Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
How to Submit Your Manuscript to Children's Book Publishers
Here's a no-nonsense guide to submitting your children's manuscript to children's book publishers.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Writing For Children: How To Get Your Foot in the Door
In this video, we explore a segment of children's publishing that offers less competition and more opportunity for beginning writers -- nonfiction magazine writing. If you're looking for a quick, fun and rewarding way to build publishing credits and experience, we've got all the info you need!
Having trouble viewing the video? You can also find it at Dailymotion, Metacafe, 5Min, Graspr and Howcast.
Having trouble viewing the video? You can also find it at Dailymotion, Metacafe, 5Min, Graspr and Howcast.
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Critical Elements of Writing Children's Fiction
All good children's fiction contains basic elements around which the plot revolves. Though each story is different, there are certain "checkpoints" found in all novels. Paying close attention to these areas will help you pace the action of your story and keep the plot moving.
The beginning. Your story should start at the point in your character's life where his or her everyday world changes. Don't waste the first chapter describing your character or the setting of the book; most of that information won't be necessary to the story, and if it is it can be worked in later. Begin the book with action or dialogue.
The first chapter. By the end of the first chapter, your readers should know something about your main character and what problem, or conflict, that character will be facing in the book. In middle grade and young adult novels the conflict sometimes changes during the course of the story, but the first conflict (that pulls the character out of his everyday world) should be evident early on. Your readers must know enough at this point to believe the conflict is valid and to care about the character.
Chapter endings. If chapters end in the middle of a scene, your reader will want to turn the page and see what happens next. This is especially true with chapter books for readers ages 7-10. Ending a chapter with action or dialogue helps to keep the momentum of the story going.
The story's climax. The climax of the book, when your main character comes face-to-face with the conflict, should be a natural outcome of everything that's happened up to this point. Too many beginning writers draw out the climax, diluting its impact. Ideally, the climax is contained within a scene, or a chapter at the most. The height of the climax, like the peak of a roller coaster, occurs at the end of a chapter.
The story's resolution. The resolution must be brought about by the main character. It occurs directly after the plot's climax, and is also contained within a chapter. The resolution must be believable and, ideally, a surprise to the reader.
The ending. The story ends soon after the resolution has been reached. Often the resolution occurs in the last chapter, with only a few paragraphs that follow showing how life returned to normal for your character. Padding the ending is a common mistake with beginning writers; the resolution itself should be a satisfying conclusion to the book, and anything extra will simply take away from all that's gone before.
Other points to consider. Is the point of view consistent throughout the book? Does one character emerge as the focus of the story? Too often, two or three characters are vying for the reader's attention, especially in chapter books. And finally, is the conflict important or intriguing enough for your readers to want to see how the story turns out? When in doubt, make the conflict bigger rather than smaller. Remember, you're asking your readers to invest time and energy in your book. Give them a problem they'll care about, and they'll gladly oblige.
The beginning. Your story should start at the point in your character's life where his or her everyday world changes. Don't waste the first chapter describing your character or the setting of the book; most of that information won't be necessary to the story, and if it is it can be worked in later. Begin the book with action or dialogue.
The first chapter. By the end of the first chapter, your readers should know something about your main character and what problem, or conflict, that character will be facing in the book. In middle grade and young adult novels the conflict sometimes changes during the course of the story, but the first conflict (that pulls the character out of his everyday world) should be evident early on. Your readers must know enough at this point to believe the conflict is valid and to care about the character.
Chapter endings. If chapters end in the middle of a scene, your reader will want to turn the page and see what happens next. This is especially true with chapter books for readers ages 7-10. Ending a chapter with action or dialogue helps to keep the momentum of the story going.
The story's climax. The climax of the book, when your main character comes face-to-face with the conflict, should be a natural outcome of everything that's happened up to this point. Too many beginning writers draw out the climax, diluting its impact. Ideally, the climax is contained within a scene, or a chapter at the most. The height of the climax, like the peak of a roller coaster, occurs at the end of a chapter.
The story's resolution. The resolution must be brought about by the main character. It occurs directly after the plot's climax, and is also contained within a chapter. The resolution must be believable and, ideally, a surprise to the reader.
The ending. The story ends soon after the resolution has been reached. Often the resolution occurs in the last chapter, with only a few paragraphs that follow showing how life returned to normal for your character. Padding the ending is a common mistake with beginning writers; the resolution itself should be a satisfying conclusion to the book, and anything extra will simply take away from all that's gone before.
Other points to consider. Is the point of view consistent throughout the book? Does one character emerge as the focus of the story? Too often, two or three characters are vying for the reader's attention, especially in chapter books. And finally, is the conflict important or intriguing enough for your readers to want to see how the story turns out? When in doubt, make the conflict bigger rather than smaller. Remember, you're asking your readers to invest time and energy in your book. Give them a problem they'll care about, and they'll gladly oblige.
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Are You Really Ready to Send Your Manuscript to a Children's Book Publisher?
At a recent session of the Children's Authors' Bootcamp workshop that I co-teach with author Linda Arms White, one of the attendees asked me how an author knows when her story is ready to submit to children's book publishers. My facetious, off-the-cuff answer had something to do with a beam of light shining down from above, illuminating the manuscript. I then went on to try to answer the question in earnest, ending with, "The first time you think your manuscript is finished, it never is."
There isn't a writer alive who hasn't wished for some sort of literary oven in which to place their manuscript, knowing when the timer goes off it's done. Unfortunately, there is no such objective measurement for good writing. Therefore, the best advice I can give is to get as much input on your completed manuscript as possible before putting it in the mail.
Writing is a solitary endeavor, with authors carefully guarding their ideas and feeling tremendous ownership of the finished project. As they should. But in order for a manuscript to become a book, it has to pass muster with many people, from editors to sales reps to accountants to art directors. Once in book form, those ideas must then appeal to reviewers, bookstore owners, librarians and consumers, not to mention kids. No matter how stellar you think your writing is, if others don't share your opinion, your manuscript will never make it farther than your file cabinet.
The first "second reader" of what you write is you. You need to remove your author's hat and adopt the reader's viewpoint. You can't do this as soon as you've written the last word of the manuscript. Put some distance between yourself and the project. Take time off, start working on something else. Then read the work and try to measure it against what you consider to be high standards. Does the pacing compare to a published work in the same genre by an author you admire? Are the characters as fully developed as those by acclaimed authors writing for this age group? Does the dialogue actually sound like words real, live people you know might say? If you wrote an outline for your book, compare the finished plot to what you intended to write from the outline. Did you leave out any important elements? Did you add anything that's unnecessary? If you're writing nonfiction, did you do enough research, or did you have to pad areas with "filler"?
Then, take your book out into the world. The first stop should be your writer's group. Ideally, this is comprised of people who are all writing and/or studying children's books. Listen to their comments and take them seriously. You don't have to make any suggested changes, but you should consider the reasons for changes offered by the readers. If more than one reader doesn't understand a plot twist, doesn't believe a character would act a certain way, can't accurately visualize a setting, it's your problem, not theirs. It doesn't matter how inspired the idea is inside your head; if you can't accurately communicate this idea on paper, no one will ever pick up your book. This process of frank editing and honest critique can take several rounds before the book is "done." Ending the process too soon will only lead to frustration and rejection letters. Declaring "I just have to find an editor who understands my book" can be just as bad. Yes, a good author/editor fit is important to the success of any book, but once you decide you want to get your work published, it ceases to be a solitary exercise. You have to know that your story makes sense to other people, and the only way to do this is to get input from outside yourself and consider it carefully.
In the end, no book is ever really finished. I've spoken with many published authors who wish they could take back their books for one more run though the editing mill. Every time we write we improve our skills a little more. One final aspect then, of knowing when a book is done, is learning to walk that fine line between making it better and letting it go. Learn to recognize when a manuscript is as strong as you can make it, and then send it out and begin your next masterpiece
There isn't a writer alive who hasn't wished for some sort of literary oven in which to place their manuscript, knowing when the timer goes off it's done. Unfortunately, there is no such objective measurement for good writing. Therefore, the best advice I can give is to get as much input on your completed manuscript as possible before putting it in the mail.
Writing is a solitary endeavor, with authors carefully guarding their ideas and feeling tremendous ownership of the finished project. As they should. But in order for a manuscript to become a book, it has to pass muster with many people, from editors to sales reps to accountants to art directors. Once in book form, those ideas must then appeal to reviewers, bookstore owners, librarians and consumers, not to mention kids. No matter how stellar you think your writing is, if others don't share your opinion, your manuscript will never make it farther than your file cabinet.
The first "second reader" of what you write is you. You need to remove your author's hat and adopt the reader's viewpoint. You can't do this as soon as you've written the last word of the manuscript. Put some distance between yourself and the project. Take time off, start working on something else. Then read the work and try to measure it against what you consider to be high standards. Does the pacing compare to a published work in the same genre by an author you admire? Are the characters as fully developed as those by acclaimed authors writing for this age group? Does the dialogue actually sound like words real, live people you know might say? If you wrote an outline for your book, compare the finished plot to what you intended to write from the outline. Did you leave out any important elements? Did you add anything that's unnecessary? If you're writing nonfiction, did you do enough research, or did you have to pad areas with "filler"?
Then, take your book out into the world. The first stop should be your writer's group. Ideally, this is comprised of people who are all writing and/or studying children's books. Listen to their comments and take them seriously. You don't have to make any suggested changes, but you should consider the reasons for changes offered by the readers. If more than one reader doesn't understand a plot twist, doesn't believe a character would act a certain way, can't accurately visualize a setting, it's your problem, not theirs. It doesn't matter how inspired the idea is inside your head; if you can't accurately communicate this idea on paper, no one will ever pick up your book. This process of frank editing and honest critique can take several rounds before the book is "done." Ending the process too soon will only lead to frustration and rejection letters. Declaring "I just have to find an editor who understands my book" can be just as bad. Yes, a good author/editor fit is important to the success of any book, but once you decide you want to get your work published, it ceases to be a solitary exercise. You have to know that your story makes sense to other people, and the only way to do this is to get input from outside yourself and consider it carefully.
In the end, no book is ever really finished. I've spoken with many published authors who wish they could take back their books for one more run though the editing mill. Every time we write we improve our skills a little more. One final aspect then, of knowing when a book is done, is learning to walk that fine line between making it better and letting it go. Learn to recognize when a manuscript is as strong as you can make it, and then send it out and begin your next masterpiece
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
Monday, March 1, 2010
How to Tell if a New or Small Children's Book Publisher is Legitimate
It seems like every day you can open up a trade journal and read about new children's book publishers entering the children’s book scene. While most of these publishers are well-funded and have some sort of background in the industry, a few may be bad risks for an author or illustrator. Here are some ways you can check out a publisher before signing a contract.
Full article here: http://cbiclubhouse.com/2010/03/how-to-tell-if-a-new-or-small-press-is-legitimate/
How to Tell if a New or Small Children's Book Publisher is Legitimate
It seems like every day you can open up a trade journal and read about new children's book publishers entering the children’s book scene. While most of these publishers are well-funded and have some sort of background in the industry, a few may be bad risks for an author or illustrator. Here are some ways you can check out a publisher before signing a contract.
Full article here: http://cbiclubhouse.com/2010/03/how-to-tell-if-a-new-or-small-press-is-legitimate/
Full article here: http://cbiclubhouse.com/2010/03/how-to-tell-if-a-new-or-small-press-is-legitimate/
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Reading Fiction Can Help Combat Obesity
In case you needed another reason to write books for kids, here comes some fascinating news:
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center tracked 81 clinically obese girls, ages 9 to 13, and found that 35 percent of the children managed to reduce their body mass index (BMI) when given a book to read about an overweight girl who helps herself to get healthier.
Read the whole story here: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6719309.html
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center tracked 81 clinically obese girls, ages 9 to 13, and found that 35 percent of the children managed to reduce their body mass index (BMI) when given a book to read about an overweight girl who helps herself to get healthier.
Read the whole story here: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6719309.html
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
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