May 30^th: Market Research 

Oh boy. This is a whole new ball game. Nothing I ever studied in school prepared me for market research. It can be time-consuming and exhilarating at the same time. I can get so caught up in market research that before I know it, I’m down a rabbit hole.

I start off well - then one click leads to another and before you know it, I’m off to explore the latest and greatest new books, which leads me to a specific author and his/her other works, on to the idyllic setting mentioned in the story. I’ve been known to plan my next vacation without identifying one possible publisher.

Currently, I’m in the process of trying to find a home for my MG Coming of Age. I need to focus my attention on publishers who are looking for that specific type of manuscript. Next, I need to find those who are open for submissions. Finally, I need to review other books they’ve published in the past. My goal is to submit to at least five publishers.

Once I have my list of possible publishers, it’s time to move on to the next process. Step one: personalize the cover letter-identify the name of a targeted editor and make sure my opening sentence grabs his/her attention (sometimes this is all the editor will read). Step two: determine what this particular publisher wants to be included with the submission, i.e., first chapter, synopsis, outline, etc. Step three: Check and recheck the submission for errors. Step Four: Hit send. I’m mostly targeting publishers who accept submissions electronically, so that narrows my search. Step Five: Update my ‘Submissions Spreadsheet’ so I can track my submissions.

Step Six: Repeat four more times.