Getting Pitch Ready Day One: Amazon

 

Hello! I'm so glad you’re here. Each day you will be able to log in and get an assignment designed to get your book closer to being ready to pitch.

 

Today you will look up your book topic and title on Amazon.

 

It's important to see what is current in the market; it's the first thing an editor is going to do if he / she is considering your book. See what else has been published with the same or similar ideas, theme, or title. How will your book compare to other books available in the market? Does it offer something new or better?

 

Are the other books from an actual publisher or have they been self-published?

 

Are the other books recent? The picture book world moves pretty quickly. Books that are published more than ten years ago generally don't have a big presence in the market. There are exceptions of course, such as a big award winner. 

 

I had considered creating a picture book biography on Julia Child. I searched Julia Child in the book department. There were many, so I narrowed the search to Children's Books.

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These were the top children's books in the search results. Visually, my book would look more similar to Kyo Maclear's book or Jessie Hartland's book so I looked closer at these two books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notice the pub date on Kyo Maclear's book is related to the paperback edition. I searched for the hardcover to find out the original pub date. This book was published four years ago and is doing well enough to release a paperback. Reading the synopsis I see that this is a fictional story loosely based on Julia Child. My book is more factual about her life. I don't think this is a problem. I will take a look at the actual book, just to make sure that my book isn't too similar.