The Editing & Proofreading Process

[PEN N INK4HIM]

Hooimi, good information. Thank you. I have a couple questions to pose. I realize as an unsolicited writer that many of the larger publishing companies won't of course accept my submissions at this point in time, however there are a few who don't have any prerequisites or previous publishing requirements. Should I try for the larger companies or get my feet wet in the smaller ones and go from there?

I write a variety of material-ie: songs, childrens, teens and adult stories as well as greeting card ideas, poetry and plays. I did get some local paper to publish a few of my poems,stories and artwork when I was a child and belonged to a kids writing and art club but that has been it for me. Grin. Other than that I have only tried to submit material when I was about 14 and then again in my early twenties but I haven't tried again since then.

I thought I was over being vulnerable but I can feel this hesitance and self consciousness rising up in me again.
Also, I am an artist and would love to illustrate my children's books or covers at least for my writings but don't know how I incorporate this into the letter, as I know many companies have their own artists lined up to do the designs for books they decide to publish. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thank you much! Lord bless, Janice

[Hoomi]

I'm probably not the best person to ask about the submission process, as I'm still on the "heading into it" end of the game.

I'm told the key to success in traditional publishing is persistence and patience. Most successful authors collect stacks of rejection letters before finally connecting with the right editor at the right time.

A resource like Writer's Market can be invaluable, because it lists many, MANY, agencies and publishers, along with their submission guidelines. Included in that is whether they consider works from new authors or not, helping us aspiring authors direct our submissions and energies towards viable options, rather than wasting time and money submitting to dead-end prospects.

Writer's Market is published as an annual volume, and is available at most major bookstores. The last time I bought it, it was something like $25 without the subscription to their web-service, and $40 with. If you have a Borders in town, watch for a good coupon and snag the book with that. I went with the web-service edition, and their web-tools are pretty spiffy; you can look up potential markets to submit to, and build yourself what is essentially a "to do" list on-line for what work to submit to each one.