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publishing agenda. Use the internet to track down the publishers and study what kind of books they produce. If they have submission information for authors on the website, copy this information for your reference, or use the Children's Writers and Illustrators Market for guidelines. If there are no submission guidelines, the publisher may want to hear from agents only, or may produce everything in-house and might not accept outside submissions.

APPROACHING A PUBLISHER WITH A QUERY OR PROPOSAL
When looking at school and library publisher websites, study the existing series of books. What topics could you contribute to? What topics can you see a need for? Jot down your ideas, then narrow your ideas to the topics you'd like to write about the most.

If possible, get your hands on some copies of the books from the series you'd like to write for. Study the format, the language, the depth of the topic. Often the publishers will try to achieve a consistent style between the books within a series and across similar series. Sketch out an outline for a new book that you think would enhance this series. If you're a new, unpublished author, it would be a good idea to do your research and write at least a first draft of the book before querying, to be sure you can complete the book and do a good job. Otherwise you might find yourself agreeing to a project, only to find that you can't locate good references or aren't as interested in the topic as you thought.

Once you've done your homework, you're ready to write your query.

APPROACHING A PUBLISHER WITH A RESUME AND SAMPLES
Some school and library publishers prefer create their own series concepts and assign the titles to their authors. They will often accept a writer's resume and writing samples to keep on file for future assignments. If you'd like to be considered by one of these publishers, assemble a good resume that begins with your areas of interest and expertise, followed by any relevant publications you have (if none, then don't point that out, but make sure your writing samples are stellar), any relevant experience (such as working in a school or a library), and your education and training. Your writing samples can be published or unpublished pieces, and should be in a style similar to the style of the books the publisher puts out. Again, go to the library and find books by the publisher you're considering, and practice writing in their style.

YOU'VE GOT AN ASSIGNMENT - NOW WHAT?
Let's suppose you are lucky and the publisher

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