I've written some childrens books, what should I do with them?

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

Thankyou.

I'm assuming you want to get them published.

Two ways to go:

Self publishing:
Have a look at www.Lulu.com - they print individual or short runs and you retail them yourself.
You could set up an amazon / ebay shop and then use a blog/twitter to promote your shop.

Use a publishing house:
Send your manuscripts to known publishing houses to get them to publish it.
You will need to find their submissions pages for guidelines.

Depending on the age range they are for I would try and get an illustrator for them.

I have a friend that illustrates children's books and she said publishers wont look at a manuscript unless there are illustrations too.

Try looking for a local artist that does children's portraits, or look in local art galleries / art cafes to find someone.

Hope that helps

It really helps, thankyou.

What age are they for? I do some work for a children's publisher...we are always looking for manuscripts.

Have a look at www.absolutewrite.com/forums. There's loads of info on how to find a publisher/agent, both in the USA and the UK.

I'd say around 5 years staranise. I am writing a differerent one for older children (about 10). Do publishers prefer a writer to stick to the same age group? I do have alot of ideas for different age groups.

I'll have a look at the forum, thankyou Butter

.

I have written stories and even a script (8-10). Plus a potential YA book.

I am a journo by trade and lost all hope of ever publishing my fiction. It is such a time consuming business to pitch books and the chances of success are slim.

Staranise, do send us a link for submissions!

The Artist and Writer's Handbook and Writer's Handbook can help. They have websites and I think you can get some info on them, too.

Sorry, I meant to say, I'll email you the contact details - i'm not keen on posting stuff to the world at large - how do I give you my details confidentially?

For myself it's
[email protected]

This is the one I use online, not the personal one (to avoid spam).

You can cat me star, I don't mind giving you mine, it's jouelsie at fsmail dot net. I get loads of spam

bumping because I am sooo excited

Still lives in hope and points you to my blog so you can see I'm reasonably OK at writing (sorry about the spelling though )

mumsnet.com/blogs/belledechocolatefluffybunny/ here you go.

Really? Thankyou I'd give up the day job and write if I could.

How are you?

That sounds like a great day!

Ours wasn't too bad. My laptop power supply is dead so I had to sort that out, then went for acupuncture. It's not to bad. Ds wants to spend tomorrow morning in some laser place, I'm not 100% sure, I took him for a game yesterday and he was in tears as they were all shooting him.

I've tried. He's obsessed with trying to be mature so he can have the halo game (shoot em up), he's trying to be mature in the hope he'l get it early, he's driving me nuts as he's always asking if he's being mature and how old do I think he is (maturity wise). I suppose it will give me a rest from all of this for a couple of hours so I can get some forms filled in. He comes out very hot and sweaty, gross!

What are you up to tomorrow/today?

I bet everyday is a busy day in your house!

It is a 15, it's why he's trying to 'mature', he's not getting it though, it's a 15 for a reason.

I hope your daughters exam goes well. Asthma is a pain, is he feeling OK now?