23 Sep RESEARCH THE MARKET AND SELL YOUR BOOK
How do you write a book that will sell?
Knowing the market is a key factor in producing a marketable manuscript. And part of being market savvy is knowing what category your idea falls into.
There are various categories of children’s books, such as concept book, picture book, storybook, chapter book, reader and novel. On pages 15-16 of our workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book, we explain the categories and the ages they target.
A writer should research the market to discover if an idea is worth pursuing. If there are lots of similar books on the market, you do have a marketable idea. But since the idea has been done already, you will have to make your book stand out. Here is an excerpt from p. 9 of our workbook:
“When Shirley Raye wrote her reader, Lewis & Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President, there were already many children’s books on the subject of Lewis and and Clark. However, there were none in the reader lines for grades 1-3. Nor was there a book that focused on the explorers’ adventures in capturing and delivering a live prairie dog to President Thomas Jefferson. Her manuscript put a new twist on a story from history, and it filled a market niche.”
Maybe there are three picture books and a middle grade novel based on your idea, but no reader or storybook.
Research the market to learn which publishers want to buy the kind of book you’ve written. Writer’s Market and Book Markets for Children’s Writers list publishing houses, what kinds of books they buy and how to submit. They also often list what publishers don’t want.
Know the market and make your manuscript fill a hole in it. Know what publishers want
and deliver it. We think our workbook can help you do just that.
Want to write for kids? Whether you want to write fiction or nonfiction, check out my workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book, Not Your Typical How-to Write Guide.
Co-written with Shirley Raye Redmond, it reveals the step-by-step approach that Shirley Raye and I used to break into children’s publishing and to keep selling.
