My query inbox will be opening soon, and as I request kidlit, I anticipate many writing sending me their picture book manuscripts. So let me be clear: do not send me picture books.
It’s not that I don’t like picture books. I love them. The art and wordplay and lyricism is special and I frequently buy them for myself. But I only represent chapters books and above.
You see a big part of my job as an agent is helping my clients make their books better. Picture book manuscripts are unique and it takes a special kind of skill to help a writer take their text from good to great! Unfortunately, I don’t have that skill. I can recognize brilliance when I see but if a work is just okay, I don’t know what feedback to give to make it shine.
So picture book writers are better served by an agent who can help them in that way. Does that mean I will never work on a picture book? No. For example, some of my existing clients occasionally write picture books and I’m happy to leverage the skills of my industry colleagues to serve them. But there’s a difference between being a YA writer who occasionally has a picture book idea and being a picture book writer with a trunk full of stories for children under 7.
If you find yourself in the latter category, I hope you find the right agent for you! I am not the one. But if you ever decide to write works for older readers, do feel free to submit to me.
