My guest today is author, Karen Whiting. Whether we are writers of children's books or readers to our children/grandchildren, these tips will come in handy.
Karen is giving away a copy of her new book: Nature Girl: a guide to caring for God’s creation. Be sure to leave a comment to enter the drawing!
Tips for Getting
Published in Children’s Markets
My friends often ask me to
stick out my tongue, and there’s a very special reason why.
It all started at recess one day. I fell off the jungle gym, which
was embarrassing enough. But when I tried to yell for help, blood gushed out of
my mouth!
So
began one of my first published pieces for children. I’ve been writing for
nearly twenty years and just finished my twentieth book. I also write for
adults, but let’s talk about writing for kids.
Engaging Writing
It’s
important to engage a child fast. An odd fact, like when it’s okay to stick out
your tongue and something gross is one way to interest older kids. You also
need a focus or purpose to the writing. In the above short story, I connect the
need for an oral surgeon in a remote location to the amazing coincidence of an
oral surgeon convention in that very spot on that day. It showed God’s loving
care. To get published you need to find the right home for your words.
Right Publisher
Writing
a good story is the first part of getting published. Then, you need to pitch it
to the right publisher. That means you need to research and see where it fits.
My story went well in a kid’s magazine that accepted true stories. (Guideposts for Kids, but that magazine is
no longer in print). I wrote for children’s magazines for a few years before
selling my first book for children.
 |
| signing with my daughter/co-author at the Texas Library Convention |
The
toughest market is probably children’s picture books and board books. This is
because of the cost of printing such books, plus publishers tend to use the
same authors who have done well with picture books.
Present
a fresh topic or slant for the best choice of what to write. A new baby,
grandparent’s death, and other firsts are overdone and seldom have a new slant.
Understand
the trends of writing. Picture books have fewer words in them than in the past,
down to about 500 words a book. Understand the various leveled reader books and
content in them. Be prepared with a series idea rather than a single book.
While you learn the craft, work on building your credentials.
Launch Your Children’s
Writing with Magazines
It’s
much easier to get published in magazines and with easy readers and early
readers. The same concept often works in these other formats, but you need to
know readability level and use the words children know. Buy a copy of the Children’s Writer’s Word Book and use
the built in word tools on your software to calculate the reading level.
Search
the writer’s market guides and note how much is by freelance authors. The ones
who use more freelance pieces are easier to break into. Once you have a sale,
send a thank you note and submit more to the same editor. As you garner more
writing credits you’ll be ready to move into books.
 |
| Grandson reading on of Karen's books |
Books
compete with technology and all the activities that capture children’s time, so
you need to make your book sparkle. Add onomatopoeia and various figures of
speech that make a children’s book special. Read lots of books to see what
makes some books become classics or popular and apply successful techniques.
Once you have a polished manuscript be ready to show how you can sell it.
The All Important Marketing
Plan
Competition
is tough in the children’s market, so to get an edge you need to have a great marketing
plan. This should show you know how to reach your audience and some creative
ideas.
Start
doing readings at libraries, speak to groups of moms, schools, and groups of
children to build your audience. Also build up your social networking to show
you have a large group of readers. Start a Pinterest board about your book
topic. Plan seminars to do with children or the parents. For example, for my
new release Nature Girl, I have a
seminar for girls on going green that includes three choices of tracks I can
do. I created a handout for groups who want to use the book and conduct their
own seminar.
Yes,
you can succeed but you’ll need patience and you’ll need to develop your
writing, marketing, and name recognition.
Don't forget to leave a comment and your email address to enter the book drawing for a copy of
Nature Girl: a guide to caring for God's creation.
While the drawing is for US only,
we'd love to hear comments from everyone.
* Do you have a question?
* Have you read a children's book that was stellar? Which one? No restrictions: non fiction, fiction, board book, picture book, chapter book, middle grade book, etc.
* What made this book stand out in your mind?
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If you found any typos in today's post...Mary Vee, that's me, is waving her hand as the guilty party.
If you have questions or would like this topic discussed in greater detail, let me know in the comment section. I'll gladly do the research and write a post...just for you :)
If you have questions or would like this topic discussed in greater detail, let me know in the comment section. I'll gladly do the research and write a post...just for you :)
Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes contemporary and romance Christian fiction, is honing marketing and writing skills, and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.
Visit Mary at her website and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter
2 comments:
Karen, thank you so much for being our guest on the Alley today! I learned a lot from reading your blog! There's so little advice out there on children's publishing for the CBA authorship (aside from "just don't try it ;) ), and I love what you had to say! I had never considered avoiding trends like a new baby or a death. Great advice. Thank you!
Karen,
Kids really do like books that have characters who act like genuine kids. Sure, as parents we would like the character sugar coated to teach our children to always be good. But real kids aren't like that. They stick out their tongue and make noises with their armpits. When an author has genuine characters, kids will read the story.
Thanks so much for the great tips!
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