Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I am in the process of submitting a children's book to an agent. I was told I need to submit a brief synopsis of my work and credentials. My book is for very small children, so how do you write a synopsis? Do they expect a huge explanation of the story? It would be quicker to read the darn book. Is it okay if it is just a few sentences?

Also, I have a BS in Business and have no background in literature, so when they are asking for credentials will this work against me?

Thank you,
Amy

Check and see if the agent has any specific guidelines for picture books. A lot of the agents who rep picture books (and there aren't that many to begin with) will want to see the full PB manuscript instead of a query letter.

Instead, you'd submit a cover letter with a brief synopsis (1 or 2 sentences) and include the word count. If you don't have any credentials, then just skip that part. Trying to make irrelevant experience / degrees sound relevant can mark you as an amateur. (Check Nathan's FAQ posts about this -- I think he says just about the same thing.) Then you'd just note that the full PB manuscript was either pasted below (for an e-mail query) or enclosed (for a snail query).

Good luck with it!