Submissions on Show #2

December 2019 USA picture book submission

Hello, readers! It’s time to put another of my submissions on show.

Last month’s post was a comprehensive introduction to this series, in which, each month, I’ll be revealing the details of one of my submissions to publishers.

A few readers got in touch with me to say how interesting they found the behind-the-scenes info, so you might want to read it too, if you haven’t already. I hope you’ll find today’s post just as intriguing, so let’s get straight to the submission.

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SUBMISSION #2: December 2019 USA picture book submission

My agent submits to American publishers far less frequently than UK publishers, which makes sense: we’re both based in the UK, and I really only have links with one US publisher, Scholastic, who’ve published I Really Want the Cake and I Really Want to Win over there.

And, perhaps surprisingly (or not?), the respective picture book markets are actually quite different, I believe – though admittedly, I know very little about the children’s market in the US. I’d LOVE to know more, preferably by perusing American bookshops for hours on end…

Yet, a US submission always feels big and exciting, mainly due, I think, to the size of the market: I can’t help but fantasise about one of my books taking off there. I Really Want the Cake was a Scholastic Book Club title once upon a time, which made a noticeable difference to my royalty statements for that period, meaning I’ve had a very small taste of what could be – so please forgive my dreaming!  

The striking US edition of I Really Want the Cake

Anyway, this submission consisted of four picture book texts (two of which were included in the simultaneous UK submission):

Dads Are Incredible – a tribute to and celebration of fathers (the good, present ones, at least) and all they do, written in rhyme. So exactly what you’d expect, given the title.

Shake Off the Sloth – a concise but interactive text, written in the first person, whereby the main character asks for the reader’s help in trying to remove the sloth that’s in their favourite tree (or is it?!), through shouting, asking politely, tickling, shaking the book etc. (Looking back, this sounds awful – and perhaps it was.)

Get Me a Dog! – written from the first-person perspective yet again (Yawn! Do something novel! PUSH YOURSELF, SIMON! my inner-critic screams), this story, as you’ll surely have guessed from the title, was inspired by Ben Affleck. Or, more accurately, by watching Ben Affleck tell an anecdote on The Graham Norton Show.

If you’ve seen the clip AND read my manuscript, you’ll know my text was, in fact, heavily inspired by him. But it’s NOT plagiarism/larceny/unethical if the words haven’t been put down on paper before. And I put my own twist on it, too. Honest!

I actually still really like Get Me a Dog! I think it would make a fun picture book with a wide appeal. In fact, screw it – I’m going to see if my agent will submit it again soon.

This Christmas I’m in Charge – what would you know? Another story from a first-person perspective. Rather than describe this one for you, I’ll let you read it:

All four of these texts were sent to 15 publishers in the US.

Of those publishers:

• SIX sent rejections. Here are a few (paraphrased) quotes from the feedback:

“There's lots of energy and verve in these texts but I'm sorry to say that none of them speak to me. Good luck with them.”

“These are all fun and kid-friendly, but I’d struggle to pitch any of to them to my acquisitions team as a must-have for the list. I hope another editor will feel differently!”

“I’m most charmed by DADS ARE INCREDIBLE, but it’s a bit too similar to other father-child themed books on our list.”

• NINE never responded – a 60% ‘silence rate’
  

• meaning that ZERO publishers offered.

So, to summarise: 4 texts, 15 publishers, 6 rejections, 9 silences – and no offers.

Usually, this would be a most disappointing return, but on this occasion the disappointment was softened by knowing that we’d already received an offer for Dads are Incredible from a UK publisher.

And although This Christmas I’m in Charge never found a publisher, a much-reworked, later incarnation of it did…

…proving that it always pays to recycle one’s rubbish!

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