Notes from the Slushpile is a team blog maintained by eight friends who also happen to be children's authors at different stages of the publishing journey.
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Saturday, 7 October 2006
How to Hook a Children's Editor
Sarah Hughes, editorial director for children's books at Puffin, explains what she looks for in a manuscript submission at a SCBWI Professional Series evening, 25 May 2006 in London.
Great post, Candy, some really useful information - but it's scary how much tougher the children's market keeps getting. I find the whole agented/unagented thing very catch-22 - you can't get to certain publishers without an agent, but you can't get to agents without a contract. Tough world. Perseverance and sheer dumb stubborness pays, I suppose :-)
Speaking as one of those shifty wannabe authors, I think you've done a terrific job of rounding up what was said. Very useful post, Candy. I read stuff here I'd forgotten she'd said! Addy
Thanks Attylah, Wilf. The bit about the unforgiving market is very dispiriting, especially if you've been slogging away for years. But it was a real education listening to Sarah critique our work. You really get a sense of how high the bar is and she made you want to keep going, if only so that you could get a chance to have someone like her edit your work.
I guess we've got to try to find ways to add to our value as potential authors - through our blogs perhaps?
Great post, Candy, some really useful information - but it's scary how much tougher the children's market keeps getting. I find the whole agented/unagented thing very catch-22 - you can't get to certain publishers without an agent, but you can't get to agents without a contract. Tough world. Perseverance and sheer dumb stubborness pays, I suppose :-)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as one of those shifty wannabe authors, I think you've done a terrific job of rounding up what was said. Very useful post, Candy. I read stuff here I'd forgotten she'd said!
ReplyDeleteAddy
Thanks Attylah, Wilf. The bit about the unforgiving market is very dispiriting, especially if you've been slogging away for years. But it was a real education listening to Sarah critique our work. You really get a sense of how high the bar is and she made you want to keep going, if only so that you could get a chance to have someone like her edit your work.
ReplyDeleteI guess we've got to try to find ways to add to our value as potential authors - through our blogs perhaps?
Thanks for reading!