Here’s an email I got from a recent college graduate:

 

I’m writing a children’s story… I’d love any advice/insight that you have. I have an illustrator friend who has been great about helping with ideas and such.

 

Let’s start at the beginning:

 

· Read lots of stories of the kind you are writing. It is amazingly common for people new to the field to try writing a children’s story when they have not READ a children’s story since their own childhood. Get to know what has already been written on the topic or in the style you plan to use. This will help you refine your own ideas, get new ideas, or scrap ideas that have already been done to death.

 

· Don’t condescend. Kids can spot it a mile away, and so can editors. Respect the complex emotions and mental processes of the people you are writing for.

 

· Don’t let the message drive your story. The story must work on its own merits.

 

· Get professional advice. Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and go to national or regional conferences, where you can learn about the craft and the marketplace.

 

· Get feedback from other children’s writers. Join or form a critique group. One good way to find a community of writers is to take a class in writing for children — even if you already know how to write. In a class, you can get to know other writers in a non-committed setting; after the class ends, you and the others who are serious about writing can keep meeting regularly.

 

· Don’t worry about finding an illustrator. That’s your editor/publisher’s job, and publishers have far greater resources than you have. Unless you are able to do your own illustrations with professional quality, you will probably have little or no say in how your story is illustrated. Don’t whine about it: This is a GOOD THING. Professional illustrators can bring to your story a whole new dimension that you hadn’t even thought of.

 

· If you decide to self-publish, do your homework. Check out sites such as Just Self-Publish, where you can find information and links to further resources. The site is operated by Shari Faden Donahue, author (and publisher) of Children’s Picture Books: How to Self-Publish Your Way to Success. Interview authors who have self-published, and learn from their mistakes.

 

· Don’t give up. Repeat: Don’t give up.