Of all the questions I am asked, here is the most popular one: I want to publish a book/picture book/card deck. How do I do this?

My not so quick answer: There's many things I can suggest, but there's not enough room or time to do them justice.

1. Please remember that many, many talented people want to be published -- more than all the publishing houses combined in the world can hope to ever publish. It's for this reason that I believe persistence is more important than talent (though talent goes a long way). Remember that rejection is part of the game; you can't get to "yes" without going through the "no's".

2. Research your market well. Make certain your project is as good as it can be. (I can't stress these two points enough.) It's better to send one pristine submission to a one appropriate publisher than a dozen bad ones happenstance: please don't waste an editor's time by sending less than your best work, or by sending a children's book to an adult house, or a tarot deck to a paperback house. Many publishers have stopped reading unsolicited submissions because the time and energy necessary to slog through inappropriate submissions wasn't cost effective.

3. Here are some books and sites I think are valuable:

~ Interested in children's publishing? Check out Harold Underdown's Purple Crayon website (Harold is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books).

~ Want to get an overview of the industry? Read Publisher's Weekly. Subscribe to Publisher's Lunch. Check out Media Bistro.

~Looking for a literary agent? I like Jeff Herman's Writer's Guide to Book Editors and Literary Agents.

4. Read my Publishing 101 posts over on my blog. It covers such subjects as:

~ Do I need a literary agent?

~ When should I self-publish?

~ Is it better to work with a small or large publisher?

~ How do I get started writing or illustrating children's books?

Want a chance to work one-on-one with me? I offer occasional publishing and bookmaking workshops at my studio-gallery in NYC. I'm also available for private consultation at $100 an hour. Click here for information or e-mail kris [at] kriswaldherr dot com.

While I welcome your e-mails, please note that I cannot recommend publishers or literary agents for your particular project.

I wish you the best of luck in your publishing journey!