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Child Book Writing - The Facts About Writing Children's BooksChild book writing first involves picking a subject, determining if it would best be explored as fiction or non-fiction. Next, pick the age group you intend to write to and make sure your story speaks to this group in a way they can understand. Although most children's picture books are under 1000 words, don't fool yourself into thinking the writing will be easy. It is often more challenging to write a shorter piece than a long one. The word count range for a children's picture book translates into 24 to 32 pages. Some of these pages can have words, illustrations or both. Once your child book writing project is complete, you can determine which child book publisher to send it to or even consider self-publishing. If you self publish a children's book, you will need an illustrator, unless you are a skilled artist. If you are sending your manuscript to a child book publisher, send sample illustrations only if they look like they were done by a professional. A friend of mine who has sent her manuscripts to big publishers and self-published her own children's books told me that poor illustrations can turn off a child book publisher, causing them to reject your work, even though they might like your content. (She learned this from experience!) Remember that images are powerful and create instant gut level reactions, so make sure your illustrations are top-notch. If you are sending your work to a child book publisher, the company will select the illustrator. Know that the author does not have any say in who is selected. Be careful of letting your expectations about how the illustrations and the book will look get in your way of acting like a professional. Instead, be happy that you're getting published. The time lag between getting accepted by a child book publisher and holding a finished product in your hands can be long. An author friend of mine submitted a manuscript that was accepted by a New York publisher. Five years later, the book finally hit the shelves. The illustrations and the look of the book were nothing like she had in mind, but she bravely accepted it and the book is selling well. Writing a Child Book - 3 Tips for Aspiring Children's Book Authors Child Book Illustrator - Finding the Right Illustrator for Your Children's Book Publish a Child Book - 7 Tips for Getting Published Self Publishing Child Book - Steps to Self Publishing a Children's Book Have questions on child book writing not covered in our articles? Submit your question.
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