Children’s Writing Web Journal

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In my book, the ultimate Halloween Treat:

Alice Cooper and The Muppets singing Welcome to My Nightmare.

We recently offered up a meaty 20% discount on all our stuff ’cause the financial world was collapsing all around us in tiny little shards.  Things haven’t gotten a whole lot better, but I’m tired of being so preoccupied with gloom, so I’ve decided to change the reason for the discount — which we’re keeping in place until November 7.

OK, 20.  That’s the percentage of the discount, and it’s also a pretty important number to me.  You see, Laura and I just marked the 20th anniversary of our first meeting.  I’d love to tell you it was a romantic encounter on a moonlit beach, and that I rode up on a horse and swept her off her feet.  Yeah, I’d love to tell you that but I can’t.  Actually, the fateful moment that led to a wonderful marriage, a happy family and, yes, to the very existence of Children’s Book Insider and Write4Kids, was made possible by the goofiest rock song of all time.

Yes, now it can be revealed, future generations of the Bard family tree, it all began because of Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf.

Fall, 1988.  Your humble correspondent is standing glumly in an oldies-themed club on 43rd Street in Manhattan (named, with delightful 1980s’ understatement, Shout!) when he spies a beautiful girl with long reddish hair in a rose colored dress.  Incredibly, she’s standing alone.  Knowing that it’s only a matter of seconds before some Wall Street yuppie descends, he leaps into action.  Heart beating fast, he makes a beeline toward this vision in red and somehow manages to blurt out “Hi.  Wanna dance?”  She wants to dance.  Your humble correspondent is elated.  Just then, the Motown song that was playing fades out and he hears the opening blasts of guitar.

Na-na-na-nana. Nanana-nana…..

Dear god, it’s Paradise By The Dashboard Light. A song about a guy’s infatuation with a woman that ultimately morphs into a marriage so bad he literally prays for death.

Worst.  Omen.  Ever.

But sometime around the moment when Phil Rizzuto starts shouting “He’s rounding third and heading for home!”, your narrator realizes that he and this ravishing beauty are laughing hysterically over the fact that their “song” would forever be Paradise By The Dashboard Light.  And so it is today.

That was twenty years ago.   And now you have a much happier reason to enjoy this:

20% off across the board on everything at Write4Kids.com.

Subscriptions, renewals, ebooks, whatever.

Click this link:

http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=35139&AdID=60546

You’ll be brought to our product page and the 20% discount will show up in your shopping cart.  (If, for some reason it doesn’t drop me an e-mail and we’ll make it right.)

And Meat Loaf, if you’re out there reading this, thanks bro.

Our brand new podcast magically boils down the mysterious process of writing a picture book into about four and a half minutes.

Yes, we really are that good.

Download or listen online….and then start writing!

Download the podcast by right-clicking this link and selecting “Save as”

Nice piece in today’s paper about a classroom in Vail, CO using a yellow Labrador named Moose to get kids into reading.  Students take turn reading to the pooch, who (as any Lab owner could tell you) adores the attention.  The dogs are “reading certified” as part of a program called “Wagging Tales”.

I liked this part:

Moose has a calming effect on students and allows them to loosen up when they’re having trouble reading a passage.

“When they read it to me, they have a little more anxiety,” Dekanich said. “With a dog, there’s no criticism or judgment, and no laughter if the child makes a mistake.”

Here’s the link for the full article

This one’s for the newbies…..

I HAVE A STORY I’VE WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN. DO I NEED TO FIND SOMEONE TO ILLUSTRATE IT BEFORE I CAN SEND IT TO A PUBLISHER?

Nope.

In fact, in cases where the author of a picture book is not also an artist, the publisher prefers to find its own illustrator for the book. The reason for this: often a publisher will match up a new author with a more experienced illustrator who has some name-recognition among book stores and teachers. Also, publishers have a stable of illustrators they have cultivated, and are always looking for new manuscripts for these illustrators to work on.

Finally, publishers have a certain “look” they have developed for their individual lists, and the illustrator you choose for your manuscript may not have a style that fits with other books already published by that house.

If you do know an artist that you want to work with, you can submit illustrations with your manuscript, but be prepared that the editor may like only the writing or only the illustrations and won’t want to buy the entire package.

Laura Backes, Publisher

Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers

Dear Laura

Could you address point of view and the picture book? I’m working on a 1200 word picture book story, with several characters and lots of action, for ages 5 - 9. It seems more economical word-wise to write it from the omniscient view point, although that is often cautioned against. But in the picture book, there is scarcely enough time to introduce one character well before the end of the story would be near, and the other characters wouldn’t get as fleshed out as they could be.

The omniscient viewpoint can work in a picture book, and it’s used there more often than in longer books. If you have several characters who are crucial to the story, it’s probably the best way to go. Also, since picture books deal with action and dialogue, rather than the internal thoughts of the characters, using the omniscient viewpoint won’t be as confusing in this format as in novels where the reader can see inside a character’s head. But still make sure one character takes center stage as your main character. Your readers have to have one character with which to identify, one character to sympathize with, and one character who has a clearly defined problem that he/she solves during the course of the story.

Laura Backes, Publisher

Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers

Dear Laura:

When sending a query letter, many resources I read say to choose an editor from the appropriate Writer’s Market and send it to him/her personally. This seems counter-intuitive to me. My first thought would be to send it as the publisher’s submission guidelines instruct–which often does NOT list editors by name. Should a secondary source really be favored over a primary source for this information?

This is a tricky one, and most authors go with what feels right to them. Publishers’ guidelines (especially with larger publishing houses), often don’t list the names of specific editors because if that editor leaves or gets promoted to a different position, all the guidelines would have to be reprinted. However, the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market is updated every year, so the staff names are current at least for a few months after each edition comes out.

The prevailing wisdom is to, whenever possible, address your query to a specific editor. So I’d start with the name listed in CWIM, and give a quick call to the publisher just to verify that that person is still there before mailing your manuscript. If the listing in CWIM says to address to “Submissions Editor,” then honor that. Some publishers’ guidelines do state that they don’t want manuscripts addressed to particular editors, but rather to the Children’s Book Department in general, and in those cases that’s what you should do.

The bottom line: Do your best to write a professional letter and follow the submission procedures as closely as you can. I don’t think a terrific manuscript would be rejected because you put a person’s name on the letter when it should go to a department, or vice a versa.

Laura Backes, Publisher

Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers

Dear Laura,

What are the qualities that make a memorable illustrated children’s book?

Many things make a picture book memorable. Well-defined characters with whom young children can identity, and who have a problem or goal that young children can understand and find important. A well-paced plot that inspires the child to turn the page and see what happens next. Lyrical, rhythmic text that sounds appealing when read out loud. Engaging illustrations that contain details not found in the text, and also add another layer to the story. And finally, an original, imaginative story that the child, parent and editor haven’t seen before!

If you think about your favorite books from your own childhood, they are probably stories that made you feel something: wonder, joy, excitement, surprise, or even sadness. Those stories that speak directly to a child’s emotions are always the most memorable.

Laura Backes, Publisher

Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers

Dear Laura,

Is it possible or advisable to have a lead character who is an adult, rather than a child, in a novel for kids ages 8-12? It seems to me that many successful books involve a lead character who is approximately the same age as the audience, unless the book involves animals as characters. Is it a generally accepted convention or a rule that the character who experiences the main conflict and changes in a children’s book should be a child? Or is it possible to have an adult as the lead character if the supporting characters are children and if the problems faced by the adult involve issues which are relevant to children? Do you know of any examples of any successful books for ages 8-12 in which the lead character is not a child?

Your questions are very perceptive. You’ve noticed that most books have children as main characters, and that the conflict needs to be something relevant to a child. As a result, it’s hard to have the main character be an adult, though not impossible. Everything that comes to mind as examples feature a prominent adult character, but the story’s still told through the viewpoint of a child. For example, The Pigman by Paul Zindel is about an eccentric loner, but the story’s told by two kids who befriend him. Even in these books the adult is facing problems that are relevant to the middle grade readers. So to give you a firm answer to your question, I believe it would be difficult to successfully make an adult the main, viewpoint character, though he/she can be a very strong secondary character or even the focus of the book as long as a child is the one telling the story.

Laura Backes, Publisher

Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers

Dear Laura,

My dream has always been to one day become a best-selling author.  I’m considering writing children’s books and I think I have a pretty unique story idea for a children’s book series that will have a wide appeal for children of all ages.  I’m considering ideas on how to make my book more fun and interactive for kids, and I was wondering if you have any opinions on sticker books or books with reuseable stickers?

There are several things to consider when creating a book with some sort of activity or toy attached. First of all, the majority of children’s book sales go to schools and libraries. These markets are less likely to buy a book that includes something like stickers (even reusable stickers), because they’ll get lost or damaged easily. Also, any kind of novelty book is more expensive to produce, so a publisher may be reluctant to invest that kind of money in an unknown author.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. If your idea is very unique, and the merchandise portion of the book isn’t too expensive (stickers are cheaper to produce than a toy), you have a better chance. You should focus on publishers who do novelty books. Go to a large bookstore and look at the racks of novelty books in the nonfiction section. Find publishers who have books that fit the format you’re envisioning, or who have titles that would appeal to the same market as your book. You want your book to easily fit in with a publisher’s existing list. If you target publishers who already do novelty books, the production details won’t be a hindrance to getting your manuscript accepted.

After finding several potential publishers, either go to their web sites, or look in Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market for submission guidelines. In most cases, the publisher will want a query letter describing your project, the target market, the existing competition for your book (do some research on Amazon.com to see if anything like your book already exists), and how your book is different from other similar titles.

Laura Backes, Publisher

Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers