Now How Do I Find a Publisher?
by Mary Peace Finley, past Regional Advisor, RMC-SCBWI

Congratulations on having completed your first--or fifty-first--children's book. Now, you ask, "How do I find a publisher?"

Most of us continue to be amazed and sometimes dismayed at the proportion of time that goes into the "non-writing" aspects of our art-craft-trade-business. To be a writer or illustrator, you are doing all of these, including running a small business.

How to find a publisher remains a key question at all stages of our careers, and the answer is seldom easy. Marketing takes a big chunk of a writer's or illustrator's time and focus. No one can tell us how to find a publisher for each story. Each story is unique and the publisher author/illustrator connection may be different for each work.

Step Zero. Before you take your manuscript or art to market, be sure it is as perfect as it can possibly be. It will be competing with nothing less than the best manuscripts and illustrations in the world, many from well published, award winning authors and artists with fabulous reputations and enormous followings. How do you know your work is ready to compete against theirs? A sure way NOT to know is to rely on anyone in your family--not your spouse, your mom, your kids--and most of all, not you. You love your story, of course! It's your baby, but you must seek expert critique from a knowledgeable source who can stand at a distance and see your work analytically and professionally, a critic or a published writer or illustrator, or the published members of your critique group. You may submit your work to a competition to see how it fares against other entries. Sometimes offers to submit to publisher result from competitions. Sometimes authors and illustrators discover that their manuscript and illustration must go back to the drawing board.

Step One, Study Published Books. Read work similar to what you are writing. Study illustrations. See which publishers are publishing what you like. Study style, philosophy, word count, and everything else you can discover about publishers by reading books on their lists. Read hundreds of books. Consult with librarians. Librarians in the children's section of public libraries and schools hold a wealth of information.

Step Two, Study the Market. Learn which publishers publish what. Scrutinize submission guidelines to be sure your work fits the publisher's needs and requirements. Read THE WRITERS MARKET, THE CHILDREN'S WRITERS MARKET, The Writer, Writer's Digest, the SCBWI Bulletin, the newsletter from our chapter, "Kite Tales,"and a publication by one of our RMC-SCBWI members, "Children's Book Insider." These are only a few of the many publications available to help with your marketing efforts. Check our Website www.rmcscbwi.org. Marketing for me is a grueling task, and one that many authors and illustrators would love to by-pass, but there's no getting around the hard work of finding the right markets. Unfortunately, it's something you have to do for yourself, for your story, for your readers. Nobody else can tell you the "right answers."

Step Three, Attend Writers' and Illustrators Events. Classes, workshops, conferences, critique groups, especially SCBWI events where the emphasis is on children's book writing, illustrating and publishing, or the week-long Highlights Conference. Network with other authors. Learn what markets have been good for them, which ones have been bad (publisher who have not honored contracts, for example.) Experienced authors or illustrators who know the type of story you are hoping to sell can sometimes "see" or "hear" or "sense" something about your work that makes it seem right for a specific publisher, and may suggest you try submitting there. If you are not in a critique group yet, check "Kite Tales" or our Website for Cindy Hammerly's address and let her know that you'd like to join a group.

Step Four, Persevere. My first major sale, a book that became an award-winner, sold after ten years of marketing. Another of my books that just came out last spring, also sold after ten years of marketing. Commit to the long run.

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that marketing is akin to getting a university degree. The process leads to the printed paper at the end. The process of marketing is like earning that diploma--hard work, lots to learn. In the beginning phases of your career, nobody else can "take the classes" for you then hand you the "printed paper" at the end. Some authors and illustrators share the small percentages they earn on books with literary agents who handle marketing, but that doesn't usually happen until later in a career.

Buying a home or a car, or even a computer seems easy to me compared with marketing a book, but if the story is worthy, there is a market out there for it. Publishers rely on authors and illustrators. They are always looking for fresh, new voices and styles.

So how do you find a publisher?
Step Zero: Perfect your work
Step One: Study books similar to what you want to create
Step Two: Study market and submission guidelines
Step Three: Attend events for children's book writers and illustrators
Step Four: Persevere.

You and your book could be a publisher's next exciting discovery.