Summer Camp Activities – Kids Activities In

Interested in writing children’s books and hoping to get published, but not sure how to get started? Or maybe you have a story idea – or maybe even a rough draft of a manuscript – but you have no idea what to do next. The prospect of wading through all the information out there can be daunting. Well there’s no need to stress, because you’ve just found a concise, no-holds-barred, honest account of what every aspiring children’s book author really needs to do to get his or her book read by an editor and break into the industry.

So here it is: Tip no. 1 of your ultimate to-do list, straight from a children’s book editor’s mouth (well, hands). The present article only addresses tip no. 1 because there is not enough space here to cover all 10 tips. The other 9 tips are FREE, however, when you go to  www.mommypicks.com and download the full free report.

Your First Tip: Do know why you want to write a children’s book

The point of this first to-do is to identify exactly why you want to write children’s books. Ask yourself, “Why do I want to write a book for children/tweens/teens?”

Many authors make the mistake of thinking they’ll crank out a wildly successful children’s book at lightning speed – maybe in their spare time in the evenings or while they’re in line at the grocery store. Believe me: I’ve seen an eye-popping number of submissions that fit into this category and each time I read one, I get an uncontrollable urge to run from my desk screaming, “Why?” and leaving manuscript pages fluttering in my wake. Note: you never want to provoke this kind of reaction from an editor.

The single biggest mistake you can make in children’s book writing is to think, “How hard could writing for children be?” It’s just kids, right? Wrong. Writing for children takes a high level of skill and commitment. And, if I am being really straight with you, it requires a hell of a lot of passion, patience, and time (trust me: if you don’t have these essentials from the very beginning, you’ll never survive the pre-publication process of revising, rewriting, editing, revising, rewriting, oh, and more editing).

In a children’s book, you see, each and every word counts. You must engage kid readers right from the start and then hold their attention until the very last word. And for anyone who has ever tried to read a book to a young child or have an older child read a novel, you know that a book has a pretty limited amount of time to win over young readers. Heck, for that matter, there’s limited time involved for adults too. Ever flip over pages when reading a book to a child because the story was scratch-your-eyes-out boring? Don’t let this happen to your book.

So, before you set out to try your hand at children’s books, take some time to really think about why you want to. If you have grand hopes of getting rich quick, sitting on the couch next to Oprah as she gushes over your new bestseller, or becoming the next J.K. Rowling overnight, you need to reevaluate your motivation and your expectations. Of course, we all want to make money, or we couldn’t stay in business. And some of us want to make a lot of money. But as anyone in children’s book publishing will tell you, we are also realistic about the rarity of a J.K. Rowling-type phenomenon.

If what you have are skills as a writer, knowledge of children’s books and the book market, and a true passion for children’s books, and if you really feel as if you have original and meaningful contributions to make, keep reading because I’m talking to you.

(Note: this is where a lot of that aforementioned commitment and patience comes in.)

Once you’ve figured out your true motivation and have reigned in any get-rich-quick notions you may have had, it’s time to really get to know the world of publishing. You wouldn’t go on a job interview without having done your homework on the particular industry you’re looking to enter, right? The same legwork is crucial when it comes to writing manuscripts and submitting them to publishers. The more you know about the publishing industry, the better your work will be and the smarter and more attractive you’ll come across to publishers (I can’t promise it will make you the life of any party though).

There are tons of resources out there. Take advantage. In the spirit of brevity, here are my top three, if-you-don’t-have-time-to-read-anything-else-read-these, picks:

-          The New York Times: Sadly, most newspapers no longer include a lot of information about books and publishing, but you can’t go wrong – no matter where you are – scanning the NYT every day (remember: New York City is the publishing mecca). The NYT will give you inside scoop and thoughtful analysis on the books, the business, the trends, the current publishing climate, and more.

-          Publishers Weekly: PW’s online version and daily updates offer wellsprings of useful information. Be sure to sign up for and read every word of their free weekly online newsletter “Children’s Bookshelf.”

-          Quill and Quire: Q&Q also has an online version, but it requires a username and password; try to find this monthly periodical at your local library or well-stocked newsstand.

Once you’re confident in your why and you have a pretty good sense of the children’s book publishing industry, it’s time to focus on your what – what you are going to write.

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Be sure to check out the other nine tips every aspiring children’s book author should know, which are available free of charge on MommyPicks.com. Please visit www.mommypicks.com for the full list.

The Editor

MommyPicks.com