INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS:

SUBMITTING YOUR TALE FOR REVIEW - GUIDELINES:

Stories submitted to Bedtime-Story may be any topic, but should generally adhere to the following Bedtime-Story guidelines;

LENGTH: Keep story length to a reasonable reading time, so a traveling parent won't go broke if the story has to be read over the phone. If the story is broken down into chapters, or you have an interconnected collection of short stories, that's fine too. With longer tales, what we look for is logical places for the reader to pause without losing the thread of the story.

AGE GROUP: The parent should enjoy the story as much as the child. We think this guideline may be of particular importance. Grown-ups have short attention spans, you know. Gear towards a mixed age audience if you will please, say.... around age 6 on upwards to oh, maybe...Chairman of the Board or thereabouts.

CONTENT: Whimsical, Magical, Adventurous, Humorous or Imaginative, it's your choice. Just as long as the story leaves the child with pleasant dreams.

WRITING: SPELLING & GRAMMAR GETTING IT RIGHT

How are your writing skills? A little rusty? Well, an awful lot of people are going to be reading your work. Here's an incredibly handy page that you'll definitely want to bookmark. Let it act as a quick reference sheet. Quick and Simple English Resources- Spelling, Grammar, Conjunctions, it even has handy tips on often mispronounced words. WRITERS BLOCK.

AT TIME OF STORY SUBMISSION:

(1) FORM: Please simply cut and paste ASCII* text of your story to an e-mail and send it to;
bedtime-story@the-office.com
*WHAT's ASCII? That' simply the term for the plain text used on basic e-mail communication. It's also the plain text you find in your notepad and wordpad section. It has no special fonts, no italics, no bold letters. It's just plain old vanilla text. For example; If you were to type a story in Word, highlight it, hit "copy", then open an e-mail page and hit "paste", any special characters would disappear in the transition, and it would appear as plain ASCII text.

IMPORTANT -PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE AS A CUT AND PASTE ADDITION TO YOUR SUBMISSION EMAIL:

"I have read, understand, and agree to abide by the requirements for inclusion as specified on the Bedtime-Story.com SUBMISSION INSTRUCTION page. If my submission should be selected, I grant permission for its inclusion."

(2) DON'T FORGET: Provide Bedtime-Story with your complete contact information for our offline files--(i.e.-phone,fax,address). If your story is selected for inclusion, prior to publication we strongly recommend that you obtain and begin to use a contact e-mail address which is not going to be subject to change!

(3) Authors/Illustrators BIO: Using the "About The Author" information which appears after The Ragdoll as a rough guide as to format, please provide Bedtime-Story with background information about yourself.

*UNLIKELY OCCURRANCES WHICH COULD AFFECT A COMPLIMENTARY PURCHASE LINK: IF an author requests, accepts, and approves a complete set of illustrations prepared by the Illustrator whose bio is featured adjacent to the Author on the story page --(A "complete set" is not to be confused with two to three "representative" illustrations, or with "Interim" Illustrations), and the Author subsequently wishes to publish the book without incorporating the illustrations which contributed to the popularity of the tale, Bedtime-Story is unlikely to offer a Complimentary Author/Purchase link.

Piles and piles of manuscripts arrive at the offices of traditional publishers every day. Manuscripts good and bad alike, are tossed into big wheeled bins of incoming mail as they are readied for random distribution to the already overflowing inboxes of professional reviewers.

The goal for the reviewer of course, is to quickly skim through the daily pile, a keen eye often according no more than a cursory glance at a manuscript, as the reviewer diligently pans for that one gleam of pure gold which flashes Marketable!

There's more than the publishers bottom line at stake in this search. The reviewers professional career and continued employment depends on consistently making the right choice for the company. Oh occasionally, as with anything, the game of who you know comes into play. Manuscripts do bypass the pile. And occasionally, fair or not, a recognizable "name", may hold greater influence than talent when it comes to the final decision-making process. Would "Budgie the Helicopter" have made it to print if the author had been you instead of the Duchess of York? Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not..

Traditional publishers don't have time to do extensive editing and hand-holding. What you send is what you're judged on. If your tale is not ready for prime time, in most cases you'll have blown your chance for fame.

(2) PUBLISHING CONTRACTS: Authors/Illustrators demonstrating exceptional talent may be offered additional hard copy publishing opportunities, either singly, or in conjunction with one or more Bedtime Story Authors and Illustrators. For example: Billy's New Home, for Foster Children Everywhere, Author:Valerie Busic, Illustrator: Jeff Meyers, has been published by Bedtime-Story Books and is available directly from the talented Author.

(3) SELF PUBLISHING WHILE FEATURED AT BEDTIME-STORY:

Have You SELF-PUBLISHED? When you couldn't catch the attention of a traditional publisher, perhaps you went ahead and published your tale yourself. There are boxes of books in the spare bedroom, and you're left wondering "Now What?". Not to worry. Stories selected for featuring on Bedtime-Story are provided with a Courtesy Purchase Link* which may be pointed towards Amazon, or similar, OR, if preferred, to your (safe-surf) personal or business web site(s) from which your featured book may be purchased. Want an example? Click on The Boy Under The Bed )

Are You THINKING ABOUT Self-Publishing? Some self-published authors were so anxious to get their work in print that they didn't pause to look before they leaped. Consequently, a lot of authors have gotten hurt by using Vanity and Subsidy type publishers. If you want to self-publish, you may wish to contact Bedtime-Story first. We'll steer you away from the minefields, give you a few pointers, and show you some practical options that could work to your advantage.

(4) AN OPTION FOR PUBLISHED AUTHORS:

Authors With A Book No Longer On The Shelf: Children's books published by traditional publishing houses, stories still desirable, but books destined for remaindering, possibly because of the publishers accounting requirements, may also be submitted for review. If you are still under contract, Author/Illustrator must provide written permission for inclusion from the publisher. Permission letter should state that if the tale is selected for inclusion, Bedtime-Story is authorized to publish online full text and representative illustrations of your tale, the page for which will contain appropriate Publisher identification and copyright information, Author and Illustrator bios, and a link to the online ordering site specified by your Publisher. Permission letter should contain Publisher contact name and telephone number for verification purposes, and should be faxed by Publisher to The Summerland Group - Bedtime-Story Division - FAX: 800-282-4805. These stand-alone submissions are not eligible for inclusion on Best-of Bedtime-Story except by special request and permission from Publisher.

Bedtime-Story offers talented Authors and Illustrators the means to get representative samples of their work in front of the decision-making public, and to independently publicize and market their published books online, at no cost.