Children's Book Writers - Don't Make These Top 5 Query Mistakes

Ready to submit your children's story to an agent or publisher?  Don't make these common mistakes:

1. Mentioning that you read the book to your children (grandchildren, nieces/nephews, students, neighbour's children, etc.) and they loved the book.

They may have loved you reading them the book (or just told you the answer they could tell you wanted to hear), but that doesn't mean the book is publishable.

Advice: If you are an elementary schoolteacher or have other relevant experience with children, mention this briefly in your bio.

2.  Claiming your book will be the next "Harry Potter" or other outrageous comparisons to bestselling books.

This is a sure-fire way to end up in the slush pile.  It tells the editor/agent that you have very little understanding of how publishing works and have likely only read that one book.

Advice: Write something unique and make comparisons sparingly, preferably to books published by that publisher.  

3.  Not researching the agent/publisher and not following their guidelines.

Don't think your manuscript is so special you don't have to follow the guidelines, especially the ones that say they don't accept unsolicited manuscripts.

For example, if they don't accept email submissions, send it by mail like everyone else.  Also, many publishers will state they don't publish picture books - don't waste your time sending your picture book manuscript to such a publisher.

Advice:  Carefully read and follow the agent's/publisher's most recent guidelines, which you should be able to find on their website.  Preliminary research can be done using market books such as the 2015 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market.  Also read books the publisher recently published - would your book fit in with their list?

Bonus tip:  Write concisely and to the point.  If your query is more than one page, it is too long.

4.  Saying your book will "appeal to children of all ages."

This is impossible, and will make the editor/agent suspect that in fact your book will not appeal to anyone.

Advice:  Have a particular age range in mind when you are writing the book and write the book accordingly (i.e. reading level, subject matter, length etc.).  Read at least 20 books in the same genre aimed at this age range.  Mention the age range and genre of your book in the query letter.

5. Making spelling and grammar errors in your query letter (and your manuscript).

This is a common pet peeve of editors and agents.

Advice:  Don't just rely on Spellcheck to catch your errors. Brush up on your grammar by reading books such as The Elements of Style and have many trusted people review your query letter.

Bonus tip: read sample query letters online and read advice found in books (e.g. 2015 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market).  There are even books dedicated to query letters that may be worth the investment if they help get you out of the slush pile.