I have been looking at the information on the Puffin and Ladybird books pages. I started by looking at how they accept submissions and that led me to interviews talking about the roles that editors and literary agents play in the process of getting a book published. penguin do not accept blind submissions from illustrators only from agents but I want to learn more about the company, the agents and the process.
I realised that most of the big publishers would only accept books from agents so I decided to use that as my starting point. On the penguin website they have links to list of agents in the UK and point out that you can go to the library to borrow The Writers and Artists year Book that contains a complete list of UK agents.
http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/members-directory/
I found an interview with an agent stating that the most off putting thing for them with an author/illustrator is them not being open to collaboration. Collaboration is extremely important and makes up some part of every stage of publishing whether its working with the agent, a publisher or other illustrators and writers. Agents like to work on the book with the author/illustrator before showing it to a publisher to make sure its in the "best shape" possible to make a good impression. The agent also talks about a lot of people being nervous about presenting their work to publishers which she says is entirely understandable but encourages them to be brave and bold when writing covering letters to accompany your work. Your lack of confidence will be passed on to how the publisher feels about your work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPTGZYLHOyg
- practice articulating your work and communicating it to publishers. written and spoken
- be open and enthusiastic when collaborating
- be aware that your work is likely to change several times
- don't take things personally, your work will be criticised
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