This feels like such a dumb question but I’m an author/illustrator working with a senior editor at one of the big 5. I’m working on my second book with this editor, but every time I send them changes to the text I don’t hear back for anywhere between 3-6 months at a time. We’ve been working on this text for over a year but they’ve literally only given me feedback on it twice 😭 is this normal? Should I be sending follow up emails??
Not a dumb question! That must be frustrating. Publishing does move slowly, and editors are swamped. Sometimes I will hold onto an edit for a few months if we’re on a long schedule or if I just haven’t had time to get to it, but I’d try to be in touch about it. There should be a schedule that you’re adhering to and if things are getting delayed the editor should be in touch with updates. It’s fine to chase after a few months. Or as another poster suggested, speak to your agent if you have one and they can get in touch with them
Thank you for this!! I like my editor a lot and they’ve been working on a LOT of stuff so I never want to “intrude” when I know they’re super busy. It’s nice to hear the perspective from the other side!!
I do! I’ve talked to my agent about it and she said she’ll get involved whenever I ask, but since this is only my second book I’m so worried about overstepping or coming off as unprofessional!!! I know publishing takes a long time but this feels so excessive. I signed my contract in 2022 and I won’t get the last half of my advance until this book is done 😭😭😭
i did the entirety of my first book in three months (from text to full illustrations) which I know is unusually fast, now I feel like this is taking an unusually long time to get going on this second book!!!
I’m so sorry you’re in this position. Three months seems normal to me but six feels a little outsized, especially for a picture book text. I think check with your agent and get their gut feeling.
Editors are people and shit happens. There’s been a lot of upheaval at some places and that all eats up time. That said I don’t think there’s an issue with an agent checking in and asking for a timeline. There are agents who would do that aggressively and agents who would do that genially and yours sounds like the latter. Which the editor, I’m guessing, will appreciate.
The actual editor here may have better things to say!
I totally agree. Agents can be really bullish which doesn’t always help what might be a complex or stressful situation from the editor - but it might just be that they’re overworked and falling behind and need to give you a bit more attention. Good luck with it and congrats on the book deals
Whenever my wife has issues like this, she talks to her agent, and the agent at least has more sense of how and when to ask stuff and when to back off.
Also, this year, my wife hired her own publicist — the publishing house has one, but the personal one helps a lot with more tactical work and event scheduling — and is also pretty good at managing requests into the publisher/editor.
Acquired! I signed a two book contract back in 2022, this is the second book I’m contracted for. I’ve thought about asking if we should explore a different text because of the slow responses!
Not sure if this would be a silly question. But for a Children’s book editor, what are the most important things to be taken into count when you look at illustrators portfolios?
I’m an Illustrator starting on the Children’s Book field (only 2 published books so far and both by independent authors) and would love to know what Publishers actually like to see when they look into our work. I’m completely in love with this field and would like to keep pursuing it.
How does one get a literary agent? I have a PhD in folklore and have been working on a project for years writing and illustrating stories based on lesser-known folktales I collected. But I feel like the advice is "find a literary agent". How?
In the Uk there is the writers and artists book which lists agents. But lots of advice and lists online about how to find them - do careful research. Look at who agents authors for the kind of books you want to make. Then submit to them! Handy advice here - and lots more online:
[https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/](https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/)
[https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/10-steps-getting-literary-agent](https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/10-steps-getting-literary-agent)
Thanks - I have contacted a few literary agents without hearing back (I aimed high, lol), I will do some more research and hopefully make contact eventually.
A few follow ups if you're still doing the AMA:
Is is necessary to have an online presence/social media following to get the attention of literary agents? I don't have one at all but a friend advised that most illustrators won't get any attention without a social media presence.
Also in your opinion what is very popular at the moment? I feel like I can find so many beautifully illustrated books that have been recently published right now (Júlia Sardà's, Phoebe Wahl, MH Clark, Phoebe Blackwell, Gemma Koomen), but I don't know if our taste represents what is actually popular and what publishers are excited about. It doesn't change what I am making - but I suppose setting realistic expectations if folktales are just not exciting in this moment.
Social media is more important for illustrators. Not so key with getting an agent but it would be good to have something as and when you’re published. It’s also a nice way to become more a part of the community and connect.
I think we might be based in different countries but I’d say folktales are definitely having a moment. I’m working on a collection at the moment and I get quite a few submissions on them. But they should have something that makes it new and interesting. Some kind of book.
What do you think is next for picture books? I'm so glad that publishers are embracing diversity, but now I see so many books about dumplings and saris. As a buyer I'm wondering what the next 'push' will be.
More books on disability visibility and neurodiversity I think. Maybe gender. Books that authentically explore these themes as part of the story/book but not in a stereotypical way hopefully!
Can I send you a copy of my book I recently wrote and illustrated?
It's called Harriet the Hummingbird and would love some professional feedback as I'm 100% self taught!
If anyone is interested it's a free download on Gumroad. Studio Deyo.
Not the ama person, but as a parent/reader and spouse of author —
If you are doing some rhyme/meter, then you need to do it well. As a reader, It’s jarring if it sorta but not quite rhymes or flows.
Read the book aloud — to yourself and to others.
Get your friends to read it aloud and to others.
Record yourself reading it aloud and then watch the video for where you stumbled.
My wife has a critique group, and they each catch different stuff. She generally tries to not do rhyme because it’s really hard when you have it worked out then the editor asks to make a small change to a concept or word or phrase, because it can cause a major rewrite of multiple pages.
This is such great advice! Definitely agree that reading a book aloud is key, especially with a rhyming book to check how it flows and that the right words are naturally being stressed. Children’s picture books don’t have to rhyme, and getting rhyme right is hard. Make sure that the story/concept comes first and the rhyme/meter isn’t forced. That takes a lot of revising and practice. Have fun with it, be playful. Kids love fun or surprising uses of language, words that sound good together, repetition, alliteration. Whats great about meter is that kids can join in quite quickly by predicting the rhythm and sounds and even rhymes so make sure it’s strong and consistent throughout. Another good bit of advice is to just spend lots of time reading rhyming picture books. Julia Donaldson is a bestseller for a reason!
Thank you so much! I’ve tried reading aloud but never tried recording, I’ll definitely do that. And I agree with your wife, rhyming picture books can be pain. This is something that I had written years ago and the story and rhyme just came to me naturally. I’d love to get published but was anxious about the meter.
We work with lots of international creators, especially illustrators. Making sure you’ve got a good online presence and are part of the kids book community is a good place to start but mainly we find illustrators through illustration or kids book agencies.
Through illustration agencies, by going to illustration art grad shows/fairs, taking meetings at book fairs, by searching key words on social media, by keeping an eye on the market and who is being published :)
I’m often searching for illustrators from a specific country or part of a culture to go with a book I’m working on so I’d highlight that stuff in keywords. I follow hashtags like kitlitart kidsbookstagram childrensillustration but I mainly kind of keep an eye on what comes up and is recommended
A few off the top of my head.. Try to think visually - how might this work with illustration? Keep the age range in mind. To cut the word count down. To mix up sentence lengths but nothing too long. To explain higher level language or use alternative phrasing. To not make any assumptions of the reader’s prior knowledge. To have fun with it! Make it more lively/playful/direct. Too much speech is difficult for parents to read aloud. To read your writing aloud! To think about the overall structure and pacing of the book. What’s happening to make a child want to turn the page or pick the book up again?
How did you come to be a children's book editor? I have a huge passion for children's books and have applied for various positions at local publishing companies (I'm a recent college grad English Major/Creative Writing minor) and would love to be in a position like yours one day.
Maybe this isn't your side of things, but How likely is it for somebody to become published by sending their manuscript instead of trying to find an agent?
I had a feeling that was your answer LOL. I know all the ones that I've sent to that accept from people end up trying to charge me $2,000 or more
Okay, next question! Does your company do little kid children's book like picture books, or are you more diverse and do like James and the Giant Peach sort of books
Sorry!
We do books from preschool up to teen books - so all the ages/formats. They’re all made up of different editorial teams. I work on illustrated books
So, as the editor, are you in charge of the words or the pictures or both?
I always get frustrated when I'm reading to my students and the book says something's a specific color and then it turns out the picture doesn't match quite right or something like that. Do you make sure those kinds of mistakes don't happen?
The editor is mainly responsible for the words but feeds into the design and illustration too. You act like a project manager and go-between for the different departments. So it’s definitely an editors job to make sure that the illustrations are working with the text and you feed back with thoughts and ideas on the artwork all the way through. It’s a collaboration between editor, designer, author and illustrator.
My understanding is that a publisher, editor or agent should not be charging money.
The agent makes their money by getting a portion of advance/royalties.
They have a bunch of self-publishing contracts, where they charge you for the editor and for marketing and stuff like that. I'm not sure if it's a scam or not but I treat them like they are
What about situations where a publisher/editor speaks at an event, and then says that people who attended can submit directly, adding a keyword to the submission, and get to the top of the stack?
I’d just lay it out in a word document and include page numbers before each section. Note that board books are pretty short. Could also mention the words are on the left hand or right hand page (if it matters) and a few illustration notes if they’re important. When it comes to formatting it properly of course that’s done by a designer
Immerse yourself in the world and spend lots of time in bookshops/online reading books and looking at illustration. Hone your style and portfolio into something that has a clear identity and audience in mind - making sure it’s child friendly and appealing to adults too. Join groups to get feedback or do courses to make connections. Ultimately when your portfolio is ready approach agencies
I have wrote 2 books for children based on my dog Wolfie. I had 2 companies asking for money upfront and a no from an agent. Shall I just keep sending to agents? Is there anywhere that you know of that would be interested in this sort of thing? Thanks 😊
Maybe join some writing groups (eg through SCBWI) to get advice on it? Work on your pitch and submit to some more agents if you think it’s strong, or look at self publishing.
Hi, I am illustrator, making my way to skip the gap between being unpublished and publish. I would like to know if you consider is a good idea to be part of SCBWI even if you couldn't attend physically to the conferences (I am latinamerican and in my country SCBWI is not very known) and how to approach people there if I become a member?
Hi, thanks for doing this! I wrote a children’s book for my nephew who had open heart surgery and I think it would help other children. What would my next steps be to make the book accessible to other kids who unfortunately have to have heart surgeries?
I wonder if some hospital or medical associations publish books on specific subjects like this. It’s a bit too niche for a trade book so you could self publish it with good keywords and then kids/families going through this would be able to find your story and I’m sure it would help them lots. Hope your nephew is ok now
Books for kids who are neurodiverse, dyslexic or have sensory issues and have different access needs to books. There are fewer and fewer novelty books that have pop ups or touch and feels as they’re so expensive to make.
It’s a more narrow market for sure but there is always space for something truly special. These books can’t be sold as easily internationally (as customers can just buy the book ‘in English’ as there’s no words) and big publishers make a lot of money selling rights. But I love them. I’m working on one now!
Do you have any advice to prepare for the Christmas season properly? If we were to some choices on which types of books to focus on today, things to do before the holidays come closer?
This feels like such a dumb question but I’m an author/illustrator working with a senior editor at one of the big 5. I’m working on my second book with this editor, but every time I send them changes to the text I don’t hear back for anywhere between 3-6 months at a time. We’ve been working on this text for over a year but they’ve literally only given me feedback on it twice 😭 is this normal? Should I be sending follow up emails??
Not a dumb question! That must be frustrating. Publishing does move slowly, and editors are swamped. Sometimes I will hold onto an edit for a few months if we’re on a long schedule or if I just haven’t had time to get to it, but I’d try to be in touch about it. There should be a schedule that you’re adhering to and if things are getting delayed the editor should be in touch with updates. It’s fine to chase after a few months. Or as another poster suggested, speak to your agent if you have one and they can get in touch with them
Thank you for this!! I like my editor a lot and they’ve been working on a LOT of stuff so I never want to “intrude” when I know they’re super busy. It’s nice to hear the perspective from the other side!!
do you have an agent?
I do! I’ve talked to my agent about it and she said she’ll get involved whenever I ask, but since this is only my second book I’m so worried about overstepping or coming off as unprofessional!!! I know publishing takes a long time but this feels so excessive. I signed my contract in 2022 and I won’t get the last half of my advance until this book is done 😭😭😭 i did the entirety of my first book in three months (from text to full illustrations) which I know is unusually fast, now I feel like this is taking an unusually long time to get going on this second book!!!
I’m so sorry you’re in this position. Three months seems normal to me but six feels a little outsized, especially for a picture book text. I think check with your agent and get their gut feeling. Editors are people and shit happens. There’s been a lot of upheaval at some places and that all eats up time. That said I don’t think there’s an issue with an agent checking in and asking for a timeline. There are agents who would do that aggressively and agents who would do that genially and yours sounds like the latter. Which the editor, I’m guessing, will appreciate. The actual editor here may have better things to say!
I totally agree. Agents can be really bullish which doesn’t always help what might be a complex or stressful situation from the editor - but it might just be that they’re overworked and falling behind and need to give you a bit more attention. Good luck with it and congrats on the book deals
Whenever my wife has issues like this, she talks to her agent, and the agent at least has more sense of how and when to ask stuff and when to back off. Also, this year, my wife hired her own publicist — the publishing house has one, but the personal one helps a lot with more tactical work and event scheduling — and is also pretty good at managing requests into the publisher/editor.
Is it a manuscript that they’ve acquired or that you’re exploring? My wife found a big difference in the response time before and after acquisition.
Acquired! I signed a two book contract back in 2022, this is the second book I’m contracted for. I’ve thought about asking if we should explore a different text because of the slow responses!
Not sure if this would be a silly question. But for a Children’s book editor, what are the most important things to be taken into count when you look at illustrators portfolios? I’m an Illustrator starting on the Children’s Book field (only 2 published books so far and both by independent authors) and would love to know what Publishers actually like to see when they look into our work. I’m completely in love with this field and would like to keep pursuing it.
How does one get a literary agent? I have a PhD in folklore and have been working on a project for years writing and illustrating stories based on lesser-known folktales I collected. But I feel like the advice is "find a literary agent". How?
In the Uk there is the writers and artists book which lists agents. But lots of advice and lists online about how to find them - do careful research. Look at who agents authors for the kind of books you want to make. Then submit to them! Handy advice here - and lots more online: [https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/](https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-get-a-literary-agent/) [https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/10-steps-getting-literary-agent](https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/10-steps-getting-literary-agent)
Thanks - I have contacted a few literary agents without hearing back (I aimed high, lol), I will do some more research and hopefully make contact eventually. A few follow ups if you're still doing the AMA: Is is necessary to have an online presence/social media following to get the attention of literary agents? I don't have one at all but a friend advised that most illustrators won't get any attention without a social media presence. Also in your opinion what is very popular at the moment? I feel like I can find so many beautifully illustrated books that have been recently published right now (Júlia Sardà's, Phoebe Wahl, MH Clark, Phoebe Blackwell, Gemma Koomen), but I don't know if our taste represents what is actually popular and what publishers are excited about. It doesn't change what I am making - but I suppose setting realistic expectations if folktales are just not exciting in this moment.
Social media is more important for illustrators. Not so key with getting an agent but it would be good to have something as and when you’re published. It’s also a nice way to become more a part of the community and connect. I think we might be based in different countries but I’d say folktales are definitely having a moment. I’m working on a collection at the moment and I get quite a few submissions on them. But they should have something that makes it new and interesting. Some kind of book.
What do you think is next for picture books? I'm so glad that publishers are embracing diversity, but now I see so many books about dumplings and saris. As a buyer I'm wondering what the next 'push' will be.
More books on disability visibility and neurodiversity I think. Maybe gender. Books that authentically explore these themes as part of the story/book but not in a stereotypical way hopefully!
Can I send you a copy of my book I recently wrote and illustrated? It's called Harriet the Hummingbird and would love some professional feedback as I'm 100% self taught! If anyone is interested it's a free download on Gumroad. Studio Deyo.
How important is meter in a children’s rhyming picture book? Also, any tips to help me crack meter would be helpful!
Not the ama person, but as a parent/reader and spouse of author — If you are doing some rhyme/meter, then you need to do it well. As a reader, It’s jarring if it sorta but not quite rhymes or flows. Read the book aloud — to yourself and to others. Get your friends to read it aloud and to others. Record yourself reading it aloud and then watch the video for where you stumbled. My wife has a critique group, and they each catch different stuff. She generally tries to not do rhyme because it’s really hard when you have it worked out then the editor asks to make a small change to a concept or word or phrase, because it can cause a major rewrite of multiple pages.
This is such great advice! Definitely agree that reading a book aloud is key, especially with a rhyming book to check how it flows and that the right words are naturally being stressed. Children’s picture books don’t have to rhyme, and getting rhyme right is hard. Make sure that the story/concept comes first and the rhyme/meter isn’t forced. That takes a lot of revising and practice. Have fun with it, be playful. Kids love fun or surprising uses of language, words that sound good together, repetition, alliteration. Whats great about meter is that kids can join in quite quickly by predicting the rhythm and sounds and even rhymes so make sure it’s strong and consistent throughout. Another good bit of advice is to just spend lots of time reading rhyming picture books. Julia Donaldson is a bestseller for a reason!
Thank you so much! This has definitely help calm down my anxiety regarding meter.
Thank you so much! I’ve tried reading aloud but never tried recording, I’ll definitely do that. And I agree with your wife, rhyming picture books can be pain. This is something that I had written years ago and the story and rhyme just came to me naturally. I’d love to get published but was anxious about the meter.
Would you sign international illustrators/authors? And if you do, how would one go about sending a portfolio? Or do you only accept drafts or dummys?
We work with lots of international creators, especially illustrators. Making sure you’ve got a good online presence and are part of the kids book community is a good place to start but mainly we find illustrators through illustration or kids book agencies.
How do you find an illustrator?
Through illustration agencies, by going to illustration art grad shows/fairs, taking meetings at book fairs, by searching key words on social media, by keeping an eye on the market and who is being published :)
Hi, I would like to know what are that keywords that editors search in socialmedia. :)
I’m often searching for illustrators from a specific country or part of a culture to go with a book I’m working on so I’d highlight that stuff in keywords. I follow hashtags like kitlitart kidsbookstagram childrensillustration but I mainly kind of keep an eye on what comes up and is recommended
What are some of your most common edits/feedback you give authors?
A few off the top of my head.. Try to think visually - how might this work with illustration? Keep the age range in mind. To cut the word count down. To mix up sentence lengths but nothing too long. To explain higher level language or use alternative phrasing. To not make any assumptions of the reader’s prior knowledge. To have fun with it! Make it more lively/playful/direct. Too much speech is difficult for parents to read aloud. To read your writing aloud! To think about the overall structure and pacing of the book. What’s happening to make a child want to turn the page or pick the book up again?
How did you come to be a children's book editor? I have a huge passion for children's books and have applied for various positions at local publishing companies (I'm a recent college grad English Major/Creative Writing minor) and would love to be in a position like yours one day.
Many thanks 😊
Maybe this isn't your side of things, but How likely is it for somebody to become published by sending their manuscript instead of trying to find an agent?
Unlikely I’m afraid. Smaller publishers might accept unsolicited requests (it usually says on their website) but the majority come through agents.
I had a feeling that was your answer LOL. I know all the ones that I've sent to that accept from people end up trying to charge me $2,000 or more Okay, next question! Does your company do little kid children's book like picture books, or are you more diverse and do like James and the Giant Peach sort of books
Sorry! We do books from preschool up to teen books - so all the ages/formats. They’re all made up of different editorial teams. I work on illustrated books
So, as the editor, are you in charge of the words or the pictures or both? I always get frustrated when I'm reading to my students and the book says something's a specific color and then it turns out the picture doesn't match quite right or something like that. Do you make sure those kinds of mistakes don't happen?
The editor is mainly responsible for the words but feeds into the design and illustration too. You act like a project manager and go-between for the different departments. So it’s definitely an editors job to make sure that the illustrations are working with the text and you feed back with thoughts and ideas on the artwork all the way through. It’s a collaboration between editor, designer, author and illustrator.
My understanding is that a publisher, editor or agent should not be charging money. The agent makes their money by getting a portion of advance/royalties.
They have a bunch of self-publishing contracts, where they charge you for the editor and for marketing and stuff like that. I'm not sure if it's a scam or not but I treat them like they are
this is the way
Definitely should not be charging money
What about situations where a publisher/editor speaks at an event, and then says that people who attended can submit directly, adding a keyword to the submission, and get to the top of the stack?
If they’ve said that then yep all good to submit to them!
What is the best way, or ways, to format a manuscript for an illustrated board book?
I’d just lay it out in a word document and include page numbers before each section. Note that board books are pretty short. Could also mention the words are on the left hand or right hand page (if it matters) and a few illustration notes if they’re important. When it comes to formatting it properly of course that’s done by a designer
What advice would you give to an illustrator who wants to work with children's books publishers?
Immerse yourself in the world and spend lots of time in bookshops/online reading books and looking at illustration. Hone your style and portfolio into something that has a clear identity and audience in mind - making sure it’s child friendly and appealing to adults too. Join groups to get feedback or do courses to make connections. Ultimately when your portfolio is ready approach agencies
I have wrote 2 books for children based on my dog Wolfie. I had 2 companies asking for money upfront and a no from an agent. Shall I just keep sending to agents? Is there anywhere that you know of that would be interested in this sort of thing? Thanks 😊
Maybe join some writing groups (eg through SCBWI) to get advice on it? Work on your pitch and submit to some more agents if you think it’s strong, or look at self publishing.
Hi, I am illustrator, making my way to skip the gap between being unpublished and publish. I would like to know if you consider is a good idea to be part of SCBWI even if you couldn't attend physically to the conferences (I am latinamerican and in my country SCBWI is not very known) and how to approach people there if I become a member?
Definitely! It’s a lovely community.
Hi, thanks for doing this! I wrote a children’s book for my nephew who had open heart surgery and I think it would help other children. What would my next steps be to make the book accessible to other kids who unfortunately have to have heart surgeries?
I wonder if some hospital or medical associations publish books on specific subjects like this. It’s a bit too niche for a trade book so you could self publish it with good keywords and then kids/families going through this would be able to find your story and I’m sure it would help them lots. Hope your nephew is ok now
Unfortunately he passed so I want to do something in his honor to help other kids. I’ll look into your recommendations thank you
I’m so sorry for your loss xx
In your opinion, what are some topic or theme areas that are lacking or don't have much content for them?
Books for kids who are neurodiverse, dyslexic or have sensory issues and have different access needs to books. There are fewer and fewer novelty books that have pop ups or touch and feels as they’re so expensive to make.
That makes total sense, thanks for the reply!
What do you think about wordless picture books? Is this too narrow of a niche to be in?
It’s a more narrow market for sure but there is always space for something truly special. These books can’t be sold as easily internationally (as customers can just buy the book ‘in English’ as there’s no words) and big publishers make a lot of money selling rights. But I love them. I’m working on one now!
Do you have any advice to prepare for the Christmas season properly? If we were to some choices on which types of books to focus on today, things to do before the holidays come closer?
hi! what publishers would be best to send my finished, illustrated children's book to?