Customer Reviews

2007 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market

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This is a condensed version of the review I posted on my web site, The Purple Crayon. I'm the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books, and I have to be familiar with books in the field. CWIM is a very reliable market guide.

Contents: Considering its title, it's no surprise that the bulk of CWIM is taken up by the Markets section. This provides information about publishers of books, magazines, greeting cards, and plays. There are several profiles of industry "insiders" scattered through. This year, the cover claims 750 individual listings in all, down from last year's 800, so the editors have been pruning. The book publishers section has about 200 entries. The entries vary in length, but always include addresses and other basics; they may also include names and titles of editors and art directors, a brief description of their publishing program, sample titles, and other information. Indexes help you find publishers by subject. New this year is a "Names Index," which lists editors--this is a very useful feature.

The first part of the book has articles, some of which present the same basic information for people just getting started every year, followed by 12 all-new articles and five "First Books" profiles. I always turn to this part of a new CWIM first. This year, articles that interested me included "Writing the Nonfiction Book Proposal," "The Newest Children's Book Imprints," "Mainstreaming the Graphic Novel," and "Blogging for Authors and Illustrators."

Comments: Though I like the feature articles, which cover topics of interest to published authors (reprints, self-promotion) as well as beginners, the reason to get CWIM every year is the Markets section. CWIM is almost always accurate, and saves anyone who needs information about children's publishers an enormous amount of time and effort. If you tried to compile this information yourself, you wouldn't have time to write or illustrate.

This really is a must have for anyone seriously thinking about (or actively working in!) the children's book market. I have four picture books published and still buy a new edition every year; my old copies have stained, dog-eared pages throughout. At every conference I present, I tell folks to go get this book since it's such a great resource. It tells you who the right editors are, offers a great index in the back so you can look up publishers by subject matter or genre, what kinds of manucripts publishers are looking for, even what NOT to do. I like to thumb through it before a conference to get familiar with the presenters and/or to think of questions to ask. Get this and "Writing Children's Books For Dummies" and you are all set. -Bitsy Kemper

Getting published in the children's genre is always easier with the annual Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. Each year, the guide is 100-percent updated to bring writers and illustrators the most accurate and complete information to finding a home for their work.

Listings include complete mailing addresses, contact names, terms of payment, tips for getting published and types of work handled. Submission guidelines also spell out exactly how that particular publishing market wants you to send your work to them.

Articles also shed light on the industry with tips on how you can get your own work into print. Some of those articles include "10 Tips for Writing a Great Query Letter," "The Newest Children's Book Imprints" and "The New Rules for Teen Lit."

The markets cover book publishers, Canadian and international book publishers, magazines, greeting cards, puzzles and games, play publishers and producers and young writer's and illustrator's markets. Resource listings like conferences and workshops, clubs and organizations and agents and art representatives give you additional opportunities to make contacts as well as an impression in the children's genre.

The 2007 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market contains more than 750 listings for getting published. By narrowing down your focus to find listings specifically geared toward the children's genre, your chances of getting published go up dramatically.

As an unagented children's book author, I was able to compile a list of publishing companies easily from this book. I haven't read through the entire book, but just the 200+ pages of publishers is worth the buy. This book has a lot of information and is well organized. I enjoyed reading about first time authors experiences with their writings and publishing stories. This book is the only one you will need for up-to-date info to start your journey as an author.

Anyone who is a Writer will tell you the Writer's Market is the bible and if they haven't, I am telling you now. This is a Children's Writers & Illustrators bible. Everything you will ever need to get started is all in this book. I am currently writing a children's book and will be illustrating it myself. I must credit this book for giving me the necessary resources. They even include tips from published Writiers to motivate you on your path to getting that manuscript out. It is easy to read, easy to find exactly what I am looking for in a compact size I can take anywhere. I absolutely love it! Thank you!

Rosana Modugno
(....)

The children's market is a specialty market and thus the 19th annual edition of CHILDREN'S WRITER'S & ILLUSTRATOR'S MARKET is essential for writers working this market. Again, the inclusion of web sites, reference icons, specific contact names, and tips on approaching with the right content can't be beat. This series is simply a 'must' for any serious about publishing.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

As a writer in the juvenile field, I recommend Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market to all who are beginning children's authors. Writer's Market covers all kinds of publishing from books and magazines to textbooks and contests, including children's books. Most of it is not of interest to someone focused only on juvenile writing.
Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market is invaluable because it not only lists the many worldwide markets for children's books, but it gives specific information on writing for children, lists the types of books each publisher puts out, and includes tips by publishers on what they require and expect at their publishing house.
This is a book every beginning children's writer would do well to study long before they have completed a manuscript. Check it out at the library to see how helpful it is. If the library has no copy, suggest that it would be a great service to the public to add one to the shelves.

I've recommended this book countless times for patrons during my twenty year library career and now I am using it for myself. Not only are there helpful, instructive articles by professionals about the publishing industry but the 750 listings help to narrow down the search for a publisher, rep or agent. It may seem daunting at first but the editors do most of the work for you. Getting work published is a send and wait game so sending the work to a firm ready to look at your work makes the process easier. CWIM includes professional conference as well as agents, art reps and of course publishers and magazines.

This book is an excellent resource for Children's book writers. It has everything--tips, articles from established writers, contests, submission guidelines, agencies, publishing houses etc. Definitely worth it.

This is a great resource. It lists lots of publishers and details about them.