At the submission stage?
Start here! 
You’ve got a manuscript you’re proud of and now you cant’ wait to send it out there into the world and let children or teens fall in love with your world and characters. But don’t rush it! If you’re hoping to be traditionally published, you need your submission materials to be top notch and ready to wow agents. If you’re self-publishing, you need to be sure you’ve got a blurb, pitch and author bio that’ll hook readers’ attention from the off.
Blog posts for children's and YA authors at the submission stage
Services and courses for children's and YA authors at the submission stage
Marketing material for self-publishing authors
From £50
If you’re planning to self-publish your novel, you’ll be in sole charge of all that crucial promotional collateral like your author bio, pull quotes for social media, the elevator pitch and the blurb on the back of your book.
If you need help fine-tuning your copy, I’ll feed back with suggestions on how to make them work harder. If you’re not sure where to start, tell me about yourself and your book and I’ll help you produce author collateral that makes you sound like the amazing, charismatic author you are!
Agent query letter and synopsis edit
£150
Wondering how to make your submission really stand out and sell your novel? Send me your query letter and synopsis and I’ll write a short report plus comments in the margin with suggestions on how to strengthen your submission materials.
Maybe you need better comp titles, maybe there’s no clear hook, maybe you’ve forgotten to mention the story’s central conflict. You’ve done the hard work of writing a book – now you need to put its best foot forward.
Submission Critique: your first 10,000 words
£400
You’ve got a completed manuscript and now you want to make sure the story’s opening is the best it can be when you query agents. This service is similar to a Starter Critique but instead of making recommendations for developing the novel overall, I’ll focus on how you can improve only these early pages.
Maybe your inciting incident comes too late or there isn’t enough conflict on the page. Perhaps the third chapter would work better earlier or you’re taking too long to introduce your protagonist.
Recommended resources for children's and YA authors at the submission stage
Books
- From Pitch to Publication by Carole Blake
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books by Harold Underdown
- The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
- Write to be Published by Nicole Morgan
- The Naked Author by Alison Baverstock
- Successful Self-Publishing by Joanna Penn
- Guides from the Alliance of Independent Authors