To ask if it's a realistic hope to get my books published? Any tips from people who've done it?

[Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady]

Just that really

I sat down last week with an idea, and up to now I've written 3 children's books.

They're bed time stories/picture books so not like I've come up with the new war and peace, but it's been the most uplifting, fulfilling thing I've done in a long time.

They're all in a first draft form right now, but once I've polished the up is there any reason o shouldn't pursue trying to get one published?

Has anyone done it, any advice?

@PhilCornwall1. Glad you’ve decided to go for it. I’d say (on my single experience) contact publisher earlier rather than later. Having the contract gave me a time boundary (which I set myself) and support during the writing. It also gave me the comfort of knowing it wasn’t wasted effort.

The handbook was useful in finding the right publisher and explaining how to best approach them.

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/writers-artists-yearbook-2020-9781472947512/

I'm an (adult) author published with the Big Five. Children's books are an incredibly tough market - as others have said, you need an agent to get you in the door. But getting an agent is just as hard as getting published.

Some general tips:

• Don't pay any agent or publisher ANY money. There are a lot of scammers preying on people's dreams of being published.
• Don't mention that you wrote your books for your children, if that's what happened. Instant red flag for agents.
• Agents and publishers are not all equal. Some are scammers, some are just bad at their jobs. You'll need to do a LOT of research.
• A subscription to Publishers Marketplace is the best investment you can make at the moment. You can look at which agents are making children's book deals with good publishers, so you know which ones to approach. It's about £20 a month I think but it's so worth it, and you can cancel after a month.
• Be prepared that it may take years. From when I began writing fiction, it took me 18 months to get an agent and three years to get my first deal (which was with a small publisher, not the Big 5). And I had a much quicker journey than most authors.

Good luck!

@CherryPavlova Thank you for this.

@AnnaBanana333 what genre do you write? I so want to know if I've read anything of yours!

I write romcoms, which is lucky for me because about half of all adult book sales are in romance! It's a hugeeee market. In fact, I think only children's books sell more.

I work in publishing. I completely agree with @AnnaBanana333 - if an agent/publisher asks you for ANY money (and they may call it a marketing contribution or something) then they are a vanity press. Some vanity presses are not scammers - it’s perfectly valid to choose to self-publish through one as they help you create a finished book - but sometimes people are misled into thinking they’ve been traditionally published (and therefore that their book has met some kind of quality criteria) when they haven’t. I once picked up the phone to an elderly woman ringing for advice who had been scammed by one and had given them thousands of pounds and couldn’t understand why her book wasn’t in Waterstones - because vanity presses don’t get into proper bookshops. A publisher pays you, not the other way round. If you do decide to self-publish with a company, do lots of research into what exactly you get for your money and what any marketing might consist of.
Anyway - otherwise, research children’s agents, make sure you read and follow their submission guidelines, get someone to vet your covering letter (think of this like a covering letter for a job application - be professional and polite and don’t make wild claims about how you’ll be the next Julia Donaldson) and good luck! Children’s authors have to give heaps of readings to groups of children and be good at keeping their attention, too - if you’re successful it’s a life of book festivals and events and schools tours (for the most successful), so if that doesn’t appeal then think about what you’re signing up for!

Wow I had no idea romance novels sold so well! I honestly thought domestic thrillers would be high up the list. I don't read many romcoms but I have enjoyed the ones I have read x