{"id":551,"date":"2011-03-22T12:33:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T12:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thatelusiveline.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/22\/how-to-write-a-rhyming-picture-book-and-get-it-published-part-2-a-publishers-perspective"},"modified":"2022-01-17T12:37:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T12:37:29","slug":"how-to-write-a-rhyming-picture-book-and-get-it-published-part-2-a-publishers-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulkirkdesign.co.uk\/devblock\/ttaylor111\/how-to-write-a-rhyming-picture-book-and-get-it-published-part-2-a-publishers-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Write a Rhyming Picture Book and Get it Published — Part 2: A Publisher\u2019s Perspective."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the first part of this mini-guide<\/a>, I gave you some tips to help you write your rhyming picture book text. Now I\u2019m going to explain why publishers (and therefore agents) will probably reject it simply because it\u2019s written in rhyme and metre (in the UK, at least). Tough, I know, but this isn\u2019t about ruining your day, it\u2019s about helping you to know your enemy. And the publisher is<\/em> your enemy until the day they give you a contract and become your friend.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
1. Rhyming texts are difficult and expensive to translate<\/strong>, and therefore hard to sell into foreign language markets. In Britain co-editions<\/strong> are crucial to the economic viability of picture books (I illustrated a picture book some years back which still isn\u2019t published because it hasn\u2019t gained enough interest abroad, and that was in prose!). This fact alone is enough to generate an automatic rejection. The situation is less acute in the US because the domestic market is so much bigger, but it’s still an issue.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It\u2019s not all bad news though. An editor recently told me that \u2018if it\u2019s good enough, it will <\/em>be translated\u2019, but I take that to mean that it has to be something exceptional<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
2. Even within the English language, rhyming texts don\u2019t always travel<\/strong>. This is especially true between the US and Canada on the one hand, and the UK, Australia and New Zealand on the other (other English-speaking countries are available). This is because the stress patterns in North American English differ from those of elsewhere, and I\u2019m not just talking about the famous case of al-u-MIN-i-um\/al-U-min-um. While in the UK \u2018toward\u2019 is two unambiguous syllables, for many in the US it\u2019s only one. And when it comes to rhyme, while many non-rhotic Brits are happy to rhyme \u2018parcel\u2019 and \u2018castle\u2019, most Americans wouldn\u2019t dream of it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
These are subtle points, but enough to dissuade a reluctant publisher in the US from acquiring a UK text. British publishers know that and so should you.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
3. Metrical, rhyming texts are much harder to edit<\/strong>, because they are inevitably more highly structured. Whereas 500 words of prose can go through enormous revision and emerge greatly improved, 500 words in verse can only really be tinkered with or scrapped and rewritten entirely. Editors don\u2019t need that kind of headache, especially if they\u2019ve never worked with you before.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now you see why I wrote \u2018IT\u2019S MUCH HARDER THAN YOU THINK!\u2019 In capitals in the first part of this three-part post. But don\u2019t be disheartened, just add these three points to the challenge pile, roll up your sleeves, and get stuck in. Publishers DO take on picture book texts in rhyme, they just set the bar very high, that\u2019s all.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Next: what happens when your published book encounters a very different kind of enemy\/friend: the reader<\/a>.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the first part of this mini-guide, I gave you some tips to help you write your rhyming picture book text. 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