You must constantly study the market. Go to local bookstores once a month and look at all the new offerings. Go to libraries and study the good backlist classics. Why are the illustrations working? How do they flow? Look for styles similar to yours and notice who publishes them. If your style is terribly unique, look for houses that dare to be different. Call the publishers and ask for their most recent catalogue, or ask your local bookstore for old ones.

Send your samples to appropriate art buyers. A pet peeve of every art buyer is to have their time wasted by mismatched presentations. For instance, do not show ‘mass market’ styles to a ‘trade’ publisher, or adult samples to the K-3 art director. (there is some cross over, of course) And always send a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) for the return of your samples, or a stamped post card for response if you do not want them returned but want to know they got there and were viewed.

As for response letters, being "not right" for the house or list may be just a matter of market timing. Positioning is all important. The "bottom line" is always looming for publishers. Books must sell so that more books can be published. The market may be saturated with a subject or approach. With the heavy competition of the past decade, quiet, sweet looks tended not to be "in". Then the adorable "love" books appeared at the end of the 90’s. Whatever your style, if possible, go for the dramatic and memorable. This is how you will remain in the buyer’s memory so they will call when a project comes up. Be aware of trends, but do your own style better and better. There are a wide variety of stories and they need a wide variety of art styles. Work on finding your own personal look, practice, get criticism, study the market and keep those strong samples in the mail to publishers. And be SURE your samples show those three essential elements of "good drawing, good composition and good color." The rest is imagination and story telling. All together, it’s a children’s book!