Last week I was able to get to the library again and look up some more books. This time I took Chronicle Books' book list and guess what? There wasn't anything there that I was looking for from them. Maybe people already know this, but not all publishing houses are carried in the libraries. This is important to know. If I get published I want a publishing house that will be carried by my library so my friends and acquaintances can check out my books. So I realized something very important. I will not be submitting to Chronicle Books. I'm not sure how common this is among publishing houses. I'm just starting on this journey, but I am learning a lot.
My next line of research should be: how many books from Chronicle Books are sold at Bookstores and how many are only available online. I'm sure independent bookstores carry a different array of books than the big ones. So this may require a few trips to different bookstores. Shucky darn! Of course I always spend WAY too much money when I set foot into a bookstore. But if it's for research purposes maybe I can count it as a tax write-off? All right, maybe not.
A valuable lesson I figured out this week was that I may be going about this whole journey the wrong way. I was taking my alphabetical lists of agents in the US that I could submit to and looking at their best selling list. But while at the library I decided that instead I wanted to check out award-winning books and top agents for Picture Book sales. Lightbulb! I really am figuring this out on my own--with no direction, obviously.
Well, I asked the Universe (Google) who the "top literary agents" are and I found this website on the top children's literary agents. It breaks down how they determine the "top" and which agents represent which genre. It was a great jumping point although none of Kirsten Hall's Catbird books were carried at my library either. There are some fun artists and some fun looking stories, but I think the agency is too small to be carried here since I'm sure my small library has a tight budget.
I moved on to Steven Malk from Writer's House. Unfortunately there are twenty agents in this particular agency. From the website it only says their names and the types of submissions they accept. You need to have either a current Publisher's Marketplace (PM) book or a subscription to Publisher's Marketplace to see their individual requirements and profiles. I personally have not yet invested in a subscription to this resource. I'm crossing my fingers that I get that grant I applied for last week. I'll find out in two weeks if I get it, but either way I'll be signing up for this website or checking out this book at my local library.
On Writer's House's website they have an awards and bestsellers list. I selected the Children's Book Award Winners immediately recognized The Adventures of Beekle, the Unimaginary Friend by Daniel Santat, which I own, and knew that I had struck gold. I made up my list, found a few books on the list and while I was at it grabbed a few more from each author. It has been a very revealing process. My kids have loved reading a few of these with me and some they really haven't enjoyed reading. It makes me wonder who makes those awards. Then again, some of the books I picked out were from a long time ago. So I guess it's best to look at the books most recently published. One of our favorites was They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel. It's a play of perspectives and very creatively illustrated.
Another realization is that I'm not just looking at these books to see which ones are most like mine, but also to see what types of books are winning awards and doing well. I need to write to this level and possibly continue to develop my illustration ability so I can create interesting pictures to go along with my work. I know some publishing houses will not accept the story without pictures and others are fine finding an illustrator for you. My artwork is definitely not where I want it to be, but I'm getting closer.
Well, it's been a fun journey so far. Here's to another week. I must warn you though that I may be a little behind. I am preparing for WIFYR in two weeks and have to do a bunch of critiques. Preparing for this conference has taught me to truly appreciate the job of an editor. I just hope I can push through. Good luck on your journey to publication!
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