Book Dummy

karammitchell · 20 Jul 2017, 20:27

Hi! I have about 4 stories I need to get to the dummy phase to throw at the publishing world. (I need some rejections under my belt.) I've heard a lot of people talk about the process. But, I don't know how finished they need to be? How to submit them? How many people at a time should I submit to? Etc. Any help is awesome. Thanks!

evilrobot · 21 Jul 2017, 01:05

They have it all there for you to see and assignments to show how to do it over on the SVS learn website. Super cheap to subscribe and they have all the info and downloads and lots more. Hours and hours of video tutorials to watch.

WithLinesOfInk · 21 Jul 2017, 01:32

It's really hard to go over this in depth because there's sooo much info to cover so I recommend watching some of the pertinent videos/workshops at SVS. The short answer is- at least a color cover, one full color spread, one color spot, then some decent sketches for the rest. But beyond that is tailored pretty intensely towards your own skill level, genre, story and which publishers you want to hire you.

karammitchell · 21 Jul 2017, 19:24

Thanks, guys! @evilrobot @WithLinesOfInk I do subscribe to SVS and love it. I think maybe I'm looking for answers that aren't out there. Maybe I just need to make the jump instead of researching. I wonder more about how many agents/houses to send to at a time. I've heard conflicting info on that. I'll get on it and figure it out! Thanks again!

evilrobot · 22 Jul 2017, 15:33

You should be able to find a lot of this info on the submission guidelines page for which ever agent you are sending your dummy book to. Some do want exclusive submission for a certain number of weeks or months and others are OK with simultaneous submissions. As far as how finished the dummy book should be I was told that if you are new you should have all the the pages worked out pretty close to finish in pencil/ line and then have three completed spreads to show what the finished product will look like. Watch the SVS video in the Illustrating Children's Books Part 2 class labeled STEPHEN. It's an interview with Stephen Fraser a literary agent and he answers a lot of questions in that video.

WithLinesOfInk · 22 Jul 2017, 17:06

@karammitchell As many as you want as long as the style and material are the kind that they produce or represent. I typically send out my mailers to around 80 heavily researched agents and publishers (from the recent Publisher's Marketplace book) every 4ish months. When my dummy is done I'll probably send a physical copy to 5 or 6, and then a link to most of the rest to a digital version. That's just what makes sense to me.

WithLinesOfInk · 22 Jul 2017, 17:08

@evilrobot The Publisher's Marketplace book is also a great resource. A collection of all of the known agents and publishers, with submission guidelines, a little info on what they look for, and how to go and check out their content for yourself. I buy the updated one yearly, and go through and research and tag all of the ones that apply to me over the course of a week or two. Then I compile a list and use that for my mailers and promo materials every 3-4 months.