TRANSCRIPT

Hi, before you start submitting your manuscript to agents, you need to make sure that they are as good as they can be by following the following four steps…

First, you need to have a good understanding of which books actually sell. Go to your local bookstore and read the picture books. By knowing what sells, you’ll have a better understanding of what agents are looking for – and the caliber of writing expected. If you don’t feel like your manuscript is quite there yet, keep working on it before sending it off to agents.

Second, be sure to have a trusted source read your manuscript. Don’t rely on friends and family. You need people who can give you an honest critique of your work, perhaps a schoolteacher or librarian. I’ve paid for several manuscript critiques and feel like that they were well worth the investment.

Third, make sure your manuscript looks professional. Use the correct format and keep the word count below 800 words.

Finally, proofread your manuscript. If you’re not good at it, find or pay someone who is.

These are the same steps you’ll also want to follow before submitting a manuscript to publishers. And in the next few videos, I’ll get into more specifics about the steps needed when submitting to agents.

Thank you so much for watching. If you got any value out of this video, like it, subscribe to my channel and share the video with other aspiring picture book authors.