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Getting an Agent Does Not Mean Your Book Will Be Published
I learned the hard way that even an expert, motivated agent might not be able to place your manuscript as soon as you’d hoped.
Everybody wants an agent. There are a lot of good reasons, not the least of which is that most publishers won’t even look at non-agented manuscripts.
I lucked out and had an easy time finding an agent. I emailed a plot outline and got a call from the agency the next day, “We think this story would make a great children’s picture book.”
That was five years ago.
The first thing I learned is that a plot outline is not a book.
Marching orders: Write the book. Create characters and settings and dialogue.
My agent sent my draft manuscript to a trusted colleague at Publisher A. Her response was that the subject matter, two child refugees in wartime England, was too mature for a picture book. She suggested a middle-grade (ages 9–12) chapter book. Me? A chapter book?
After more than a year of learning and struggles and rewrites — creating more complex characters and situations, and excitement and suspense — the revised manuscript was submitted to…
