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32 KEYFRAME F E AT U R E THE QUERY AND BEYOND Once you have your list of potential agents, the next step is crafting that all-important document, the query letter. In this one-page cover letter you pitch your project and introduce yourself to an agent, convincing them that your work is both interesting and marketable. Altemose—who prefers to receive submissions through her page on the QueryTracker website—suggests customizing each query so your manuscript sounds like an excellent fit for an individual agent's list. She appreciates it when an author has a sense of what she's looking for and mentions one of her favor- ite books. "Those are the first manuscripts I pull out of my reading pile," she says. Show you've done your homework by top: Interior page from Anstee's Are We There, Yeti? bottom: Detail from the cover of Magruder's Wutaryoo. 32 KEYFRAME F E AT U R E Wutaryoo property of Versify. PUBLISHING 101 Traditional Book Deal – This is the kind of book deal covered in this article. It means that a pub- lisher buys your story and/or illustrations and takes on the responsibility for printing, market- ing, and selling your book. Indie Book Deal – This deal is similar to a tradi- tional book deal, but with smaller, independent publishing houses, you can often bypass an agent and submit directly to the house. Guidelines are usually available on the publisher's website. Self-Publishing – Just like it sounds, you publish your book yourself, taking on sole responsibility for printing, publishing, marketing, and sales. mentioning titles of books that are comparable to your original work, as these are crucial for selling a project to an editor. Along with your query, you'll need to submit materials which will vary based on your genre and an agent's submission guide- lines. Literary Agent Daniel Lazar advises that for picture books, writers and illustrators should storyboard the entire book. This document is called a picture book dummy, which is "essentially your picture book idea fully sketched out," says Nilah Magruder, an artist and author who has published numerous books in all genres, both original and IP. Ashlyn Anstee, the author and illustrator of board books, pic- ture books, and young reader graphic novels, explains that she roughs out a dummy just like she would rough storyboards. The dummy mimics a standard 32-page picture book, which equals 16 PDF pages. She does them in black and white and keeps the drawings loose. She lays the text out roughly, as well. Then, she usually includes two finished "spreads" (two pages, side by side) along with her dummy, where the rough art is replaced with final art to show what it would look like in a completed book. Longer illustrated books, like graphic novels, are often sold on proposal, Lazar says, "so you don't need to create the whole man- uscript on spec." He also advises, "Avoid breaking your book down like a TV pitch deck—instead, develop sample material that might capture a reader quickly browsing in a bookstore. … What do you want them to see? That's probably what I want to see." With a prose manuscript, most agents request a summary and first few pages. It they're interested they might then ask for the first couple chapters or first 50 pages. "If the agent is still interested," says Hoang, "they will request a 'full'—that's industry lingo for a full manuscript." He recommends that you only query an agent for a prose novel once you have a complet- ed manuscript. "You don't want to be in a situation where the agent or editor asks for a full and you have to sheepishly explain you don't have one ready," he adds.