Become a Children's Writer

by Bren MacDibble

In this Guide you'll find clear information on what's involved in writing a children's book. You'll find out about different genres of writing and who publishes what.

There's a self-assessment checklist to see if you have what it takes to become a children's writer and successful children's writers give you an insight in to what a typical day involves.

We'll look at the different opportunities for children's writers such as trade versus educational publishing, picture books, non-fiction and many more.

There's a step-by-step guide to the craft of writing for the various genres and we look at editing and proofreading your manuscript before you submit it.

Onto submitting your manuscript, the most nerve wracking part of being a writer. We look at how to layout the manuscript, finding the right publisher, the differences between a query letter and a cover letter and what a synopsis is.

This guide passes on years of experience from many children's writers about the pitfalls of getting published, handy tips from editors on what they expect and how to deal with publishing houses as well as tips on how to keep yourself motivated and focussed.

Do you need an agent? We'll discuss this plus what an agent does. You'll need to understand the importance of marketing both yourself and your work, how to negotiate a contract and whether self-publishing is an option for you.

What are you likely to earn? A question frequently asked, we look at all the possibilities including grants, competitions as well as the usual publishing deals.

There's a list of useful contacts, publishers and other resources. We also suggest books and magazines for further reading and to keep you in touch with what's going on in the industry.