It’s certainly easier for me to get published in the children’s arena than it would be in the adult one, because that’s where my track record is. And, fortunately, almost every story idea I get that really excites me is children’s fiction, so that works out well! But I do get ideas for adult novels at times - there’s one in particular that I’d love to write. If I ever get around to doing it, I imagine the difference would be that I’d have to write either the full novel or a good chunk of it in order to sell it, while with my children’s/teenage fiction I normally just need to write a proposal and sample chapters to sell something.
No, I don’t think I’d be typecast per se - it would be more a matter of having to start from scratch in a different genre, which is never easy. But in a way, I’ve already done that several times, as I’ve shifted from young teenage fiction to series work to YA.
As Zuzu’s Petals said, when you jump genres, you basically start over from scratch. I found that my tech writing experience (computer manuals) counted for nil when started writing nonfiction, and the children’s book editors really don’t care whether you’ve written for grownups or not.
Has the children’s book market or publishing industry changed significantly since J. K. Rowling’s success? Meaning, have the Harry Potter books changed the way authors relate to publishers? Or is it still the same?
When I was a kid I loved The Famous Five series, do children in the UK still read Enid Blyton?
Thanks, both of you! It honestly would never have occurred to me to try to submit a picture book for consideration without the pictures. (Am I using that term correctly? I’m thinking of a story for pre-schoolers with a super-simple plot and lots of nice pictures…) FWIW, though, my artist friend is a professional illustrator: she has worked on children’s books in the past (that were published).
Next question (for either of you): Do you think that having the potential for a series would affect my publication chances at all (assuming the house thinks that the first book is worth publishing)?
Dialog that doesn’t sound like real kids. On my first draft of my first children’s book, the editor told me to have my kids read the dialog out loud to me. If it sounded unnatural or the kids stumbled over it, I rewrote it. I’d recommend this exercise to any children’s writer.
Absolutely!
Target age group.
Yes, definitely. It’s highly unlikely that they’ll actually commit to more than one book upfront from an author without a track record (although Zuzu’s Petals may disagree on that), but having the potential is good.
Thanks so much for your answers! Sorry this question was a bit vague, I meant whether you think that books for young girls are generally promoting a good image of what it means to be female. But since you’ve said you’re not really concerned with a message, I’d understand if you don’t have an easy answer for this.
You seem to have a high rate of output, something like four books a year. Is that because you are a workaholic, or is that the only way to make a living when you’re a children’s author?
You also say that your favourite inspirations are fantasy authors. Is that the genre you primarily write in, or is it a good mixture?
Would your books have been as popular in a pre-Harry Potter era?
As Wombat mentioned, dialogue is a biggie - speech that doesn’t sound like what kids would actually say. But I think the most frequent mistake I see on the workshop courses I teach is getting the age range right. Children’s fiction has fairly defined boundaries when it comes to age range and word count, and you need to be pretty familiar with these to get published. So for instance, it’s really common to see someone with a great story idea for 11+ readers, only they’ve made the protagonist 8 years old and the book’s only 15K long, or else they have a story that they’ve written for 7 year olds, and it’s over 100K long - that sort of thing.
Matching the right story idea to the right age group can be tricky sometimes, but it’s really helped by knowing the genre. You can’t be a children’s writer and not read children’s fiction, but a surprising number of people try to do exactly that.
Absolutely.
The story, though I pretty much know immediately what age group it should be for; the story dictates the form. For instance, a story idea about a hedgehog with super-hero powers (which I just thought of this second - hey, not a bad idea! ;)), is rather obviously going to be aimed at children around 7-8, and has good series potential. While a story about a girl with an abusive boyfriend is immediately going to be teenage fiction, probably a standalone novel. And so on.
The market itself has certainly changed significantly, at least here in the UK. Rowling opened the fantasy-floodgates - suddenly everyone was trying to write the next big thing. Also, Rowling’s success alerted publishers that hey, what do you know, a children’s novel can be a HUGE hit, across all different ages. I don’t have exact stats to hand, but I know that the number of children’s books published monthly in the UK skyrocketed post-Potter. Suddenly children’s fiction became a huge, exciting market, and that still continues now, though I think the focus has shifted somewhat in the wake of Twilight - now YA fantasy is the big thing, rather than fantasy for middle readers (though that’s still really popular, too).
I don’t think all of this has changed the way authors relate to publishers, but it* has * increased the pressure on new writers. It’s a hugely competitive market, and while a few years ago a publisher would expect a ‘slow build’ with a new author, now that’s not always the case; they want the big splash to happen right at the start. Several writers I know got their first book deal, only to be dumped when their first title didn’t sell as many copies as the publishers had hoped (and that’s often without any promotion on the publisher’s part). It’s a tough market.
You would be amazed at how popular these still are! Most of her work is still in print, and still selling VERY well - in fact, her publisher recently commissioned a ghost writer to write a few more titles in one of her school series. Say what you like about her writing style, but I think the woman was a genius. She knew exactly what appealed to children, and they still love her work today.
You’re certainly not the only one; it’s a really common misconception.
Would the artwork be in colour? You’re probably thinking of a picture book, if so.
I don’t know whether I’m allowed to mention other websites on here or not (mods, please delete this link if not!) - but you should check out the message board on Verla Kay’s site, if you’re not already familiar with it. www.verlakay.com. It’s a US children’s writers’ site, and you can get great advice there regarding format for submission, whether your book is a pb or not, etc.
I’d completely agree with Wombat on this one - it’s great that you have a series idea in mind, but publishers are unlikely to commission one from you right at the start. I’m hesitant to offer more specific advice, though, as my publishing experience is all in the UK and I know things are different in the US. Check out the site I mentioned; you’ll get loads of expert and very pertinent advice there.
Well, I suppose it depends on what you mean by ‘good image’ - I’d take that to mean strong female role models who don’t need to depend on boys to get things done, but you might mean something else entirely!
In general, yes, I do think that girls have lots of positive role models in current fiction, though I also think that fiction for younger readers can fall a bit too neatly into traditional gender roles sometimes, with fiction for boys being more action-based and adventurous, and fiction for girls based more around concerns to do with friends and family.
Is this because that’s what boys and girls like to read, or is it just what we think they should read? And how much does this then influence how they view themselves in the world? It’s a good question, and not one I have an answer for. I know that lots of little girls here in the UK absolutely love pink, sparkly fiction, and it’s part of what I write myself and enjoy doing so - but at the same time, I’m very pleased that an idea I have in development at the moment has a girl in an action-based role. There aren’t too many of those around at the moment, and I think it’s good to have an alternate take on things.
It’s a bit of both, I’d say. I love keeping busy - I feel very alive and on top of things when I have lots of contracts and am getting them all done. But yes, I do think it’s much easier to make a living in children’s writing if you’re able to write series fiction. These titles are generally under a pen name, so you can write several series at once if you’re fast - it adds up. For instance, quite often I’ll finish a title for Series A, then the next day I’ll start the next title for Series B, and then when that’s finished it’s back to Series A again - all in the space of a month or so. At the moment I’m juggling two different 7+ series, plus my YA trilogy, and I’m about to submit a proposal for a third 7+ series as well. It makes me nervous when I look at the calendar and realise I don’t have any work lined up after a certain date!
While you can make a living by only writing novels, they really need to take off in a big way for this to happen, or else you need to hit the jackpot with a big advance at the start. This can certainly happen - I know authors who it’s happened to - but in general, I think the longer fiction you write, the tougher it is to make a living as a children’s writer. Novels take a lot longer to produce, and as a rule, the pay is proportionally pretty poor in comparison to shorter fiction.
When I first started out I wrote real-life fiction about teenage issues. I enjoyed it, but deep down my real love was always fantasy. That’s primarily what I write now, though there are also a few real-life stories that I’d like to write at some point. In my mythical free time!
Hard to say, but I’d guess not. The children’s market was changed tremendously by Rowling’s work, so if the Potter phenomenon had never happened, I probably wouldn’t be writing quite the same things as I am now. Fantasy, in all likelihood, wouldn’t be as big - how that would have affected the younger market is tough to say, but I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t have had an impact. So, yeah, I think all of us fantasy writers probably owe Rowling quite a debt. She didn’t just open the doors, she blasted them open with TNT.
As a side note to some of the people asking questions, remember that children’s books and young adult books are two entirely different genres. Zuzu’s Petals happens to do both, but that’s not very common. Most writers are either straight children’s books (e.g., Sandra Boynton) or straight young adult books (e.g., J. K. Rowling). Success in one doesn’t guarantee anything in the other.
You are, indeed. There’s no problem with mentioning sites that provide good reference information germane to the subject at hand. In fact, we encourage it.
And for anyone who is interested in writing children’s books in the U.S., I strongly recommend checking out the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (http://www.scbwi.org/). They have tons of great information, including sample contracts. It’s well worth the membership.
