Any suggestions on how I can get an editor to look at my manuscript?

It’s expensive, but get an agent. These days it is hard to get to a publisher without an agent to do a first read-through and assessment.

Is it now illustrated?

You could also self-publish.

1 Write a rattling good book which is completely finished including all the illustrations and any permissions required.

2 Identify every publisher who publishes that kind of work.

3 Send a letter to the named individual at each publisher who decides on which works of this kind to publish. You must find that named individual: a simple phone call to the reception desk will often get you the name. Include a short sample of both text and illustration with the letter. Ask if they would like to see the complete MS. When nothing is heard after four weeks, send a polite reminder and ask for a decision on whether they would like to see the complete MS.

4 Out of 30 or 40 publishers, you should get five or six who want to see the complete MS. Send it to them, remind after six weeks if you have heard nothing.

5 Under normal circumstances they will all reject you. You should get one or two rejections couched in terms such as: ‘We very much liked your work but unfortunately it does not fit into our plans for the development of our current list.’

6 Identify all the agents who deal in your kind of work. Write an introductory letter to the named person in the agency who deals with your kind of work, include your sample and include photocopies of the publishers’ letters of the ‘We very much liked your work but…’ category.

7 Remind the agents after four weeks.

8 When they have all rejected you or failed to reply, at least a year will have gone by since you started this process. Now repeat the entire process from the very beginning. In a year, at least half the named people you have written to will have been replaced by others who may have other tastes; and everyone will have new priorities. Hardly anyone will remember your last submission.

9 So long as you have properly fulfilled step number 1, you will get published in the end if you keep repeating this procedure.

In my experience, a 400-page novel from a new author generally takes longer to find a first publisher than it does to write. Do not disparage agents: a good one is doing all this for you whilst you are writing your next work. Remember, it is nothing to do with luck.

@gailcalled no it is not illustrated, but I don’t lack ideas of how it should be

@NameWitheld I have taken many of the steps above, but as for the illustration, the research that I have done strongly advises against this. There are not very many publishing companies that will take a look at anything and I am almost convinced that they just toss out the query letters. I am already about a year into this process, with what feels like little progress.

I need suggestions of how I can get the query letter to stand out and create interest in reading the book. Alot of publishing companies do not even accept query letters anymore. Seems to me that they are missing out on alot of great work. Self publishing and agents are just not in my budget.

@gailcalled got it right. You need an agent. I used to know the name of the book that listed agents, but I’ve forgotten. If I were doing it, I’d simply start by googling “children’s book agents.” [edit: The agents I’m talking about will not charge you. They take their cut from the publisher.]

I’ve always heard that this kind of thing should be done through an agent. Agents function as the gatekeepers to publishers.

And never pay an agent up front. The agent should receive payment AFTER selling your manuscript to a publisher (in the form of a cut). If you pay up front, it’s probably a scam.

And contact lots and lots of agents because it’s a crapshoot.

Have you looke at Writer’s Market for tips? That is the best resource in the field for finding agents and publishers. I believe there is also Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market. It is a truly daunting and unsatisfying process from all I’ve hear. I also have read the same thing as you; that publishers do not want you to submit your own illustrations with a manusxript. Best of luck!

If you’re doing picture books, leave the illustrations to the publisher. They don’t want the author to do it unless the author is also an artist. They want to assign the illustration work. All they want from the picture book author is at most a brief description of a needed illustration that is not self-evident from the text.

This is what I have read many times in writers’ magazines.

I have also heard speaker after speaker at writers’ club meetings talk about your platform. They mean a marketing plan that includes a list of all the people who you think will buy your book: people interested in the subject matter, people in your community, people in the place where it is set, people in your own clubs and associations, etc. Does this apply to children’s books? I’m not sure. But it can’t hurt. The author has a bigger share of marketing responsibility than ever before.

You may find some helpful information here under “The Savvy Author.”

I heard one speaker who was an author of children’s books say that he self-published his first and that his sales helped him interest a traditional publisher in his later work.

The traditional publishing world is in tumult right now as sales drop and alternate media and paths to the audience gain an advantage. I have heard that for the time being, until they sort it out, you may as well hold onto your ms. Again, they may not have been speaking of children’s books, which seem to be in a class by themselves.

You could consider submitting your manuscript as a contest entry.

You could attend a convention of writers in your category. They usually have sessions with agents as part of the conference.

Screw editors – self-publication is where it’s at!

Very difficult. Good editors are very busy. Try to find smart peer reviewers.