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Submission Instructions and
ABOUT
Bedtime-Story.com
For the Busy Business-Parent
Whimsical Bedtime Stories
for Children Of All Ages
Yahoo
proclaimed
Bedtime-Story the Number One Children's Story Site
on the Web.
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ABOUT BEDTIME-STORY:
Since Its Debut in 1996 - Bedtime-Story
has functioned as a cooperative effort, giving talented authors and
illustrators, both published and unpublished, the opportunity to familiarize
traditional publishers, as well as the parents of young readers, with
the quality of their creative work.
Bedtime-Story is designed to encourage literary
and artistic creativity. We mentor, and provide editing as well as encouragement,
to talented authors and artists whose works will undoubtedly influence
young minds. We support and encourage a strong parent-child relationship.
We select works for publication that are judged to be as entertaining
for the adult as they are for the child, with the intent of fostering
a positive shared experience that will remain in the child's memory
for years to come.
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Besides, we like to read the stories ourselves... |
Stories Accepted For Inclusion Receive
prominant exposure along with a short bio of the author/illustrator,
live contact e-mail link, (and, if the book is in print, a hyperlink
to the book's purchasing location*).
A Word About Qualifications for Submission Acceptance.
Bedtime-Story requires its authors to think their
stories through. Plots must make sense. Rules of basic grammar must
be applied. Writing is expected to be cohesive, with the train of thought
flowing smoothly from one paragraph to the next.
And because many of the tales are
read as Bedtime-Stories, we request satisfying endings, which encourage
pleasant dreams.
Lastly, the tale must be as pleasant for the adult
to read as it is for the child to hear.
Before submitting, please read the Editing
page.
Illustrators requesting inclusion of their works will
encounter similarly high expectations. At Bedtime-Story, illustrations
are expected to not only compliment, but to concur with the story
line. Characters and scenes should be portrayed as originally
envisioned and intended by each Author. The world's best illustrators
take the time to not only read a story, but to make themselves aware
of subtle details and portray them accurately. We consider this the
mark of a professional.
Bedtime-Story
is unable to accept tales which appear in other online story collections.
Illustrated tales featured on Bedtime-Story appear exclusively on this
story site.
All of which helps explains why Bedtime-Story is
considered the web's premiere children's story site.
When a representative work is accepted for online
publication by Bedtime-Story, the qualifications of the submitting author
or illustrator have been taken very seriously. If your work is as yet
unpublished, our editors will work with you to make sure your work represents
some of the best you are capable of producing. After all, your work
is going to be seen by a lot of people, and the calibre of stories we
publish reflects not only the quality of your workmanship, but
ours as well.
| INFORMATION
FOR THE ILLUSTRATOR:
Providing a no cost means for talented Illustrators
to showcase samples of their work, Bedtime-Story can accept
illustrations transmitted electronically in .jpg format, or
if you already have a web site, we can capture images you've
uploaded there.
We've got a steady stream of new stories----so
please tell us what type of tales your talents lend themselves
to---realistic adults or children, (such as work by Jonda
Eicher, Gilbert Young,
or Pamela Benjamin), comic
or storybook figures, such as those by the multi-talented Jeff
Meyers, who illustrated stories about Goggle
and Gilbert Henry, Dennis Cox of
Dad Didn't Get It and The
Inventor, Stephen Sheen of Perhaps,
or illustrations such as those by the imaginative Cindy Remmers
who illustrated the tale The King
and The Cricket along with the "No
Monsters!" image seen above.
See a tale which says "Illustrations Courtesy
of Bedtime-Story"? This simply means there are interim
illustrations in place and the tale is available if you
wish to use it as an illustrator portfolio page. Tales such
as Tommy and The Emperor have
been illustrated by a Bedtime-Story staff illustrator whose
work has in some cases, been augmented by clip art and animations.
An Adventure For Tom and John, on
the other hand, did not use the staff illustrator, but employs
a creatively effective collection of animations and clip art.
Either way, our intent is to get the author's tale online as
quickly as possible.
A tale will normally have gone through the
editing process before being released to an illustrator, but
since we had one which was requested even before even the editing
process began, we preserved the unedited submission along with
the interim illustrations, to give you an opportunity to look
behind the scenes.
The Pig Who Wanted
To Fly
PigFly BEFORE
Editing but with Interim Illustrations in place.
PigFly AFTER
Editing, and now part of Illustrator Dennis Cox's portfolio
Got something special in mind for story illustration?
By all means, show us!
But please do pay attention to interim illustrations,
because that's likely to be the general style we're looking
for on that particular tale.
New opportunities for unused illustrations:
Have you ever prepared illustrations for a children's book
project which never got off the ground? Are the illustrations
gathering dust? Was the story a good one? If so, refer the author
here. If the illustrations were top notch but there's no longer
a connection with the author, let us take a look. There's an
excellent possibility a tale can be created to showcase your
existing illustrations.
Here's what to do. First, drop us a line and
tell us a bit about yourself. If you have a web page, give us
the URL so that we can take a look at some of your work. If
you're without a page and would like to send us a sample instead,
terrific! But FIRST please request permission
to submit it, telling us the file size, and then do make
sure your graphics file is in either .gif or .jpg format.
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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;
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...CEO,
or 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.
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WRITING:
SPELLING & GRAMMAR
GETTING IT RIGHT
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How are your writing skills? A little rusty?
Well, an awful lot of people are going to be reading your
work. Here's a handy page that you might 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
the text of your story into an e-mail
and send it to us.
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,email,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.
WHAT ARE AN AUTHOR or ILLUSTRATOR'S CHANCES
IN THE TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING ARENA?
Well, you already know you've got a lot of competition. There
are thousands of aspiring writers and illustrators, just like
you. The level of talent among your competitors can range from
extremely to not very. The thing is, authors and
illustrators are all competing for the attention of the very
same reviewers.
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.
(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 )
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.
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BETTERING YOUR ODDS FOR SUCCESS
While there's no such animal as a
"sure thing," an advance submission to Bedtime-Story gives
an author significantly better odds towards your book publication.
Like the traditional publishing houses,
Bedtime-Story reviews submissions with an eye towards marketability.
But unlike traditional publishing houses, if a submitted tale or
an illustration has potential, yet still needs work, instead of
simply rejecting it without comment, our reviewers will take the
time to mentor the Author and Illustrator, explaining exactly what
modifications could be used to earn the submission a second look
for inclusion on Bedtime-Story.
Tales which are accepted for
publication at Bedtime-Story are submitted to an author and illustrator's
toughest critics, the reading public.
As a result, an Author, and the self-publishing
firm to whom the work may yet be submitted, are both better able
to make an informed decision as to whether or not the tale
should (or would) be considered for publication in book form, based
on the contents and quantity of the Author's fan mail. If you choose
to publish it yourself (or if a traditional publisher decides to
publish the sequal to your popular first book) Bedtime-Story, will,
at no charge to you, add a link, directing potential purchasers
to either your own website, or to your hard-copy publishers website,
or to Amazon (or similar), whichever of the three options you specify
so that your fans may purchase the hard-copy version of your tale.
We offer the same courtesy to Illustrators who may want to offer
their fans framed prints of their Bedtime-Story illustrations.
Bedtime-Story
provides Authors
with the ideal venue from which
to assess true marketing potential of a tale. Every story is displayed
with either interim or professional illustrations. This offers a
reviewer the best possible vantage point from which to assess the
strength of an authors impact on readers. There is no charge to
the author.
Bedtime-Story
gives Illustrators
the means to brochure their talent in the
best possible environment, that of well-written, Best of the Web
caliber tales which both showcase and compliment their artwork.
There is no charge to the illustrator.
Bedtime-Story
offers
decison-makers the means to properly assess an illustrator's
full range of artistic expertise. It invites them to view
sample images in the context of entertaining short stories. The
viewer-friendly format permits an immediate determination as to
whether the work of the illustrator might be best suited for single
images (book covers, posters, etc.) or if the artist possesses that
unique ability to maintain the same character appearance
throughout a series of images, thus becoming an ideal candidate
for a book illustration contract. Since stories are grouped both
by category; (pets, bears, friendly monsters, dragons, etc.) and
alphabetically, listed by Author and Illustrator last names,
the viewer can quickly locate all samples of the illustrators work,
or quickly find a selection of "like-kind" images to consider.
There is no charge to the art buyer.
EDITING
- Professional editing for children's stories accepted for inclusion
is performed at no charge to Author.
IMPORTANT!: READ the EDITING
PAGE
COPYRIGHTS
- Copyrights will remain the property of each Author/Illustrator.
PERMISSIONS
- Permissions for exclusive Bedtime-Story
website publishing, and
reprints of excerpts of submitted works in conjunction with
Educational Publications are automatically granted by each Author/Illustrator.
Permissions are granted in exchange for FREE professional mentoring
and editing, and NO CHARGE showcasing of each of the
samples of the Author or Illustrator's work which have been submitted
and subsequently accepted for inclusion.
Please note that Bedtime-Story will
not accept tales which have been submitted to other sites.
Inclusion on the Award-Winning
Bedtime-Story.com website is a distinction granted only to
authors who write WELL.
Your talent will have been judged
exceptional, and it deserves to be showcased in the company of similarly
well qualified Artists and Illustrators.
Here's a copy of the AGREEMENT FOR YOUR
STORY OR ARTWORK INCLUSION
CONTACT DIFFICULTIES?:
If you have sent an e-mail to Bedtime-Story and have not heard back
from us, there may be a problem with the e-mail return address shown
on your message and we have no other way to contact you. We do our
best to reply to messages within 48 hours of the day they are received,
but sometimes we're simply swamped with requests. Please verify that
you have typed your own e-mail address correctly, give additional contact
info in the body of the message (just to be on the safe side), and re-send
your inquiry. Thanks!
Stories
and Illustrations found on this site are exclusive to Bedtime-Story
Reproduction
of any content without the express
written permission of Bedtime-Story is prohibited.
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