Customer Reviews
Great reference book - By: Puneet Bhandal, 28 Oct 2008 
Great idea to produce a children's version of the Yearbook. Is thorough & has everything you need to know if you wish to contact children's publishers & agents.
I think it would be useful to include a sectionin the next book on the growing number of literary consultancies out there. These companies can stop people from sending bad manuscripts to publishers (squish the slush pile!) as many people who think they have written a good book, rarely have first time around.
For a small fee, people can have their scripts analysed & then bein with a much better chance of being published...
Essential reading for children's writers - By: M. Vincent-Northam, 07 Jul 2008 
The Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2008 has plenty of sensible articles written by those 'in the know'. It's enough to bolster you along & keep youin the swing, though some of the submission details are no longer relevant as these things are apt to changes. On the whole, it's essential reading for anyone interestedin writing for the children's market.
Regular Buyers Please Be Aware - - By: Mr Valentino, 28 Nov 2007 
If you've noticed this bookin the shops,you may get the impression that this year's edition has a lot morein it, as it's almost half as thick again as last year's edition.
Don't be fooled, the publishers have just used cheaper paper, which is thicker, (there are actually 3 pages fewer this year, to be precise). This can be (was) a let-down, when you get it home & realise.
However this is indeed an essential book for any budding children's author to have (but only) when they are at the stage of seeking an agent or publisher. For this it would warrant 5 stars.
For those of us who do buy it every year to keep our contact info up to date it's disappointing to see mainly the same articles run outin it, (and alsoin its big brother - the red one).
I was reallyin two minds whether to buy it again this year, however I made the mistake of thinking that bigger must mean more content, & went ahead. An easy mistake that other regular buyers may make,which is what prompted me to post a comment.
It's only fair to mention this, as most struggling writers are indeed....struggling.
If you write kids or crossover fiction you need this book - By: Ste, 06 Oct 2007 Let's get one thing straight: making it as an author is one of the toughest things you can ever try & do. Everybody seems to have this idea that its easy, any one can do it, theres a bookin everyone. Let me tell you something - There's not! Writers, story-tellers, I should say are few & far between. It's a talent, not an accademic skill. If you have that talent (trust me you'll know if you have), & you are willing to pursue it until the day you die, then one day you will make it. If you are an average writer, but great story-teller you can learn (Buy How to make the words work or Creative Editing) but if its vice-versa you arein trouble. Nobody wants to read great prose with a terrible plot & boring, irritating, predictable characters. A whole series about a boring familyin a boring kingdom, who are actually boring gods with a boring destiny. Whoopee! Great! Another rubbish book. You know where I'm going. . .
People need to understand that this book isnt there to turn you into J.K Rowling, Darren Shan, or Stephen King; it is there to help you, guide you, give you that tiny bit of confidence when yet another rejection wheels its way back to you just a week after you sent off your manuscript. By taking the advicein this book, scouring the agents & publishers listed , & just being determined enough to never give up, I am starting to get interest from certain agents now: some of them even enquire how my latest story is going & when it will be finished.
In short I dont see how this book can not be a five star rating. If I had never started buying this book five years ago, then I'd have pulled my hair out a long time ago. I'm sure of it. Just because of this books existance I have broadened my horizons, done more researchin my market & how to make my books more appealing, different, better.
Anyway, there's a lot of helpin this bookin varying form, but remember: You also need to do alot of the work yourself. If it was as easy as "buy the book & become a world famous author" then everybody would be doing it, then there would be no challenge. And if there's no challenge, then there's no originality. That makes for boring stories.
Regarding the submission details: If you are going to submit, I believe you should be checking the websites anyhow, so if their details do change you will know. Even if you do send an unsolicited manuscript off to a publisher I'm pretty sure they will still scan over the first page at least. They will always have a slush pile.
As well as the CW&AYB, I also recomend Stephen King's "On Writing" & "How to get your book published". Buy this book. Buy it every year. Keep reading. Keep writing. Oh . . . & never give up.
Good Luck.
Useful info, but not useful contacts - By: Fiona Mccaw, 25 Aug 2007 This book is full of great advice about getting published, but not so great on accurate submission details. Most of the publishers listed won't accept unsolicited mss, & of the ones which say they do accept them, I found on looking at the publisher's websites that most clearly state they don't accept unsolicited mss after all. Some say they used to but now don't, so even though it's the 2008 edition, it's not really that up to date!
It's quite disheartening how many publishers will only look at stuff from an agent & does make you wonder why you've spent all that money on the book just to discover that most of the publisher info is fairly worthless.
