Tips for Beginning Writers

Types of Kids' Books

There are many many different book formats that all fall under the general title of "children's book". I shall stick to fiction in this discussion, seeing as even between non-fiction and fiction, there are tons of variations.

Baby Board Book

This is the simplest, earliest kind of children's book, and it is geared towards babies who are still teething, and still pulling books apart. At their simplest, there are no words at all, just very basic pictures. They're usually under one inch thick and can be anywhere from 4 to 10 or so "pages" long. The classier ones are done by Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle.

While the simplest are very basic, they even do older books up this way for sheer durability. I have seen Goodnight Moon done this way, which makes alot of sense, seeing as many toddlers literally love that book to death.

A child does not have to have the manual dexterity to handle a book to be able to enjoy ones done in this format. The target market is babies.

Novelty Book

This is one step up from the baby board book in terms of market, but what I find interesting is that the toddler or baby has to be so much more careful with these books. These books are designed to engage the small reader's other senses. The oldest novelty book is Pat the Bunny, in which the toddler is invited to pat the bunny (there is a furry bunny shape right in the book) or look in the mirror (ditto) or smell a flower (ditto). You get the idea. I just checked on Amazon.com and there are piles of these books. Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar is not only classic, it's pretty good. Also in the category of novelty book is the "book and thing". For example, Goodnight Moon sold with slippers/or nightlight/or bunny. These generally appeal to the pre-book market and are often sold as toys, rather than books.

Early Picture Books

Early picture books are printed on real paper as opposed to plastic or cardboard. The paper is often of a heavy and durable quality, but the child needs more manual dexterityto turn the pages. Like the above books, an early picture book can have no words, or a few words, or up to about 500 words. They are still very simple in terms of story line and illustration, but they take more patience to get through. I would put Goodnight Moon, Guess How Much I Love You, the Max books (Rosemary Wells), in this category. These books are usually less than 24 pages long.

Picture Books

There are so many gradations of types of picture books that it boggles the mind. And no two editors and authors will have a consensus about where one gradation begins and another ends.

A couple of things separate a traditional "picture book" from those other picture books geared towards really young kids. Traditional picture books come in standard page numbers: usually either 24 or 32 pages. The reason for this page number has more to do with cost -- the way pages are cut and books are bound -- than anything else, but the fact of the matter is that in order to break into this market, you've got to keep the constrictions of the format in mind.

Why, you might ask, seeing as there *are* 20 page and 18 page early picture books? Because a beginning writer has a very small chance of getting a contract for a text that doesn't fit into the 24 or 32 page format. Once you're famous, you can write off-format. <g> But until then, keep the format in mind.

So what kind of text is acceptable for picture books? A very broad range indeed. Like early picture books, the word count can be zero or 500. Or it can also be 1000 or 2000 words. On rare occasion, it can be longer, and on rare occasion they'll make a 48 page picture story book, but the vast majority of picture book texts fall within the 500 to 2000 word range. Generally speaking, under 1200 is best.

What separates a traditional picture book from an early picture book? Very generally speaking, an early picture book only has one goal, and that is to engage the child. They're purchased to get children into the habit of holding books, understanding the concept of listening to a story, turning pages, and so on.

A traditional picture book is for a more sophisticated audience. The child understands the concept of a story coming out of a book. Bland paintings of a bunny with the word "rabbit" underneath are so last week for these kids. They want to be surprised and delighted, and so do their parents.

A traditional picture book has to have something special, something magical about it. Take a look at some of the really classic ones like Noah's Ark by Speier. That one has no words at all beyond the first page, but the illos are an absolute marvel. They are so intricate and detailed that a child will want to revisit them time and again. Ditto for the parent.

In terms of a traditional picture book text, there has to be more going on than a simple story too. The story has to be simple, yes, but brilliantly simple yet textured. The author must not only appeal to the child who is having the story read aloud to him or her, but also to the parent. And remember, that poor parent has had to read that story over and over and over, so if there isn't something else in that story to make it fresh each time it is read, that poor parent will throw your picture book against the wall in frustration and never buy another one written by you again!

I have three texts that were published within this genre. All three are 32 pages long and all three can be read on a number of levels.

The simplest is The Best Gifts. It is a mere 810 words long and ostensibly is a lullaby for the older brother or sister of a newborn babe. It works on a number of levels and parents like it because of the positive messages: sharing, the best gifts can't be bought, etc. Kids love it because they find it reassuring. But the reason people read it over and over is because of the deep emotional chord it strikes with new mothers. This book verges on being an early picture book and is geared towards preschoolers. The language is a controlled vocabulary and lots of repetition.

The longest is Silver Threads: 2000 words! This one was marketed as being for children aged 7 to 10, but it is currently used in both grade 5 and grade 10 history. The language is not a controlled vocabulary. The language is rich and near-poetic. The story happens on a number of levels. The simplest is about a spider who decorates a Christmas tree with silvery threads. Very young children read this book for the spider's antics. They also count the 12 dishes, and repeat with the reader, "he pushes and she pulls". Parents like this book for the love story: the story of the wife's faith in her husband's return. Teachers read it for the flake of immigrant history, pioneer history, and for thespider craft activities and for the Ukrainian Christmas customs. Without all these disparate threads running through it, the book would probably never have been chosen as a picture book text. After all, there is no child in the book, and it is a very sad story.

My most recent is Enough and this one is 1752 words long. Like Silver Threads, there's something there for kids: the officer stripping down to his underwear, the heroic stork, the black humour, the classic folk tale motif, good winning over evil. For adults, there's the grim history that couldn't be shared with kids in a more literal way, but there is also humour that would go over the heads of some kids. For teachers, there's a way of teaching a flake of true history in an interesting way. The language for this one is much simpler than for Silver Threads, but more sophisticated than for The Best Gifts.

In all three books, spare words have been stripped out. Both Enough and Silver Threads started out at more than 3000 words. It takes dozens of rewrites and many long walks to strip a picture book text down to the essentials. In this way it is much like poetry. I was once asked, how does one write a picture book text? Do they issue the pictures and you write a story around it? <sigh>

A picture book is full of images but bereft of adjectives. Full of action but spare in description. The illos are the adjectives, the description. It takes alot of work to strip a story bare, but that is exactly what a picture book writer must do. You can't leave one single extra word. And when you submit the text, those bare words have to shine through and make the editor visualize how it would look in a book.

Someone once said that children's writers are, by definition, subversive. There is alot of truth in this, especially for picture book writers. You've got to appeal to the person with the pocket book, while at the same time telling a story that a child will want to hear.

Chapter Books and Up

Something strange and unexpected happens between the transition from picture books to early chapter books. One would think that the bridge between the two types would be smooth, but it isn't. The more sophisticated picture books -- lavishly illustrated folk tales, richly illustrated fantasy, lushly illustrated history -- have nothing in common with early chapter books even though the audience is austensibly the same. Those sophisticated picture books are often written in poetic language with big words and lots of text on each page spread. There is an illustration on each page spread too. In colour. Contrast this to a beginning chapter book. The word count might be 500 or 3000 -- so not much different than a picture book, right? But this language is simpler. One and two syllable words, lots of repetition. In some ways, these books have more in common with the baby books than traditional picture books.

Like the baby books, they are more one dimensional. And like the baby books, they are more functional than traditional picture books. Where the baby books teach kids how to listen to a story and how to turn pages, an early chapter book teaches a child to read independently.

A picture book is written with the dual parent/child audience in mind. The chapter book has a single audience: the child. And this child is just learning to read. So the words have to be simpler.

However, this is the same child who was enthralled by the sophisticated tales of those traditional picture books. So the challenge for the early chapter book writer is to write a story with simple words and simpler tale without talking down. And thestory has to be so galloping and inviting that the pages practically turn themselves.

Early chapter books are divided into 4 levels: one, two, three, and four. These levels approximate grade levels, but not quite.

Some of the early chapter books have the grade level written right on them, but many more don't. And many parents incorrectly give pre-reading kids chapter books when they should be reading them traditional picture books.

Some examples of early chapter books? I consider The Cat in the Hat and other Dr. Seuss books as early readers, although they don't fit perfectly into the category. Many parents read these to young children instead of saving them for when they're able to read on their own. The repetition, the rhyming, the looniness, are all hallmarks of good books for newly independent readers. Other examples? Chicken Soup with Rice, My Father's Dragon ... also all of those series books like Step into Reading.

These early independent reader books have a few things in common. Less elaborate illustrations than picture books, and easier vocabulary. The type face is usually bigger and there's lots of white space on each page. And there aren't illustrations on every page spread. Maybe a line drawing peppered here and there and some colour illos. What topics are appropriate for this type of book? Just about anything, but galloping repetitious rhymes work with these books, as do zany child-centred stories. With the very early chapter books, you wouldn't see historical or folk tale, but by the time you get to level four, the whole world opens up.

After the many fine gradations of early chapter books, we get to regular chapter books, otherwise known has middle grade novels. What's the difference between the two? An early chapter book has a controlled vocabulary. Easier words. Still some pictures.A middle grade novel may have a few pen and ink drawings peppered throughout a 100-plus page book, or it may have no drawings at all. The language can be simple, but not a controlled vocabulary. And at the upper age range of middle grade novels, the language can be quite rich. An early chapter book has big type face and perhaps a page or two per chapter.A middle grade novel has longer chapters and smaller type face. Topics? They're broader in a middle grade novel, but still kid-oriented. They can be contemporary, historical, time travel. You name it. Well, not erotica. <g>

Middle grade novels also vary greatly in terms of length. They can be as short as 10,000 words, and as long as 50,000 words. These books are written for kids in the middle grades: 4 to 7. The primary age target is 10 to 12. Of all children's fiction book types, the middle grade novel is the easiest to sell. Why? Because they're sold through book clubs and fairs at elementary schools, where kids choose and parents pay. This is a huge market. After middle grade novels comes the black hole of children's fiction: young adult novels.

These are novels for an older, more sophisticated audience. And the problem is that most avid readers are reading adult novels by the time they're 12. VC Andrews, Stephen King, and Anne Rice all have huge young adult followings. So what is a young adult novel? Where a middle grade novel has a child protagonist, a young adult has a teen protagonist. YA novels often deal with issues particular to teens, eg, "problem" novels: alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual abuse, eating disorders etc. A YA novel is gritty and gruesome in a way that a middle grade novel never would be. But it is also meatier than many easy to read adult novels. And while gritty topics are handled, they're handled with kid gloves. Young adult novels are also very much transition novels. An adult who wouldn't be caught dead reading a middle grade novel might pick up a YA in the bookstore and not even realize it is a YA. The covers of these books are edgy and sophisticated and the designers are at pains to make them look un-kid-like.

What can they offer that adult novels can't? For one thing, they're geared towards a teen market, so while a 15 year old could certainly read the words and understand the story of say, a John Grisham, she might be less interested in reading about the antics of lawyers than reading about someone just like her who is dealing with some big social issue. Young adults are also very concerned with justice and fairness, good vs evil. So where an adult novelist might just entertain, a YA novelist gets to write on really meaty stuff. Young adult readers are not jaded yet. They have open minds. Word length? Forty to 60,000 words is the norm, so shorter by a long shot than novels for adults. The type face is marginally bigger, but in a hard to discern way. The books have to look substantial without being difficult to read. A typical YA can be read in a sitting or two by an avid reader. Two of my five published books are young adult novels: Hope's War and The Hunger.

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Submitting Picture Books

Submitting picture book texts isn't all that different to submitting other types of manuscripts. You have to do your homework first -- ie identify which publishers do *your* kind of picture book, (you can do this by browsing in the children's section of a large book store). You also want to get the correct address and *current* name of the aquisitions editor at each house. You can begin this process by looking up the publishers in Literary Market Place ( a huge tome available in the reference section of most public libraries). Copy down the name of the editor listed, but don't assume it's current -- they change with alarming frequency. When I was still submitting unagented material I would always phone the publisher first and just ask the receptionist if Jane Smith was still the aquisitions editor for children's manuscripts. Also ask how to *spell* the name and ask which salutation to use (ie Ms, Professor, Dr. etc). Little details like this can make all the difference in the world as to whether you letter even gets opened. Now, what to send. Most large and medium sized publishers will not take unsolicited manuscripts, so the key is to become solicited. Your first correspondence with these publishers should be a brief letter (and SASE) requesting a copy of their current catalogue. In return, you'll get not only a good idea of the kinds of things that they've published lately, but you might get another *name* (ie someone may sign the return correspondence) -- keep that name on file for future reference. <g>

To these publishers who don't take unsolicited submissions, you'll want to write a well crafted query letter that is no longer than one page. In the letter you'll mention a one line synopsis of your story, who the targeted market is, the length, and why this particular publisher would be interested in it (ie say something like, "In the tradition of your previous picture books, YOUNG MOTHER and THE APPLE, my story ____, appeals to ___). If you've published before, mention what and when in your query too. If you've published lots, condense (ie hundreds of my children's stories have appeared in ___ over the years). And of course, along with your one page query, you'll send a SASE. Queries can be sent out in multiples -- aim to send out about a dozen a week for awhile. Most of the publishers you query in this way will send you a form letter stating that they're not looking at manuscripts for picture books at the present time. This is why you have to send out lots. Hopefully, a few publishers will be intrigued enough with your query to request the manuscript. This is an *awesome* occurance! Make sure that you refer to the fact that they *requested* your manuscript when you reply. You also may wish to give an exclusive for a limited time on said manuscript (this gives you an excuse to *phone* the person when the time limit is up -- not a bad thing). The actual manuscript that you send in at this time must be professionally done. DO NOT include pictures or photographs -- it's the mark of an amateur. One of the worst things to do is to go out and hire your sister-in-law to paint some lovely pictures to go with your book ....Your story *must* stand on its own sans pictures. Children's book editors have good imaginations and will be able to visualize without you supplying anything extra.

The format is regular manuscript format.

Length?

Depending on the targeted market, a picture book is generally anywhere between 50 words to 3000 words. My picture book SILVER THREADS was originally submitted at 3000 words. It's being published at 2000 words -- and it's geared to the upper age of picture book readers -- 6 to 9 year olds.

Vocabulary?

You want to use the simplest word possible that still conveys the proper meaning. The simplest picture books have a controlled vocabulary, but the longer ones have more flexibility. Interestingly, the picture books on the upper end of the age scale can use more difficult words than a chapter book -- the rationale being that picture books are often read *to* a child whereas a chapter book is read independently. Also, the pictures themselves act as word cues.

Point of View?

There are no hard-fast rules as to point of view in picture books. It can be told from a child's POV (and most are) but it's not necessary. You can tell it from an animal's POV or an adult's POV -- as long as the story appeals to your audience. My book, SILVER THREADS doesn't even have a child as a character and the theme is serious (the internment of Ukrainian immigrants in WWI Canada) but it's made appealing to a child by the blending in of a folktale of a spider and a Christmas tree. Hope this answers your questions. Please feel free to ask more if I didn't cover all of your concerns.

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