In the 1990's, I had a few dozen children's books published. Most of them are out of print now, but many of them can be found in stores like Wal-mart or Target. I see them in drugstores, dollar stores and discount stores.
I enjoyed writing children's books and may try my hand at it later. For now, I am concentrating on longer fiction. In the meantime, I have provided my notes from my children's book class.
Contents
- The Rewards of Writing for Children
- Misconceptions about Writing for Children's Books
- The Children's Book Industry
- Types of Children's Books
- Thinking Visually
- Becoming a Children's Book Writer
- Resources for Children's Book Writers
The Rewards of Writing for Children
It’s important work.
- Children who read when young become lifelong readers
- Better chance of future academic pursuits
- American Academy of Pediatrics suggests reading aloud to children as infants is essential to their brain development
- Helps children become more successful in their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual endeavors.
- It helps them understand themselves.
- It helps them understand their emotions.
- Your stories may have strong moral implications that will guide them in life.
- They can identify with characters who help them overcome obstacles.
It’s your legacy.
- You see children reading your books.
- You get the cheap thrill of seeing your name in print.
- You hope the children learn something about themselves as they read your books, or as their parents read to them.
It’s your fifteen minutes of fame.
- You run into old friends and they ask, "Do you write children’s books?"
- You get to autograph books.
- You get to go read to classes of children.
It’s money.
- You can supplement your income, but don’t quit your day job!
- It’s rare that a children’s book author lives solely off his or her writing income.
- Sometimes you get an advance and then royalties; sometimes you just get royalties; sometimes you get a flat fee.
- Full time writers work at their craft and also make appearances at schools and other speaking engagements.
- Do what you can with your situation.
Misconceptions About Writing for Children
Writing for children is easier than writing for adults. Because to the special nature of the children’s book audience and the competition, breaking into the children’s book market can be just as difficult as breaking into any other writing market. The writer still needs to pay attention to writing style, character development and market research.
Misconception: Stories for children
need to teach a moral lesson.
In the past, children’s books may have had the purpose of teaching
a moral lesson, but today’s publishers are looking for stories that
suggest a slice of live or offer hopeful messages. As the author, don’t
preach; instead, tell the truth, tell a story and have fun writing.
Misconception: Since my own kids
like my stories, they must be good enough for publication.
Your own kids may not be a sampling of the children’s market as
a whole. Never say this in your cover letter.
Misconception: I have to find
my own illustrator.
The publisher has a marketing department and an art department that does
all this work. They are paying you for your writing. The good news is
that you don’t have to worry about the illustrations. You can concentrate
on being the best writing you can be.
Misconception: You need an agent
to publish a book.
Beginning writers can find publication in sending unsolicited manuscripts
that publishers find in their slush pile. An agent may not be necessary
until you are a more established writer.
Publishers will steal my ideas.
This does not happen as much as you might think. Check out the Children’s
Writers and Illustrator’s Market for legitimate publishing companies
of children’s books. For peace of mind, place your manuscript in
an envelope, take it to the post office and have it marked as registered
mail—or send it to yourself. The postmark will defend your story
if you need it.
I need to get my manuscript copyrighted.
It is automatically copyrighted by law. Don’t place a copyright
symbol and year on your manuscript. This is another mark of the amateur.
How big is the children’s book industry?
- Two billion in annual sales
- Half of this is from six publishing houses: Random House, Penguin Putnam, Golden Books, HarperCollins, Scholastic and Simon & Schuster.
- 4000 to 5000 children’s books are published each year
Two types of publishers:
- Trade—aim for bookstores, schools and libraries
- Mass—aim for supermarkets, general retail stores
- Trade is more expensive, Mass is wider audience
When we think of children's books, I believe we think first of picture books.
Children's books actually encompasses a large age group, from birth to around fourteen or fifteen. Of course the books for children vary with their age group.
There are basic categories for children's books. Each category can be broken down into sub-categories, but we'll try and keep it simple.
Picture Books
- Like I said, when we think of children's books, I believe we think first of picture books.
- Picture book can be defined as any book produced for children ages 1-7 in which illustration plays a significant role.
- Picture books are most defined
by the following characteristics:
- 24 or 32 bound book pages; picture books are the most structured format in the children's book category; if you have 32 pages, 28 will be for the story; front matter takes up some; a spread is two pages of an open book together.
- No more than 2000 words long
- Make a dummy; helpful to "page"
a book, that is divide the words by spreads; one way is to break the
pages as you write, indicating page breaks in the manuscript; a better
way is to make a page dummy; dummy does not go to the publisher; editor
has final decision on page break; show manuscript format; don't send
crude illustrations either; making a dummy:
- Tracey E. Dils, You Can Write Children's Books, pp. 14, 15
- Barbara Seuling, How to Write a Children’s Book and Get It Published, pp. 79-80
- Narrative and illustrations are equally important
- Who is the real market for children's
books?
- parents/relatives
- teachers/librarians.
- They are bought and selected by adults for children
- Story line appeals on two levels--one for adult and one for children; should appeal to adult's sensibilities and emotions as well as a child's literal understanding of the world.
- Meant to be read out loud
- Primarily enjoyed by pre-readers, children from birth through 2nd grade
- Some sub-categories:
- board books (stiff pages, up to age 2, plotless, usually a series);
- picture book (illustrations dominate text; oversize format);
- picture story books (picture books with more text and plot development);
- novelty books (board books,
pop-up books, flap books, holes in pages);
wordless (just pictures); - concept books (promotes child's understanding of world; educational-counting, abc's; psychological-helping to deal with feelings);
- picture strip (comic books style like captain underwear)
- Subject Matter in picture books:
- whatever looks good in illustration (no cloud stories!)
- kids themselves; child character should solve the problem (blanket book story); adults should have minimal role in story
- glimpse of familiar things (school, meals, birthday parties, church, rituals like Goodnight Moon, Everybody Poops)
Easy Readers and Easy Chapter Books
- These bridge gap between picture books and novels for older readers
- What’s the difference between
an Easy Reader and an Easy Chapter book?
- Easy Readers are for beginning
readers in 1st or 2nd grade
- Little Bear by Else Minarik
- Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
- Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman
- Easy Chapter Books are for
children who have outgrown the simplicity of easy readers; they
are designed to appear "older"
- Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
- Pizza Pie Slugger by Jean Marzoll
- Easy Readers are for beginning
readers in 1st or 2nd grade
- 32, 40 or 48 pages
- vary in length, no more than 4000 words (each publisher is different)
- story has kid-appeal, often in school setting
- more likely to be selected by child than adult
- meant to be read to child
- enjoyed by children who are developing their reading skills, kindergarten through second grade
Middle Grade Novels
- Most popular fiction categories for children; read by 3rd through 6th grades, ages 8-12
- Between 80 and 18 bound bk pgs
- 14,000 - 20,000 words long
- Focus on single main character who is the same age or slightly older than the intended reader
- Selected by child
- Meant to be read by the child
Young Adult Fiction
- Targeted to children in fifth through ninth grades; called YA novels; for ages 12 and up
- 128-208 bound book pgs
- Twenty to thirty thousand words
- Focus on single main character
- Meant to be read by child
- Concern identity issues; some serious topics. Adults may enjoy reading these also; Paul Zindel has written some classics in this category (The Pigman) as well as Richard Cormier (The Chocolate War); Girl Interrupted; Holes
Nonfiction
- don't overlook nonfiction; lots of writing opportunities in children's nonfiction--even more than in fiction; may be a good place to break into the children's book publishing world
- The children’s magazine market is a book place to break into the children’s book industry.
- explore a concept or subject at a developmentally appropriate level
- illustrated with diagrams and or photographs
- expertly researched
- directed either toward pleasure reading or research
- types of nonfiction
- biographies
- how-to/activity books
- science books
- behind the scenes books
- holiday books
- history books
- action (sports)
- museum books (eyewitness series)
The Good News
You don’t have to illustrate your book or find an illustrator. When
a publishing company buys your manuscript, they own it. They are buying
the right to market it as they see fit. Designing a book includes the
appropriate size of the book, number of pages and illustration style.
The editor, art editor, creative director will plan the layout of the
book. He or she will select an illustrator from their repertoire of artists.
They have established a working relationship with these artists. These
artist usually work on a contract basis from their home studios.
Describing Illustrations
The text of your manuscript should stand alone. The readers should be
ale to understand the basics of the plot by reading the manuscript without
illustrations. Illustrations are visual support. Think about what scene
will make for good illustrations. Think about depicting an action for
a scene, a single activity for illustration purposes.
Marriage of Pictures and Words
Make a dummy so you have an idea of how to break down the book into spreads.
The editor or are director will have their own ideas. Some beginning writers
include too much visual detail in an attempt to control the look of the
illustrations. Remember the illustrator will be interpreting the book
through his or her own talents. Unless it is part of the story, use visual
detail sparingly; instead emphasize the other four senses in your writing.
Becoming a Published Children's Book Writer
Go to your local bookstore and
library.
Research these things: become familiar with what kind of children’s
books are being published; the topics and type of stories; who publishes
these books; the sentence structure of the stories; the different age
brackets; anything that familiarizes you with the industry. Take your
time. After several visits, you’ll become familiar with names of
certain publishing companies.
Read books on how to write children’s
books.
See the links below for ideas.
Check out the annual Writer’s
Market.
It is published by Writer’s Digest books. There is one specifically
for children’s book writers and illustrators and it’s as thick
as a telephone book. Also read Writer’s
Digest and Publisher’s
Weekly to keep up on trends in the publishing industry, and especially
the children’s books publishing industry.
Read, read, read children’s books.
Try and write everyday if you can.
Don’t worry about how good it is. Just write something. If it has
potential, then rewrite it.
Keep a little notebook with you.
Fill it with ideas whenever they pop up(something good may come to you
while sitting in the waiting room for the dentist)
- Breaking into Children's Literature
- books on writing Children's Books
- reviews in Publisher’s Weekly
- reviews in New York Times or other newspapers
- School Library Journal
- American Bookseller
- Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators
- Writer’s Digest
- The Writer
- Children’s Book Insider
- Horn Book
- Children’s Book Council
- Write4kids.com