Are you at a point where you can use objective feedback on your children's book manuscript? We know how propriatorial authors are with their books, how heart-wrenching is for a "parent" to have his "child" judged by others.... Can you put your ego aside and handle constructive criticism? If so, Abbracaddabra's professional editorial services will provide you with an in-depth book appraisal (literary, as well as marketing value) – a recommended step before approaching agents and publishers. This could be one of the best investments you make in your book project.

If you intend to Self-Publish, this service may not be necessary, unless you hope to make money with your book and want to make sure it has market value.

In a comprehensive manuscript evaluation we will address a diversity of questions: What are your book's strengths? How can you eliminate the sort of weaknesses publishers often consider serious flaws (lack of substantive content, lack of dramatic interest, poorly developed characters, disorganization, inappropriate use of vocabulary, and so on). In our detailed written report, assessing your book's appeal and marketability, we'll also suggest revisions and reorganization (if needed), to bring your book in line with agents' and publishers' standards and to make it more competitive with similar children's books.

As the term implies, a manuscript evaluation doesn't usually involve actual editing or rewriting — though we may do some work along these lines to show you how to fix recurring problems in your book. it will be up to you to do the rewriting, to follow or ignore our advice. If you choose to do the revisions we suggested, you also have a Second Reading service available to you. We will report back on your revisions and let you know if we have any additional concerns.

Please do not submit for a Second Reading, unless you revised your manuscript, following at least some of our recommendations.

If you are ready to start, please go to Client's Service Request Form, to select the services you need.
Questions? Please contact us.

Writing a book and editing a book are two entirely different tasks. Some authors excel at both, some authors don't. However, even the best writers make occasional mistakes, so our advice is: better safe than sorry! Regardless of your publishing goals, the editorial quality of your work matters. No one wants to read a book riddled with typos and grammatical errors. We can help you make your book the best it can be. We will review your manuscript for:

• Typographical errors
  
• Misspelled words
  
• Grammatical errors
  
• Punctuation
  
• Incorrect word use (i.e., effect/affect)
  
• Style consistency
  
• Standardization of spelling and capitalization
  
• Consistency of specific or repeated references

These corrections will be noted digitally on your manuscript and then e-mailed back to you. At that point, it is entirely up to you which of the changes you decide to make or ignore.

If you are ready to start, please go to Client's Service Request Form, to select the services you need.
Questions? Please contact us.

As you can see, the number of pages in most children's books is a multiple of 8 or 12. This was traditionally required by the offset printing industry, where a sheet of printable paper would hold 8 or 12 pages (called "press signature"). Today, although the digital printing allows for any number of pages, the offset printing is still prevalent and less expensive (for bigger runs), so the standard "signatures" and book formats for children's books still apply.

If you just have a general idea of how many pages you want in your book, and you also know exactly the number of illustrations you need, but you want to see how it all fits together, we will lay out  the book for you. You can revise the layout and require changes at no additional charge. The final layout will be used by the designer and by the illustrator as a template, to finalize your book.

If you are not sure how many pages your book should have, and you can't decide how many illustrations you might need, we can lay out the book for you in the most efficient and appealing way. We can also suggest the number of illustrations you should have and give you an idea of what they should be (with full scene descriptions). if you should have any spreads (illustration across two pages), half page illustrations, etc. We will send you the layout for revision and any changes you will require will be implemented at no additional charge. The final layout will be used by the designer and by the illustrator as a template, to finalize your book.

If you are ready to start, please go to Client's Service Request Form, to select the services you need.
Questions? Please contact us.

Please determine which category best defines your book. You'll find a list of illustrators and rates in each section.

Once you choose the category that applies to your book, all rates will be listed on illustrators' individual pages.

if you are planning to sell your book in bookstores you need to consider having your book's design and production professionally done. This will enhance your credibility as you try to get bookstores to accept your book for resale. A professional look will ultimately sell more of your books, making your effort worthwile. We can use your design ideas and suggestions – if you have something specific in mind – or we can do everything from scratch. Considering that by this point you have allready approved the book layout and illustrations, our designers will finalize your book and deliver "print-ready" files to you or to the publisher of your choice.
Our design and production services include:

• Cover and Backcover custom design
• inside page design
• Text placing and sizing
• Most appropriate font choice for your reader's age group
• illustrations placement, sizing and text wrapping (depending on the layout specification)
• Page numbers
• E-mail proofs to you
• Conversion to "print-ready" format files

* Please note that if you send us your own illustrations or pictures to be included in the book, we have NO ADDITIONAL CHARGES for image scanning and manipulation. Any revisions beyond those included FREE in your design and production price, will be charged at a $20.00/hour rate.

If you are ready to start, please go to Client's Service Request Form, to select the services you need.
Questions? Please contact us.

If you decide to present, promote and sell your book from your own website, we can create it and host it for you. We will setup your Meta Tags to ensure traffic, help you acquire your PayPal button/s, list your contact info, and get you ready for business. We will administer and update your site at no additional charges. In the future we plan to create a "store page" for all our authors, and we hope to count you among them.

Of course, you don't have to host your website with us. If we design your site, we will release it to you and you can host it on any other server, if you so choose.

If you are ready to start, please go to Client's Service Request Form, to select the services you need.
Questions? Please contact us.

From this point on, you can choose to do the research yourself and find the best publisher for your book. It is a time consuming endeavor, and although the information is at your finger tips with a simple internet search, prepare yourself to sift through it all. If you feel overwhelmed by the task, we can help. Your AbbraCaddabra coordinator will consult with you, and depending on your budget, the number of books you want to publish, the paper quality you want for your book, the book size you would prefer, the marketing and distribution you envision, we will provide you with a personalized, comprehensive publishers list, tailored with your requirements in mind.

Please choose below the option that applies to you: