Breaking into the world of children's books is a difficult task, but this book makes it easier. Essentially, it is an index of nearly every publisher in the world and some hand-picked agents. What really helps set this book apart from others is that before want-to-be writers even get to the publisher and agent listings, there is quite a lot of inside information on how to break into the world of children's books. Each topic that is covered in the introduction is an essay by a different well-known and highly respected person in the publishing world.
To begin, readers are given a lesson in publishing by Linda Arms White. Here, White helps the reader to understand the difference between a query letter and a cover letter. In addition to this, readers are given some key points that will help them to land in the top five percent every time. There is also a longer explanation on proposals. Regardless of whether your book calls for a query letter, content letter, or proposal, readers will find the examples to be extremely helpful.
Of course, before submitting your work, there is a checklist that you should complete. The checklist is provided by Laura Backes. Backes does an excellent job of forcing the reader to look back over their work to help ensure that it is up to par and is what editors are looking for. She divides the checklist into fiction and non-fiction, depending on what type of work the want-to-be-writer is looking to submit.
Laura Backes is also responsible for the next essay, "Why Authors Need to Know the Market." In this essay, Backes helps the reader to understand why it is essential to study the book market and publishers before sending in work. This is an important point because if you do not study the market it is like trying to sell Christmas trees in July. Reading the essay and following Backes' advice will save the want-to-be-writer time and money.
White also adds another essay to the book to help readers ensure that their plots are on track. Too many times, a story will venture in the wrong direction. This makes the book boring and a publisher will not be interested. In the essay, White gives readers eight steps to ensure that their story stays on track. From this point on, there is a variety of essays on different topics from a wide range of people - from legal issues to copyrights and contracts. There is so much to know when it comes to publishing, and someone who is not aware of these issues will not get very far, so this portion of the book is extremely helpful.
The listing of publishers and agents is also very helpful as it breaks down all of the information for the reader. Writers will walk away knowing which publishers want what and how to get it to them. The agents that are listed were hand-picked because they do not charge reading fees. As Shapiro hand-picked those agents that do charge, a reading fee may not be all they are cracked up to be.