Writing For Children

Writing for Children - Where to Begin
By Renee Kirchner

If you have thought it would be nice to write for children, but you just weren’t sure where to begin, I have some suggestions for you. First of all, let’s talk about your motivation. Why do you want to write for children? If you are hoping for fame and fortune like J. K. Rowling, think again. Writing for children is a craft that takes years to perfect and even then the monetary gains may be very small for the amount of effort you have to put in. If you love children, enjoy reading children’s books, and surround yourself with children at work or at home, you may have what it takes to write for children.

There are many ways to enter the children’s publishing world. A good place to start is to decide what type of writing you want to do. Everyone immediately thinks of books, but there are many magazines, both print and electronic, that publish material for children. You may want to start small and build on your success. For example, you could write puzzles and craft pieces for magazines and later work on fiction stories or non-fiction books. Other writers just dive right in and begin with book-length manuscripts. It is a good idea to pick up a few books on children’s publishing and read about the children’s book industry before you begin. A few books that I have found helpful are: “How to Write a Children’s Book and Get it Published” by Barbara Seuling and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books” by Harold D. Underdown and Lynne Rominger.

There are many types of books written for children. I will give you the name and a brief description of the different types of books available on bookshelves. A board book is a book for toddlers with bright colorful pictures and simple stories or concepts. A picture book is for children ages 3-8 with beautiful illustrations and word counts ranging from 200 – 1000 words. An adult usually reads a picture book to a child.

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