Things You Need to Know When Writing a Children’s Book

The fact that the children’s book seems shorter doesn’t support the misconception that they are simple and easy to write to. It is undoubtedly a competitive field and requires passion and responsibility to write just like any other adult book. There is no definitive guide to the process but a few considerable points to let you achieve your professional goal prepared.

To help you walk in the process with eyes wide open, here are a few things listed down to assist you during your journey.

Research the Market

The foremost important thing you need to do here is research and research! You need to get in conversation with book professionals and study the market trends. Look what is being sold as the best on the shelves. List down the things in the children’s market that interest you to write about.

Read Good Children’s Literature

This can be the best tip one can adapt to collect the dust! Read plenty of literature and observe what interests kids today. Pay attention to the topics that hit them and characters they develop fondness with.

Talk to Booksellers and Librarians

The best sources you can consult in order to look for the traffic of these books are librarians and booksellers. You can easily derive down the information about what titles are the hit among the young readers in recent times.

You can always choose to borrow and go through the best sellers and list down their key features.

Types of Children’s Book

Surprisingly, children’s literature has a lot of variety to it. However, there is no precise manner and uniformity that has to be followed. You just need to own your unique self-expression and write a book including your own style to it.

A lot of children’s books come with a message or a moral note. It can be about being humble, honest and kind or about taking care of your family and the surroundings. You need to keep in mind that the moral should not dominate the story as the story is about its characters and not about any social issue.

Children’s books can broadly be divided into four precise categories, namely;

· Picture Books - under 5 years old, under 500 words

· Early Readers - 5+ years old, 2,000 to 5,000 words

· Chapter Books - 6-9 years old, 5,000 to 10,000 words

· Middle Grade - 8-12 years old, 30,000 to 50,000 words

Spend Time with Your Audience

For writing a successful children’s book, your firsthand best resource is definitely your target market. You need to look into the themes that best interest them. Interact with them and ask about the preference they might be expecting from a book. Know what their favorites are and ask how they prefer a story to develop. Read out to them and observe how they respond and how their facial expressions trigger along with the development of the story.

Join a Group of Children’s Book Authors

You can get a clear picture of what interests the public by following this effective measure. A lot of ideas and tips can be generated through these settings.

Research Internet

Research is the key tool in writing a book. You need to look for the popular one among the rest. Look for the books that caught the interest of not only children but their parents as well.

Spice it with Humor

The most popular hit among children has proven to be the silliest of humorous gigs and ideas are written in the book. Kids love to laugh and enjoy, that is what you have to furnish through your book.

Use Simple English

In order to make your book a success, keep in mind that your book and its literature should be age appropriate. The understanding and comprehension level in kids vary greatly compared to adults.

Writing for a five-year-old is even different than writing for a fifth grader. You need to choose your audience before starting to write the book and then be true to that group. Your writing should be extremely simple and effortless to understand.

Eye-Catching Cover Design

For specific to children, larger and bold fonts have known to be more popular and appreciated. In order to manage yourself a good sale, you need to look for ways that will stand out your book among the rest on the shelves. Look for book covers that have managed prominent positions on the rack and pen down their attributes.

Proper Planning

Give yourself an outline and plan to follow. In this way, you can refer to the list when you get jammed and the goal will be more reachable. You should not start a book that you might never finish writing. After listing down the outline of your work, pay attention to the copyrights and other legalities and see what they will cost you.

It might sound an easy task to many; however, getting your children's book published isn't an easy process. To learn the nature of the competition on the market it will take time to learn the ropes and sift. Follow the tips and begin with brainstorming ideas. To know your target market is essential when you’re writing your book and crucial when you’re selling it.