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GET PUBLISHED: Children & Youth
   

Length requirements for children's books
  • Picture books - you’ll hear many people say the shorter the better. A good goal is 500 words or less. Definitely strive for under a 1000. Today’s editors and agents are looking for more story with less text.
  • Emergent readers - Emergent readers might have as few as 32 words.
  • Easy readers - word count will vary depending on the level. But the longer the book, the higher the level. Your best bet is to look up word counts of existing books written for the level you are writing. A level 1 reader might have 200 words. A typical level 3 or 4 reader might have any where from 800 to 1200 words.
  • Chapter books - once you move to chapter books, word counts could range anywhere from the high-5000s to 25,000.
  • Middle grade novels -here’s where you’re going to see a big spread, too but a good minimum goal is around 30-35,000 words. The upper end would be around 45,000. But it’s not that uncommon to see novels that exceed this.
  • Teen novels -your minimum target will be slightly higher, starting from 40,000 and up.
Books about Writing for Children (top)
  • Aiken, Joan, The Way to Write for Children, 1982.
  • Alderman, Belle and Stephanie Owen Reeder, eds., The Inside Story: Creating Children's Books, 1987.
  • Amoss, Berthe and Eric Suben, Ten Steps to Publishing Children's Books: How to Develop, Revise & Sell All Kinds of Books for Children, Writer's Digest Books, 1997.
  • Amoss, Berthe and Eric Suben, Writing and Illustrating Children's Books for Publication: Two Perspectives, Writer's Digest Books, 1995. ISBN: 1582973539.
  • Bicknell, Treld Pelkey and Trotman, Felicity. How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books and Get Them Published. North Light Books, 1988.
  • Cooper, Susan. Dreams and Wishes: Essays on Writing for Children, Margaret McElderry, 1996.
  • Dils, Tracey E., You Can Write Children's Books, Writers Digest Books, 1998.
  • Garland, Sherry. Writing for Young Adults. WD Books, 1998. ISBN 0-89879-857-4
  • Fitz-Randolph, Jane. How to Write for Children and Young Adults: A Handbook, 1980.
  • Fritz, Jean and William Knowlton Zinsser (eds.) Worlds of Childhood: The Art and Craft of Writing for Children, Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
  • Gates, Frieda. How to Write, Illustrate and Design Children's Books, Library Research Associates, 1986.
  • Irwin, Hadley and Jeanette Eyerly, Writing Young Adult Novels, Writer's Digest Books.
  • Karl, Jean E., How to Write and Sell Children's Picture Books, Writer's Digest Books, 1994.
  • Krull, Kathleen, 12 Keys to Writing Books That Sell, Writer's Digest Books, 1989.
  • Lewis, Claudia Louise, Writing for Young Children, 1981.
  • Ople, Robyn. How to Write a Great Children's Book. E-book available from Fiction Factor.
  • Paterson, Katherine, A Sense of Wonder: On Reading and Writing Books for Children, Plume Books, 1995.
  • Roberts, Ellen, The Children's Picture Book, Writer's Digest Books, 1981.
  • Roberts, Ellen, Nonfiction For Children, Writer's Digest Books, 1986.
  • Seuling, Barbara, How to Write a Children's Book and Get it Published, MacMillan, 1984.
  • Shepard, Aaron, The Business of Writing for Children
  • Stanley, George Edward, Writing Short Stories for Young People, Writer's Digest Books.
  • Underdown, Harold D. and Lynne Rominger, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books, Alpha Books, 2001.
  • Wyndham, Lee (revised by Madison, Arnold). Writing for Children & Teenagers. WD Books, 1989. ISBN 0-89879-347-5.
  • Yolen, Jane, Writing Books for Children.
  • More lists
  • Even more lists
  • Writers Digest Book List
Favorite Books for Children and Young Readers (top)
  • Alcott, L. M. Little Women
  • Berenstain, Stan and Berenstain, Jan. The Berenstain Bears (series)
  • Bianco, Margery Williams. The Velveteen Rabbit
  • Brouwer, Sigmund. Watch Out (for) Joel Series; Accidental Detective series
  • Brumbeau, Jeff. The Quiltmaker’s Gift. Amazing art, about sharing.
  • Callaway, Phil. “Jake” series 
  • Davis, Aubrey. Bagels from Benny. Written from a Jewish viewpoint but illustrates a truth about God
  • Gipson, Fred. Old Yeller
  • Hardy, Leanne. So That's What God is Like. Illus. Janet Wilson.
  • Hodgson, Mona. Bedtime in the Southwest.
  • Lewis, C. S. The Chronicles of Narnia
  • Little, Jean. Momma's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird and His Banner Over Me
  • McAdorey, Barbara. From Icicles to Miracles
  • Montgomery, L. M. Anne of Green Gables
  • Myers, Bill. My Life As a. . . series; McGee and Me series
  • Perretti, Frank. Cooper Kids Adventure series.
  • Rawlings, M. K. The Yearling
  • Slate, Joseph. Who is Coming to Our House. Putnam, 1988.
  • Smucker, Barbara. Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt
  • Stahl, Hilda. Elizabeth Gail series 
  • Terhune, Albert Payson. Lad, a Dog
  • Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairies
  • White, E. B. Charlotte's Web
  • More Lists
How to Write for Children (top)
Q. What captures the attention of young readers?

A. In fiction, stories in which they can relate to the characters and situations, such as family and school situations, pets, probably mysteries and danger (at least for mid-grade readers). Also fantasy (you have our attention, Harry Potter). In nonfiction, try articles about pets, how-to do everyday stuff (life-skills), relationship skills, the weird and gross. Also, humor is good almost everywhere. Kids like color, action, and sometimes a naughty giggle, such as the story of Walter the Farting Dog (it is an actual story). Q. How does writing for children differ from writing for adults?

A. Vocabulary will be simpler, shorter words, shorter sentences. Vocabulary must also be adjusted to the age and grade level of the reader. The grammar is more straightforward with shorter sentences and paragraphs, and the dialog is direct. Word count limits mean one adjective has more value than a descriptive phrase, etc. Also, POV is usually the same as the age group of the intended reader and the voice would be different than in an adult book. This depends a lot on age level and genre too. A middle-grade novel would probably be in a kid voice with attitude. Nonfiction, how-to or devotional writing would be friendly, warm, maybe quirky, but never talk down to or preach at kids. Also another difference is that the pay is usually less (this is a competitive market), but since silly is the norm, writing for children is more fun!


Q. How can I avoid talking down to the children I write for?

A. First respect children, like them. Get down at their level—physically, socially and emotionally. If you don't like kids, don't hang around with kids, don't have kids that you spend time with, it will be difficult to write at their level. Let your inner child come out to play.

Q. How can I include a Christian message without sounding "preachy"?

A. Read the guidelines for your intended market. How much preaching do they allow? Check out their back issues to see how others present their message. Notice the tone and try to achieve the same sound. You can be subtle in some magazines, but others will print more direct messages. It is possible to your approach and tone for whatever market you submit to. Compare markets too, such as Partners, a conservative Mennonite take-home paper, and Pockets, which is quite different. Mostly, avoid having an adult in the story say “See?....” and give the answer to the problem. Let the child find the solution. If you have a “the Bible says...” message, if it is delivered by an adult most children will interpret it as preaching.

A. Where can I get more ideas about writing for children?

Q. Talk with your own children or grandchildren. Go to schools and talk with the kids about writing. Encourage them to give you story ideas and let their imaginations run wild. Help them write a book. Ask about their favorite books and have them explain why they are favorites.

Q. How important is the word count in the market guides and writer's guideline information?

A. There is no room here for making your own decision. Stick to the guidelines. It might be hard to shorten a longer piece, but follow the rules. Each publication has reasons for the limits they give. 

Q. What are some common story lengths when writing for children?

A. This depends on the age and reading ability of the child. A picture book should never go beyond 1000 words. Early readers who are about 7 years old, 5,500 to 6,000 words. Chapter books for 8-10 year olds are about 13,000 to 18,000 words. Young readers (9-13 year-olds) are 25,000 to 35,000 words and YA (13-18 year olds) fiction is 35,000 - 50,000 words with more involved themes and plots.
 
Comments from an InScribe member

Writing for children doesn't have to be a stepping stone—it can be a destination. It irks me a little bit when I hear writers say that they started out writing simple stories for children and then advanced to writing novels.

I LOVE writing for children and I particularly love writing short stories and Sunday School take home papers. I don't see it as a transition to anything and I want to tell anyone who is considering doing this that it is a good and noble task when done for the glory of God. What an honor and a privilege it is to be a seed planter for a child. What a blessing it would be to observe a child reading one of my stories and then realizing that they understand something of God's word because of something I wrote. As long as I keep getting assignments, I will keep writing for the papers and magazines. Sadly the remuneration is not the greatest, so perhaps that is a bit of a deterrent. But as far as the writing, it has to be well thought out and written for the audience, just as with any sort of writing.

The interesting thing about writing for children, particularly in picture books, there is no room or time for fluff. Every word must count. Every word must be deemed essential. It is tight writing but has to appeal immediately. In a picture book, like someone said already, the visuals are the real story teller. I look at my little grandson who loves books. He is only 19 months so he looks at the pictures constantly. The text will appeal later.

Selling a children's book or a story to an editor is not necessarily an easy task when one considers who lays out the cash for books or magazines. Rarely do children buy their own reading material so it is essential that the book appeals to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle, Teacher, Librarian first. That can be a challenge.

It is also impossible to be a children's writer if you don't love children. It's no good writing for children if they annoy you or if you simply cannot relate to them on any level. All the head knowledge and book learning won't help you one iota if you don't truly love children. Writing from the heart means that you can step inside the shoes of your audience and see life on their level. Children don't like to be preached to, but I also think that children (subconsciously) expect to learn something from stories and they want a resolution - usually a positive one, in order for them to feel a sense of satisfaction after they read.

I am writing the first in what I would like to be, a series of books for 8-12 year olds. This juvenile novel is so much fun to write. My protagonist is deaf so I am working with the mom of one of my students because she is deaf and can tell me what it was like growing up as a 12 year old with a hearing impairment. My character outlines are long and detailed - 14 pages for three of them! I have long outlines, not because I want to give all this information to the readers but because I want to know my characters intimately. I don't think I could write as easily without them. Some might consider this is a waste of time, that the character should just emerge on the page, but I do not agree! — Glynis M. Belec

Response from another InScribe member:

Glynis wrote - "It irks me a little bit when I hear writers say that they started out writing simple stories for children and then advanced to writing novels."

Well, I started out writing stories for children but I wouldn't say they were simple. They needed a lot of work to get a fast paced story with a punch packed into a short number of words. I'd say they were my training ground but not in the sense of "less than" - in the sense of, if I can do this maybe I can do other things too.

The writing I did for kids sort of petered out as my kids grew (maybe I'll do it again when I have grandkids!) I didn't leave it because I thought it was an inferior form, but because I wanted more scope to tell a story - or rather, that the stories required more scope in which to be told.

I think writing for children is an invaluable skill and I admire people who do it well (like Glynis). I never did attempt a picture book - I think it's one of the most difficult things to write well - so few words, so much punch needed! I think those who think writing for kids is easy have never tried it - but everyone should, if only for the fun! — Marcia Lee Laycock

 
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