13 May SO YOUR MOTHER SAYS YOU’VE WRITTEN A GREAT CHILDREN’S BOOK

 

On Mother’s Day, we honor our moms for their love and lifelong support.

 

For writers, that includes encouragement for our writing dreams.

 

While we cherish such support, we need to remember that a mother’s opinion is highly prejudiced. Remember the drawing you did at five? It probably ended up on the refrigerator door, not in a gallery. Likewise, just because Mom loves your kid’s book doesn’t mean an editor will. Editors know what kids like and what gives a book kid appeal.

In my workbook, Write a Marketable Children’s Book,  there is a section called “Discover the Magic of Kid Appeal.” In it, I show how you can appeal to kids today.

You do so with a story that:

1. Has a sense of fun and joy.
2. Carries children into the magic of the moment.
3. Makes kids feel at home in the tale.
4. Portrays situations kids relate to:

• • Succeeding after failing
  • Belonging versus not fitting in
  • Doing right versus doing wrong to gain popularity
  • Independence versus dependence
  • Security versus insecurity
  • Delayed rewards versus instant gratification
  • Winning and losing
  • Loss, separation, and reunion
  • Rivalry and jealousy

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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. 

You must write a marketable book in order to sell it, and this workbook teaches:

* how research the market.

* how to craft your story to target the market.

* how to establish editor contacts.