Hello!
I am a writer/illustrator keen to submit my first picture book proposal to literary agents. I've seen that most agents prefer to receive picture book proposals as text manuscripts only. Is this correct and if so, can you help explain their rationale here? Is it so agents/publishers retain the ability to match authors with illustrators, or is there another reason? I have artwork prepared alongside text but don't want to submit all if that's not the standard way things are done. Any insight would be really appreciated, thank you!
Really helpful, thank you very much for taking the time to answer!
Hi,
Agents will differ in their approach to this so it's worth carefully reading each agent's individual profile to see if they accept both picture book texts and illustration. The rationale behind this is that agents don't expect writers to be natural illustrators, and vice versa, but of course if you have the brilliant talent of being a gifted writer and illustrator then they would welcome submissions of both. Quite a lot of agents who work with children's publishers will already have illustrator clients who they might think would be more suitable to providing the images for your book.
When submitting text, most agents would ask to see at least three stories and regarding illustrations, a selection of jpegs (although once again worth checking individual agent profiles to check this)
If you're both a writer and illustrator, then make sure to include in your covering letter your skills for both, e.g if you're an illustrator do you have any qualifications/experience in this field? This will just help the agents to get a better understanding of the quality and what you can offer.
For example, our interview with children's agent Gill McLay for which you can find the link below. https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/1126/preparing-for-submission/how-to-find-a-literary-agent/
'In terms of submitting as a pair, author and illustrator, this very rarely happens. On the whole the teaming up happens in the publishing house. If however you do both or indeed think you have that dream combination of an author and illustrator, then you can send them together. Often one will be chosen without the other or indeed words may be selected without pictures however. The most important thing is to be open minded to feedback and be prepared.'
Hope this helps and best of luck!
Writers & Artists