Table of Contents
Foreword 1
Chapter 1 Why Write for Kids? 3
The Silver Screen Loves Children's Books 4
Kids Read More Than Adults 5
You Might Be Able to Scrape Up A Living 6
You Can Be Weird 6
You'll Become a Word Master 6
The Fan Mail Rocks 8
Chapter 2 Types of Children's Books 9
Baby Books (0 to 15 months) 10
Board Books (l to 3 years) 12
Picture Books (2 to 7; 7 to 12 years) 12
Easy-to-Read Books (5 to 7 years) 14
Early Chapter Books (7 to 10 years) 15
Middle Grade Books (8 to 12 years) 16
Young Adult (12 years and up) 17
Children's Graphic Novels 19
Plays 21
Poetry 21
Chapter 3 Getting to Know the Publishing Industry 23
Different Parts of a Publishing Company 23
Imprints 24
Divisions 25
Lines 25
Types of Publishers 26
Trade publishers 26
Small and independent presses 28
Mass market 28
Case Study: Suzanne Lieurance 30
E-publishers 32
Educational publishers 33
Religious publishers 34
Book packagers 34
Chapter 4 Writing for Kids: The Basics 37
What Children Like to Read 37
Case Study: Fiona Tapp 39
Choosing a Topic 41
Topics to avoid 44
Coming Up With Ideas 45
Write in a journal or notebook 45
Life experience 46
Case Study: Katia Novet Saint-Lot 49
Looking to the media 51
Brainstorming and mind-mapping 52
Getting ideas down on paper 53
Common Mistakes to Avoid 56
Preaching to the choir 56
Rhume crime 57
The overweight draft 58
Dumbing it down 58
Not standing out 59
A Word About Procrastination 60
Chapter 5 Creating the Story 63
Beginnings 64
Voice 70
Case Study: Aaron Shepard 71
Choosing Narration 72
First-person narration 72
Second-person narration 72
Third-person narration 73
Characterization 73
Character arcs 76
Plot and Story Structure 77
Setting and Scene 79
Effective Dialogue 81
Show and Tell 85
Endings 85
Chapter 6 The Final Writing Stages 89
Revising and Rewriting 89
Testing Your Ideas 91
Dealing with rejection 93
Targeting possible problems with your writing 95
Other challenges 96
Case Study: Susan Collins Thoms 98
Chapter 7 Understanding illustration 101
Sketchbooks 103
Character Development 104
Movement And Expressions 105
Use Of Color 106
Use Of Media 108
When To Write And When To Illustrate 109
Chapter 8 Marketing to Publishers 111
Directory Listings 112
Book Reviews And Publicity 112
Press Promotion And News Releases 114
Your Website Or Blog 115
Researching Publishers 117
Targeting Publishers 118
Case study: Lisa Schroeder 121
Chapter 9 Self-Publishing 125
What Does Your Book Need? 126
The Cost of Self-Publishing 127
Planning Your Book 128
Finding Writers, Illustrators, and Editors 130
Determining Price 132
Bottom-up 133
Top-down 134
ISBNs And Barcodes 134
Chapter 10 Agents 137
Do You Need One? 138
All By Myself 139
What to Look For 139
Making sure the agent is legit 140
Chapter 11 Crafting Your Submission: Query Letters and Submission Packages 145
Why is it Important? 146
How to Write a Query Letter 146
Avoid These Common Mistakes 148
Preparing the Submission Package 148
Cover letters 150
Overview and synopsis 150
Proposals 151
Sample chapters 151
Storyboards and book dummies 152
Hello From the Other Side 153
Case Study: Lisa J. Michaels 155
Chapter 12 Becoming a Pro: Networking and Promoting Yourself 161
Networking as an Author/Illustrator 161
Getsome Business cards 162
Stay in tune with children's lit 163
Go to conferences 164
Case Study: Sarah S. Brannen 165
PR and You 169
School visits 169
Book events and signings 171
Book tours 172
Radio and television interviews 173
Case Study: Kathryn Starke 175
Conclusion 179
Afterword 181
Appendix A Sample Documents 185
Appendix B Information and Resources 201
Bibliography 205
Glossary 207
Index 211
About the Author 213
