Writing Children’s Books with Child Appeal, Part 2

Fictional picture books often deal with the character solving a problem, and in doing so, the writer’s job is to show the character’s emotional state. A character’s feelings are the gateway into the story.  Emotions make readers feel, make them hunger for the character to overcome the obstacles, and cheer for the victory. Without the emotional stakes, readers are not drawn into the character’s world, so they don’t care. Make readers feel. Make them care. With each scene, consider how the reader will react. Is the event something in which the child can identify? If children see themselves in a story, they identify with it and request it for storytime, over and over. 

Mountains of children’s books have been written on every subject that interest children of every age. Making a book different in some way so it can compete in a highly competitive market is necessary. One way to do this is to write about some thing or experience in which a child is familiar and flip it to present the information or story in a fresh and engaging way. A retelling of a fairy tale from the voice of a minor character: Example: Cinderella as told by the pumpkin or the glass slipper.  

Page turns are fun for the readers and add a ton of child appeal. This approach keeps adding surprises as the story unfolds. Here are three ways to add page turns.

1.      Stop in the middle of a sentence and complete it on the following page. Readers enjoy this because it allows them to predict what my happen next. The more a reader is engaged in a story, the more appeal it has.

2.      Use part of a compound word on one page and the remainder on the next. Example: He found a rattle…snake in the grass.

3.      Transitions words are fun to heighten the interest of turning a page: then, when, but, etc. 

In my next blog, I’ll continue with more ideas for writing books with child appeal.

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com 

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

KidSpirit accepts submissions of poetry, artwork, and nonfiction articles from 11- to 17-year-olds everywhere. Except for artwork, all work should be related to the following themes:

Unity and Division (Fall 2017)
Creation and Destruction (Winter 2017/18)

Submission guidelines at https://kidspiritonline.com/get-involved/ 

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

One Teen Story is a literary magazine for teens and adults who read young adult fiction. They publish 12 issues a year digitally and in print. Each issue contains only one story.

They pay their authors $500 dollars and 25 contributor copies for first North American serial rights. The rights revert back to the author after publication.

Submission guidelines at http://www.authorspublish.com/one-teen-story-now-open-to-submissions/Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

Picture Book Savvy

Spending time with authors to discuss writing, publishing, and their successes and failures is like attending an intensive writing workshop. Sharing experiences, ideas, and knowledge are invaluable nuggets of manuscript gold. The following are gilded tidbits:

Picture book authors’ perspective should be the same world view as that of the child. This means no abstract problems or goals. The story must be illustratable and action oriented. Five-year-olds take ideas literally. The characters should react in the same way a child would. If writers can connect with the life of a child in some way, the story will have more appeal to the reader.

Example: I want to win every game. Children will understand this idea and connect mentally and emotionally.

Will the child care about your subject? If not, they won’t want to read the book. Writers have to think like a child and have the characters act and react the way a child of that age would. Always keep the audience in mind with each word. In my latest picture book, FORTY WINKS, the subject is a monster in a closet. Many children are afraid of the dark. I certainly was, and I'm still not crazy about it. The story also deals with resolving conflict, an experience all children deal with regularly.

What is important to the child? Consider his/her feelings. The subject of your story must have relevance to everyday life.

Next week, I’ll provide more golden nuggets of our conversations.

Call for submissions for Young Writers:
Magic Dragon, a quarterly publication, presents writing and art created by children in the elementary school grades in a magazine of quality four-color printing and graphic display.

Submission guidelines at http://www.magicdragonmagazine.com/?page_id=6

Call for submissions for Adult Writers:
Story is interested in narrative of any shape and kind we can get onto the printed page. Surprise us with traditional and experimental forms of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We love short fiction, but we love hermit-crab essays, hybrid forms, research, lists, and charts too. Submit work that fits the theme, but don't be afraid to think outside the box. Submissions for online issues should be a maximum of 2,500 words.Submission guidelines at http://www.storymagazine.org/submit/

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK.

Know Your Audience, Part 2

We’ve all heard the adage, Know your audience, but what does it really mean? 

Writing for a particular age group allows an author to be more specific in word choice, sentence length, and content selection. If you’re writing for a younger audience, choose basic information since the focus is an introduction to the subject. Older readers may be more familiar with the topic so consider making a list of what the audience already knows, wants to know, and needs to know. The list will determine the best way to approach the structure and content of the book.  

The age of the audience governs word choice. To be an effective writer, the language must be audience-centered, which is writing that is both understandable and interesting, but that’s not all. Consider the emotional response of the audience. What will they think or feel about this? How interested will they be in the subject? 

Today’s books challenge the readers to think. Creative and interesting ways to approach any and all subjects are the imaginative pearls editors love. Offer the reader a new way of thinking about a subject or character. Rich, vivid language sows the seeds of learning and curiosity. 

Many of us (including moi) are still kids at heart, so tap into your inner child and mine that source to write engaging stories for your target audience. Write what you would enjoy reading. Maurice Sendak, children’s author extraordinaire, said, “I don’t write for children. I write—and somebody says, “that’s for children.”  

Call for submissions for Adult Writers

Sarah Odedina, the new editor-at-large at Pushkin Children’s, is looking to build the children’s list through a new open submissions initiative.

Odedina is looking for full-length novels for readers aged 8+ and is asking potential authors to send in a synopsis of their novel, along with the first 20 pages.

Authors only have 24 hours to send in their work on 20th June before the open submission window closes, however.

Odedina said: “It takes a lot of energy and courage to finish a book and authors must find the process of getting published daunting. Pushkin Press is very positive about talking directly with authors and we hope that our Open Submissions Initiative will help us build bridges with the writing community and lead to some exciting books being published.”

Adam Freudenheim, publisher at Pushkin Press, pointed out that Pushkin Children’s has previously only released books that had already been published in other parts of the world.

“Sarah’s appointment is part of building and extending the children’s list and this open submissions initiative is one innovative way we hope to reach out to and discover up-and-coming writers,” he said.

Odedina joined Pushkin in February, after holding previous publisher and editorial roles at OneWorld, Hot Key Books and Bloomsbury.

The Open Submissions Initiative will run for a 24-hour period on 20th June and authors can send their material to books@pushkinpress.com with the subject line ‘SARAH ODEDINA OPEN SUBMISSION MATERIAL’.