Often times, polish is the only difference between a
fabulous children's story that is published and sells a million copies, and a
fabulous children's story that ends up at the bottom of the slush pile. Editors
like to see submissions from people who have studied the industry, and who know
what a proper manuscript should look like. If you follow these guidelines, your
story has a better chance of being read carefully.
Use perfect grammar and punctuation--When your books have
sold a million copies, you will be able to get away with proofreading your next
story only two or three times. But as a novice, your work may contain no
errors. Proofread it several times, have your sister proofread it, then put it
away for a week and proofread it again.
Do not include pictures--One of the jobs of a publisher is
to marry a story with an illustrator whose style suits the text. Writers are
neither expected not encouraged to draw illustrations to go along with a story,
so resist the urge to include your sketch of the protagonist or his dog. The
only exception is the professional illustrator making a foray into writing.
Use proper manuscript formatting--Because children's books
are of prescribed lengths (the number of pages is always a multiple of 8), many
writers make a dummy book to ensure that their story will be well paced. While
a well-paced story is more likely to sell than one that won't work in 32 pages,
the copy you send to a potential publisher should be in manuscript format. Put
your name and address in the top left hand corner, center your title about
halfway down the page, and use 12-point, double-spaced text.