If you enjoyed seeing sample pages from Frogs: Awesome Amphibians (see my post below), then good news. You can also see sample pages from my other new Ready Ed title, Assembly: Poems to Perform, including a couple of the poems I wrote for the book and teachers’ notes and the introduction.
Enjoy.
Classifying Children’s Fiction
by Robyn Opie
Simply put, a book is usually classified as children’s fiction if the main character is a child.
Adults usually read about adults. Children usually read about children.
When reading a book, the reader likes to connect with or relate to the main character. A reader likes to identify with the character and even romanticize that they are the hero/heroine. This is why authors spend a lot of time trying to create believable, sympathetic characters.
When I was a teenager, I wanted to be Nancy Drew. In fact, I still wouldn’t mind being Nancy Drew. She has so many fun adventures.
What is the age of your main character or characters? Let’s say they are 14. How many adults do you know who are interested in reading a story about the problems of a 14 year old? None, I’d guess – unless you happen to know a children’s author. Therefore the audience for a book about a 14 year old is most likely children between the ages of 10 and 14.
So, a book is children’s fiction if the main character is a child and the reading audience is made up of children.
Now, to take this further, children like to read about children solving their own problems.
From an early age, most children seek their independence, in small ways when they are very young to bigger assertions as they mature. If you’re a parent you’ll know what I mean about children pushing their boundaries. I remember pushing my boundaries. I remember them moving. And I remember them snapping back, like a rubber band. Ouch!
Children rebel against what they perceive as unfair restrictions. They don’t want to read about these same restrictions in children’s books. Who does? Remember, most people read to escape reality – every day life. The same is true of children.
In children’s fiction, children like to read about children solving their own problems with only minor assistance from adults or better still, no assistance from adults. In fact, it is quite common in children’s fiction for adults to be absent. A good way to explain these absences is having parents go off to work. At the very least, adults are kept in the background. They are minor characters. When writing for children you need to consider the roles of parents, keep them realistic, but unobtrusive.
For example, I am currently writing a novel about two brothers who solve a crime. Their father is dead. He died in a car accident. Their mother is a nurse who is working night shift. She is gone at night and sleeps during the day. This allows the boys to discover the crime and expose the criminals, thus enabling the police to catch them.
In reality, the boys cannot catch the criminals and take them to prison but they can discover the identities of the criminals and make it possible for the police to catch them. The adult assistance is minimal, therefore satisfying the young reader, and the boys have an adventure that fits within the realms of credibility.
It isn’t always easy when writing for children to find a way for main characters to solve their own problems with a minimum of adult interference. The answer isn’t always obvious. But you need to construct the plot so that this is possible and the solution must seem plausible given the limited experience and restrictions of your target audience. If you can’t find a way for your main character to solve their problem then move on to another story. You can always go back to the other one
later.
A few years ago, I had a conversation with a specialist children’s publisher about this very subject. They rejected my story because the main character hadn’t solved her problem. It had happened by accident.
There’s another reason why the main character needs to solve their problem; our main character is supposed to learn and grow from his/her experiences. This is part of the satisfaction a reader gains from reading your children’s book. If the main character doesn’t solve their problem then how do they learn and grow?
The subject matter of a children’s book must be something that children can relate to given their limited experience. Your story must be interesting to a child.
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
Robyn Opie, from Writing Children’s Books With Robyn Opie has very kindly presented this blog with an award – the Brillante Premio Blog Award. This is one of those awards that has a flow on effect. It’s given to me with the understanding that I’ll then pass the award on to other blogs. Kind of a chain thing – but with the nice effect that blogs are linked to each other, and that the recipient gets the chance to spread the love about blogs that they appreciate.
So, in the spirit of the ‘award’ I am going to share a list of some of my fellow children’s writers blogs which I feel are worth checking out. So, here goes:
Write and Read With Dale is the blog of Dale Harcombe, children’s author and poet. She shares book reviews and insights into life as an author.
Denouement is the blog of children’s author Sheryl Gwyther. In it she writes about her recent May Gibbs residency, her life as a writer and life in general. Sheryl’s blogging style is a real pleasure to read.
VersaTility – Rhyme and Rhythm is the blog of Jackie Hosking, children’s poet and editor of the wonderful Pass It On newsletter. Jackie’s poems always bring a smile.
Last, but not least, Elizabeth Bezant’s Writing Tips Blog is not aimed solely at writing for children, but is a great blog to go when you’re looking for a writing prompt. And dig around Elizabeth’s site while you’re there because she always has lots of useful advice and experience to share.
So, there you have it, just a few of my favourite blogs. Hopefully you’ll visit some of them today – a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Rules for recipients of the Brillante Weblog Premio are as follows:
1. The award may be displayed on a winner’s blog.
2. Add a link to the person you received the award from.
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs.
4. Add their links to your blog.
5. Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on in the comments section of their blog.
Yes, I know this is a chain thing – and if I’ve nominated you and you don’t want to participate, that’s fine. But it is a nice way of sharing some of your favourite blogs and of letting your favourite bloggers know that you like what they’re doing.
Have a nice Sunday.
You’ve written your book, but now where do you send it? Robyn Opie’s article is full of good advice.
How to Find a Publisher
by Robyn Opie
I frequently receive emails from people writing for children, who ask me to recommend a publisher or publishers. It seems like a simple question.
Ah, if only life were so simple
The problem with most of these emails is that the author neglects to include pertinent details:
a) What they’ve written – novel, article, short story etc
b) The genre – horror, romance, thriller etc
c) Fiction or non-fiction
d) Length
e) And in the case of children’s fiction, whether it’s a picture book, easy reader, chapter book etc
f) Where the author lives
But, even with these details, I’m not in a position to recommend publishers.
I provide FREE information on my wesbite to help people writing for children. I provide FREE advice on how to get your children’s book or books published. So why don’t I recommend publishers?
Simply put, because the author of a book is the best person to find a publisher.
The author of a book knows that book better than anyone.
With little knowledge of the book, I can only guess about suitable publishers.
What if I guess wrongly? After all, I really don’t know anything about the book in question. I could be giving you bad advice. And, trust me when I say, the last thing I want to do is give you bad advice.
I could be wasting your time. I could be costing you money.
So if I recommend publishers to you then I’m not really being fair to you. I’m not necessarily giving you and your book the best chance in the market place.
Only you can do that, or a good agent if you have one.
Now this doesn’t mean that I want you to send me your manuscripts to read so I can learn more about your children’s story. It doesn’t mean that I want you to send me a synopsis of your novel.
It means that you, as the writer and manager of your career, are in the best position to find a suitable publisher. You know your children’s book. You know what you want from a publisher and your career. You know what matters to you.
What I can do, though, is give you advice on how to find a publisher or publishers.
So here’s some more FREE advice to help you with your writing career.
1) Write your book.
When you’re starting out in your career of writing for children, publishers want to see a finished product, or at least part of a finished product. They want to know that you’re capable of writing the whole novel. So before you approach a publisher or, even research the market, write your children’s novel.
2) Research the market.
First you need to know what sort of book you’ve written. Who is your reader? Males? Females? Both? What is the age of your audience? Is your book genre fiction? What genre? What about the length?
Visit local bookstores and look for children’s books similar to your own in length and genre. You’ll find the publisher’s information easily, both on the cover and inside the book. Write down a list of the publishers you find that might be interested in work similar to your own.
3) Research the publishers.
I own a copy of The Australian Writer’s Marketplace. You can buy Writer’s Marketplace reference books for other countries as well, including the US and UK. You’ll find details of many publishers in this reference resource. These details include their address, phone number, email address, website and submission requirements.
The Internet has made finding publishers a much easier task. If a publisher has a website, and most of them do, then visit the website. Research what they are publishing. And look for submission information. Firstly, do they accept unsolicited manuscripts? Your manuscript is unsolicited if a publisher or editor hasn’t requested to read it. In other words, your manuscript is unsolicited if you’re sending it to a publisher without their prior knowledge.
A lot of publishers include submission guidelines on their websites, which can be downloaded with a minimum of fuss. Always read a publisher’s guidelines and always follow their instructions. Give your manuscript the best chance. If guidelines aren’t readily available on a publisher’s website, then send them a polite and professional email asking for a copy of their guidelines.
The reason you conduct research on publishers before you submit a manuscript is to save you time and money. There’s no point sending your horror novel to a publisher that only publishes romance novels. There’s no point sending your children’s picture book to a publisher that doesn’t publish children’s books or picture books. There’s no point sending your unsolicited manuscript to a publisher that doesn’t accept unsolicited manuscripts.
4) Be professional
When you deal with publishers or anyone associated with the publishing industry it pays to always be polite, friendly and professional. Publishers are looking for writers who can produce great novels and conduct themselves professionally. This includes submitting your work in a professional manner. A neatly formatted manuscript, accompanied by a well-written query letter will be more readily accepted than a hand-written, unedited story!
5) Be Realistic
Biggest does not equal best! Almost every writer wants to see his or her own book up there on the New York Times Best Seller lists. But aiming your book at the biggest name publishing house you can locate is not always realistic – nor is it always the best possible publishing home for your precious work. In many cases, a smaller, more specialised publisher might have a better chance of placing your book in front of the right readers for your particular genre.
6) Research again!
Just because you may have found the name of a publisher willing to publish a book similar to your own does not necessarily mean they are still accepting submissions! Keep a close eye on websites that list publishers actively seeking manuscripts. Some of these even list publishers who are no longer accepting submissions, so you’ll at least have some idea of where NOT to send your work.
Here are some links to help you find a publisher’s website:
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozlit/austpub.html
http://www.publishers.asn.au/links.cfm?doc_id=35
http://www.publishers.ca/CNM_Index.wws
http://www.lights.com/publisher/alphabetic.html
http://www.publishers.org/member/members.cfm
http://www.ukwebstart.com/listbookpubs.html
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/publishers/pubindex.htm
Naturally there are many more websites on publishers that you can find for yourself by searching the Internet.
You are in the driver’s seat of your writing career. Take control and target your submissions to the best of your ability. And that means researching the market and researching publishers.
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
Today, Barbara Turner drops by to share her seven answers to seven questions.
Enjoy!
1. Tell us a little about your publication credits. If you have none, tell us about the genres you prefer to write, and your current projects.
My latest book is a middle grade NF biography called Women of Granite: 25 New Hampshire Women You Should Know, written with the 6 other members of my face to face critique group. The book contains 25 biographies of NH women from the 1600’s to the present. There’s a short bio, a timeline, interesting tidbits about each woman, a read more section and a glossary. We did 3 or 4 bios each.
The book has received very good reviews and was just chosen by the NH Center for the Book to represent the state of New Hampshire at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC. (Just got back. It was this past weekend.)
We are also just finishing up Women of the Bay State (Massachusetts) and there are several more in the works (Texas, California and New York) The publisher hopes to do all 50 states.
I’ve also published two other books, A Little Bit of Rob, (Albert Whitman Company) and Out and About at the Orchestra (Picture Window Books) as well as short stories and poetry.
2. How long have you been writing for children?
I’ve been writing all my life, but 1991 was when I actually started to get serious and submit.
3. How much time do you spend each week writing and/or revising? And how much time on other writing-related tasks such as promotion, researching markets and so on?
I probably write about four hours each day, maybe 6-8 on the weekends. I don’t spend a lot of time researching markets. My biggest failing as a writer is that I don’t submit as often as I should. I generally don’t do much promotion either, but for my latest book, I’ve been doing a lot, only because the other women involved are into marketing. We’ve spoken at libraries, done tv, radio and newspaper interviews, attended the National Book Festival, spoke at the New England SCBWI conference, and done book signings. I never would have done any of these things if I had written the book myself, so being involved in the group has helped me considerably. (thewritesisters.com.)
4. How much time do you spend reading children’s books? And what are you reading right now?
I probably read one new book a month, although I read at least one book a week. I read books I’ve already read just to analyze them. I’ve just finished Madapple by Christina Meldrum, a YA kinda paranormal/mystery. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
5. What advice would you give other would-be children’s writers, or share with other professional children’s writers?
Find a good critique group. It’ll take years off your journey. And if you can find a group where you’re at the bottom of the totem pole, that’s even better, because if everyone in the group knows more than you, you’re going to get tons of good help/info. And read as much as you write. You’ll learn writing techniques without even realizing you’re learning them.
6. What is your favourite online resource for children’s writers? Why?
I don’t really have one. I’ve reached the point where I spend more time writing than reading about writing. I do use the web though on the rare occasions when I do submit to check out publishers’ web sites and guidelines.
7. Do you have a website or blog? What else do you do to promote your published works and/or your writing skills?
I have a website and blog with the other members of my group. Again, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have either. Which is another good reason to have a good critique group. Marketing is a big weak spot for me, but my work is getting out there because it’s not a weak spot for the other members of my group. The URLs are:
thewritesisters.com and thewritesisters.blogspot.com
Thanks so much for dropping in, Barbara.
If YOU would like to answer these seven questions and be featured on this blog, drop me a line.
Australian author Christopher Cheng, who is also a literacy ambassador for National Literacy and Numeracy Week has started a new blog, newkidsbooksinoz, which highlights new children’s book releases.
Notes From the Slush Pile is a UK-based blog which reports on all aspects of the children’s book industry, including marketing and promotion. Lots of useful information, and plenty of time wasters to click on and enjoy.
The Cybils – the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards – are now open for nominations. Nominate your favourite children’s or YA book published in 2008, or simply browse the nominations (and comments) for some reading recommendations.