It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: A Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market [Paperback]

Olga Litowinsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2001 | ISBN-10: 0802775233 | ISBN-13: 978-0802775238

The business of publishing books for children has changed monumentally over the last decade. Large companies have merged and grown, while well-established imprints vanished one after another. In this tough climate, it’s becoming harder and harder to break into the industry. Olga Litowinsky has interviewed to children’s book editors, agents, and experts in the field and shares their up-to-the-minute advice about what editors are looking for today. Armed with this insider information, aspiring writers will be able to distinguish themselves and succeed in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

It’s a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World gives invaluable guidance on how to write and submit a manuscript, revealing what is most important from an editor’s point of view. Expanding on her previous book, Writing and Publishing Books for Children in the 1990s, Olga Litowinsky includes tips on how an author can edit, market, and publicize his or her own work, with new information on how to deal with agents, editors, contracts, and writers’ rights. This no-nonsense guide is the definitive resource for all children’s book writers–novice and veteran alike.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: A Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market. Using rabbit metaphors, the longtime children's book editor begins with a brief history of children's book publishing in the U.S. ("The Bunny Also Rises") and covers brass tacks, including finding the right publisher ("Hop to It!"); points to helpful organizations; and addresses such issues as rights ("Splitting Hares").

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Expanding on her excellent Writing and Publishing Books for Children in the 1990s (Walker, 1992), Litowinsky includes timely information on current and emerging trends; the marketplace; and useful tips on writing, editing, and marketing a children's book. Novice writers will find answers to many questions about getting published; suggestions for becoming better at their craft; and practical advice as to when, where, and how to submit material. A former children's book editor, Litowinsky has also worked as a literary agent and has published children's books in her own right; her insider insights and candor provide reliable, helpful guideposts for anyone interested in the field. For this reason, the book is also of interest to librarians for its lucid overview of the history and future of children's book publishing, including electronic publishing, in America. Readers can discover why books go out of print so quickly, what defines and fuels contemporary markets (library, educational, religious, novelty, etc.), what packagers do, and the difference between a book doctor and an editor. This is precisely the volume to have on hand for the patron who thinks writing and publishing kids' books is easy: it will quickly put that erroneous idea to rest. A useful and definitive guide.
Susan Patron, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802775233
• ISBN-13: 978-0802775238
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like "Watership Down." Only bloodier., May 23, 2002

By 

Joseph Ekaitis "author of Collinsfort Village" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: A Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market (Paperback)

OK, I'm exaggerating.

There aren't any scenes of cute li'l bunnies ripping out each other's throats, but there ARE true and sometimes terrifying tales of what goes on behind the scenes in the children's book trade. Having seen the biz from three sides (author, editor, agent), Olga Litowinsky gives us a frank, refreshing, and often scary alternative to the glut of "Read this and you WILL get published, GUARANTEED!" tomes crowding the shelves.

From editors who steal ideas for successful new book series to editorial meetings where potentially great books meet their end, "It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World" takes the reader behind closed doors to see the stuff we're not supposed to see. The book also follows the publishing adventures of a fictionalized author selling his first book and showing the first-time author what to expect after signing on the dotted line. Often, it's another several months of even harder work than writing the manuscript for the book.

Beyond being a guide for writers, "It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World" will also give parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else who buys children's books a fascinating insider's view. Once you read it, you'll realize that every cute li'l bunny on the cover of a children's book had to claw his way there.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hare's to a Great Book about Writing for Children, March 26, 2003

By 

Bert Krages (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: A Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market (Paperback)

This is easily one of the best books available about writing for children. It provides a clear explanation about the factors that acquisition editors consider when evaluating manuscripts and explains how to avoid looking like one of those writers who believes that children will read anything so long as it is cute. It also shows how to make a submission look professional and describes the proper etiquette of approaching editors and agents. Several books are available about this subject but this one, in my opinion, gives the most specific, helpful, and realistic advice.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book for Children's Book Writers!, August 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World: A Writer's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Today's Competitive Children's Book Market (Paperback)

I have been writing children's books and articles about children's books for approximately twenty years. (I am a former teacher and school librarian.) When I began writing full time, I read THE WRITER and WRITER'S DIGEST cover-to-cover each month. And I ordered many of the books those magazines published about writing, preparing mss., querying, marketing etc. I knew that I knew nothing about building characters and plots and less about the publishing industry. Three years after beginning my new career, I was fortunately offered a contract by Franklin Watts for a nonfiction book, PIRATES, now out of print. Well, the publishing industry has stayed the same in some ways but has become even more difficult to break into these days. As much as I've learned about publishing companies over the years, IT'S A BUNNY-EAT-BUNNY WORLD gave me insight into many things I was unaware of. Ms. Litowinsky has been an editor, agent, and author and provides a realistic inside look into publishing houses. (I have read at least 3 of her well-written insightful books.) I am grateful for the new information she gave me. But when she revises this BUNNY BOOK, I hope she will add a chapter on the accuracy of Amazon and BN.com sales rankings and best-selling lists as well as book tracking information. Thank you, Ms. Litowinsky. K.J. McWilliams, author of The Journal of Darien Dexter Duff, an Emancipated Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Leroy Jeremiah Jones, a Fugitive Slave