I'm sitting on two unedited, but basically complete manuscripts right now. One is a sci-fi novel and the other is a children's story. Since they're both wildly different in theme and subject matter, how would I go about submitting them to publishers? Do I submit one, (let's say the sci-fi novel), then if it gets picked up, mention the kid's book? Do I submit them both to different publishers? Can I be published by two different publishers at the same time? Do I submit them both to a publisher that publishes both Sci-fi and kid's books? Do I just submit the kid's book to publishers of kids books? Or should I just try to get an agent and let them deal with it? I have no idea what to do.
AnarchicQ, First, basically complete but unedited means there is a lot of work to be accomplished before the manuscripts are ready for submission. But there is nothing wrong with looking ahead to submission as you are. The submission process is generally long (same as the search for an agent if you go that route). Think months to years rather than days to weeks. Get one manuscript ready and submit it (or get the queries going). Then get the other ready. While they're out there, write something else. I guess you may find a publisher that accepts both SF and children's literature, but unlikely. In any case, the manuscripts submitted won't go to the same slush pile/editors--or very very unlikely if it's a legitimate publishing house. It would be better to target publishers that would be a good fit for your individual works. If you've written a military SF novel, for example, Baen would be a probably better fit, than say DAW. But of the biggies in SF (that you can submit to without an agent)...Baen, DAW, Tor, Ace/Roc, none publish kid's or children's books. You could attempt to secure an agent to represent you, but often agents represent different areas...romance, SF/Fantasy, Nonfiction, etc. A big agency may have agents that represent multiple areas/genres such as kid's literature and SF, but it would, I strongly suspect, be a different individual. Whether you decide to seek agent representation, or attempt to submit directly to publishers, I think you will be best served sending your manuscripts to the best fit, rather than worrying about being published by separate houses, which some authors do on a regular basis. I have a page on my website with informaiton/links to novel length publishers that do not require agents to submit to: http://www.ervin-author.com/mktnovels.htm It's a place to start, but also check out my page with market search engines: http://www.ervin-author.com/marketsearchsites.htm as well as other resources such as Writers Market, etc. Deciding whether to seek an agent to represent your work or to go it alone (and maybe secure an agent to represent you once a publisher is found) is an individual choice, with benefits and drawbacks, but probably not exactly what you were asking in this thread. Good luck. Terry
i can ditto what terry said, in general... and specifically: ...as completely separate works, targeting publishers that handle the specific type of writing... that said, while agents won't rep a single children's book by an unknown new writer, many will take on a sci-fi novel by same... that means while you can and should submit the children's book directly to publishers, it's not a good idea to do that with your novel, which can best be handled by an agent... ...no, because publishers of sci-fi novels for adults won't publish picture books... at least not under the same 'imprint'... don't even mention either one to the respective publishers you submit your mss to, unless/until it's been published by a paying/traditional house and is selling well in the bookstores... ...yes... there's no alternative... ...of course... they don't sell you, only your books... ...no... i doubt you'd find any that do, anyway... and if there are any out there, they'd have separate imprints for those very different markets, which means you have to submit them separately, just as if they were two different publishers... ...of course!... why would you want to waste time/energy/money submitting them to places that don't publish them?... ...first, there won't be many agents who handle both types of books and are open to new clients... ...second, you would have to submit each ms separately, not even mentioning the other one, because the same agent in an agency most likely won't handle both and you must address your query to an individual agent, by name, after being sure that person handles the kind of work you want to submit... ...third, you can really only submit the novel, since agents couldn't make any money on a single children's pb by an unknown new writer, so they won't take it on... if you had a series of pb's to offer, some might be interested, but they'd still be few and far between, so it could still be best to query publishers directly...
Oh, I know. I line edited the sci-fi novel, and I have someone in my family editing it 'properly' for me. So yes, it's still being worked on and not ready for submission, but poking around asking questions seemed like a good idea.
