique Partners:
You need someone else's eyes on your work (not family!). Ideally your critique partners should be up to date on the current market and knowledgeable about writing. They will look at content, structure, plot and character development, language use and, if you need, line editing. It is imperative to have someone else read your work. Sometimes we gets caught up in the excitement of a new project, or have read the same words so many times we don't see the plot holes, unclear details, or glaring mistakes.
Where to find critique partners?
SCBWI
Local writing organizations 
Online groups such as Kidlit 411, Storystorm, Children’s Book Authors & Illustrators, 12X12, to name a few.
Craft workshops and courses
 
Revisions:
If your critique partners are worth their salt, you will receive lots of revision notes. Depending on the depth of the notes, you will have to revise or, in some cases, even rewrite. Regardless of the scope of revisions, you will likely have a couple of critique-revision rounds. Do not skip this step! It is during this phase that your work continues to mature and become the best it can be. It is hugely rewarding to dig deep and polish away the rough edges of your story.
 
Beta Readers: (Not necessary for picture books)
After critiques and revisions, you need Beta readers, who consist of readers the age of your intended audience or readers deeply familiar with your genre (think teachers, librarians). A beta reader questionnaire is a helpful tool for gathering focused feedback. Another round of revisions will likely follow beta readers.
 
Publishing choices:
Once you have completed these steps and you feel that your work is ready to send out, you need to decide whether you want to take the traditional publishing route or explore independent publishing? 
The rest of today's post will focus on traditional publishing. Next time we will learn about independent (self) publishing. Make sure you know the pros and cons of each option. 

If you choose traditional publishing, you should know that it can take months or even years. Most of the bigger publishers are closed to unsolicited submissions and you need an agent to represent your work.
Some publishing houses however, do accept unagented submissions. Books, such as THE CHILDREN’S WRITER’S & ILLUSTRATOR’S MARKET, can provide guidance as to which publishing houses are open to unagented submissions. Always check the publisher’s website for their latest guidelines. 
​ While you can certainly do research online and through publishing trade journals to find publishers who are open to unagented or unsolicited manuscripts, it is very helpful if you have a more personal contact with an editor at the publishing house. One of the best ways to make this connection is to attend a class or workshop taught by the editor. Also, editors who attend writing conferences will often accept unsolicited submissions from conference attendees for a limited time, so be sure to look into this possibility when attending these events.  Always do your research to be sure a specific publisher publishes the genre/age level you write. 
 
Agents:
A good literary agent will help you polish and edit your story, send submissions to publishing houses, negotiate contracts, and handle advances and royalties. They are super knowledgeable about the industry, and know what editors are seeking. Your agent is your ally and business partner. Therefore it is important to carefully research agents, not only for what genres they represent or what their interests are, but also whether they will be a good match for you. Once you have narrowed down agents you would like to approach, you need to query. 
Places to research agents:
SCBWI The Book
Agency websites
Manuscript wishlist (www.manuscriptwishlist.com/)
#MSWL (https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/​)
QueryTracker (querytracker.net/)
Publishers Marketplace (https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/​)
Some writing websites also offer a treasure trove of information in the form of agent interviews and guest blogs. A few to browse are http://www.literaryrambles.com/, https://www.pbspotlight.com/, and The 12x12challenge
Most agents are active on social media
Acknowledgements of books you have read
  
Queries:
A query is a letter in which writers pitch their work and introduce themselves to an agent. It is a business letter that follows a specific form. Stay tuned for a guest blog regarding query letters by the Query Godmother, Kris Asselin, later this month.
Queries are used for picture books, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as all other fiction. Nonfiction writers send a cover letter, proposal with outline, and some writing samples.
Each agent or agency has their own rules regarding submissions. It is very important that you read and follow each specific agency's submission guidelines. Not only does it streamline the process for them, but it also reflects well on you, their future client, and your ability to take direction. 
Be prepared for several rounds of querying. If an agent would like to represent you, they will contact you and usually schedule a phone call with you to further discuss the details. Remember, not only is the agent interviewing you to see whether they want to take you on as a client, but you are also interviewing the agent to see whether they will be a good match for you.
Once you have received an offer of representation and contracts have been signed, you and your agent may go through another round of revisions before they submit your manuscript to publishers. There might be several rounds of submissions before you receive an offer for your book.
 
At this point the process is out of your hands. You have baked your cake to perfection. You've trimmed and filled and frosted. You've decorated and delicately flavored.  Editors, acquisition boards, and marketing departments are your proverbial judges, and once your delectable offering hits the right palate, you will get your Hollywood-handshake: A published book!

by Kelly Carey

​You’ve just sold your debut book?
Fantastic!

You want to join a debut marketing group?
Even better!
​
What’s that? You’re not exactly sure what a marketing group is? How to find one? Or what kind of group to look for?
Don’t worry! Check out my tips on how to not only find a marketing group, but how to find a great one! 

Tip #1: Find a Book Marketing Group
​
A book marketing group is made up of authors who join together to help promote each other’s books. Most groups are organized around a common attribute, like debut authors, or middle grade authors, or books publishing in 2021.

You can find marketing groups by:

• Asking your agent and/or editor if they have other clients with books launching in your genre and/or launch year and then reaching out to those authors.
• You can put a call out on Twitter and other social media asking for group organizers to contact you.  
• Tap into your networks and ask your fellow writers, critique partners, and writing groups to help you find a marketing group. You never know who has a friend, who has a friend, who has a friend who is organizing a marketing group. Make sure folks know you are interested! Post a search for a marketing group on the 24 Carrot Facebook page!
• Scan Publisher’s Weekly for book deal announcements and reach out to authors with books launching in your genre and publication year.  
• If all else fails, start your own group. And if you need some guidance on how to organize and start a group, sign up for the Soaring’20s Debut group’s newsletter and they will send you a free guide on setting up a marketing group. 

Tip #2: Only Sign Up for One Group

Marketing groups are a huge help in plugging your book and in offering support and comradery during a launch. But you only need one group. While the benefits of a group are many, you will not multiple the benefits with more groups. One is plenty.
​ 
For "branding" purposes, it’s also better to identify yourself as belonging to one group. There will likely be a group logo, and a cool group name that you can include on your website, and in your social media. Best not to confuse folks with multiple tags.
 
Finally, a marketing group requires time and energy on your part. There is no need to juggle the responsibilities of more than one group. You’ll be spending plenty of time marketing and you don’t need to double the workload! 

Tip #3 Timing is Everything
 
It can take a few months to collect a group of like-minded authors for a marketing group. Once you have a group, it can take a few more months to agree on a name and logo, build a website and platform, and introduce your group to the world. It’s not too early to start looking for or forming a marketing group – um – today!
 
Your marketing group will want to start interacting with potential readers, librarians, bookstores, and teachers about six months before anyone’s book launches. That means you'll want your group to be forming about a year before publication dates. If your 2022 debut group wants to announce your fabulous new books to the world in the last half of 2021, you’ll want to find your marketing group in the first few months of 2021. 

​Tip #4 Assess the Group
 
Don’t be afraid to be picky if you get asked to join more than one group – you want to be in good one! The best way to do this it to ask a few questions and do a little research. I’d look for the following things in a group:
​

• Size Limit: You want the group to be a manageable size that allows for constructive interaction. I think 30 is a nice number. It allows for a good distribution of workload while keeping the group small enough to form meaningful working friendships.
• Diversity: I loved that my debut group intentionally looked for folks around the country so that we had different contacts at bookstores, libraries, schools and writing groups. This allowed us to really amplify our marketing reach geographically.  We also looked to be diverse in terms of gender, race and ethnicity. Finally, we intentionally included illustrators. This was a huge help when it came time to create logos and website art. The more diverse your group, and varied the skill set, the more you will be able to accomplish.
• Commitment: You want the group to work and that means the group members must be willing to work. Make sure that your group is asking for a commitment right up front – maybe a few hours a month or a requirement to volunteer to be on a sub-committee (giveaways, social media, reviews, newsletter...). You want to be in a group with folks willing to put in time and effort. 

​Congratulations on your upcoming book! I know you’ve worked hard on it and readers deserve to get ahold of it! Give yourself and your readers the best chance of connecting by finding a fantastic marketing group! 

Guest blog by Sarah Jane Abbott

​As a writer myself, I understand the struggle of trying to figure out when a story is “finished.” Is it ready to submit? Or does it just need a few more months of tinkering before it’s ready to be extracted from the bowels of my laptop? The truth is, it’s easy to make little adjustments to a manuscript forever and never send it out. There’s a fine line between putting thoughtful, thorough revision into your manuscript and completely overworking it. So how is one to decide when it’s time to stop tinkering and start querying?

Take A Step Back

One of my best tips is to take a step back for perspective. It’s easy to get so close to a manuscript that objectivity is impossible; if you’ll excuse the cliché, you can’t see the forest for the trees. So put the manuscript away and work on something else. Try not to even think about it for several weeks. Then, when you come back to it, it should feel fresher and you may be able to see it in a way you couldn’t before. Maybe you’ll realize it needs more revision after all. Or maybe, after being away from it, you’ll see that it’s stronger and more polished than you remembered.

Read Aloud

​Picture books are a unique and special form in literature in that they are often read aloud. I always suggest that authors read their work out loud before finalizing it. This will help you see numerous things: Is the language colorful and engaging? In a rhyming text, do the rhyme, rhythm, and meter flow naturally? Does the pacing move along quickly enough to keep a child’s attention, while allowing time for the plot to develop? If all of these things feel good during read aloud, it’s a positive sign that the manuscript is polished.

Get Feedback from Critique Partners

Another helpful tool to gauge readiness for submission can be input from a trusted critique partner or group. It’s one thing to have a non-writer family member or friend read your work; you’ll often be met with sincere, but vague feedback like, “this is really great!” Peers who are familiar with the world of writing for children specifically will be able to give targeted, constructive feedback on your work. Your critique partners can give their honest opinions about the readiness of the manuscript for submission and, if they think it still needs work, their thoughts on how it can be revised.

The possible pitfall, of course, is taking so much feedback from so many critique partners that you lose your own voice or intention. Maybe you’ve followed several different suggestions and ended up with so many different versions of your manuscript you barely remember the story you were trying to write in the first place. Maybe you’ve written both rhyming and non-rhyming versions, both first and third person narration, in past and present tense. It gets confusing! Or maybe you’ve tinkered and tinkered and even though you think it’s a strong manuscript, you just can’t seem to make yourself press send on any queries.

​If you feel stuck, maybe it’s time to bring in a professional. A freelance editor can use their experience and industry knowledge to give you an expert opinion on your manuscript’s readiness for submission as well as what areas need revision. They can read multiple versions and tell you which one they think is the strongest, or help you pull together the best pieces from different iterations of the manuscript to make the heart of your story shine through.

Celebrate!

Most of all, the important thing to remember if you’re thinking you’re ready to query is: it’s a big accomplishment just to be at this point! So take a breath, take a step back, and read through that manuscript one more time. Pressing send can be scary, but once you’ve put in the work to polish up a story you’re confident in, it’s an incredibly satisfying feeling to send it out into the world.

​Sarah Jane Abbott is an experienced editor who has spent eight years making books for children. She got her start at Simon & Schuster’s Paula Wiseman Books and Beach Lane Books, where she had the pleasure of working with many wonderful authors and illustrators including Samantha M. Clark, Samantha Cotterill, Scott Magoon, Anita Lobel, Alice B. McGinty, and Diane Goode. In 2020, she established Sarah Jane Abbott Editorial, and works with authors and publishers on a wide range of projects. Visit her at sarahjaneabbotteditorial.com or get in touch at sarahjaneabbotteditorial@gmail.com.