Done and sent!! Now what??

Sorry, it's been awhile since I last wrote on here. But, the good news is that I completed my book!! After working with Rachelle Burke, a Children's author and professional critic,  I revised my book a few times and completed it at the end of June! I highly recommend working with a professional on revisions. It is always a good idea to get feedback from those who are already published and working in the business. They have a unique insight and can be beneficial, especially for those not using an agent. Rachelle's fee was $100 for a line-by-line critique and she gave me plenty of pointers and feedback to work with. She even allowed me to re-submit after I applied her notes and she gave me a little hint that I was going in the right direction. $100 may seem like a lot to some (me included). But, I am hoping it will pay off in the long run.

After I finished the book, I began submitting it to publishers who take unsolicited work. You can find a great list of these publishing houses at the end of this post.  I went to each and every one of these publisher's websites and made sure the list was accurate and up-to-date. I then followed the guidelines listed on the publisher's website to prepare for submission. I started with 8 publishers. Only a couple took submissions by email, the rest wanted a hard copy of the manuscript and a cover letter.

A cover letter is basically where you have to be a car salesman (or woman). You have to sell your product. That can be easier said than done! But, the advice I got was to pretend you are writing content for the back of your book. What is going to suck the reader in and make them want to read it? The cover letter needs to pop, but without going overboard. I think I did pretty good on my first try. I was told not to be surprised if I get no response or if I am lucky enough to have an interested publisher, it could be up to 6 months before I hear one word.  I did receive one rejection letter only about a month after I submitted my manuscripts. That was a huge bummer, but I still have 7 more manuscripts out there in the world....all I can do is hope, at this point, that there is a lone publisher somewhere who needs what I am offering.

Until then...I wait.

Rachelle Burke:  http://rachelleburk-authorvisits.blogspot.com/

List of Publishers taking unsolicited Manuscripts: http://thejohnfox.com/2016/03/children-book-publishers/