Childrens Books

AggressiveWorm

im really excited about trying to get some childrens books published., anyone know anything about this process?, i havent started anything yet, just some ideas, if anyones interested in having a go with me, just say, gonna try it anyway...

EileenG

Do you have some children's books written? If not, write them. No publisher will even consider unwritten books unless you are already a best seller.

The first stop would be O'Briens, which publish children's books, and which accept unsolicited manuscripts. www.obrien.ie will give you details, but in general, they want you three best chapters from different parts of the night, or the whole thing if it's short. Also include a synopsis, and a covering letter telling them about the book and about you.

And for what it's worth, I'm writing a teen novel at the moment.

AggressiveWorm

thanks very much for the info eileen..there somethings i didnt know..fair play...teen novel?..sweet.hows it goin for ya?.are you a teen?, haha...

EileenG

Not a teen, but like reading teen books, and have three kids who all think they are teens, even the ones who aren't.

Got the first one written, and the second one two thirds done.

AggressiveWorm

ahh i see..fair play to ya...how did the first book go?..if you dont mind me askin

EileenG

Still rewriting and editing.

AggressiveWorm

ahh cool..chairs for the advice....

EileenG

What sort of books are you doing? What age group? How much have you done?

AggressiveWorm

well im interested in starting childrens books...from 0-10 id like to aim for...absoloutley nothing done yet..bashin a few ideas around, nothin written yet...id obviously love to end up writting ``grown up books`` if u will..ghgh....only 21 so still sum knowledge to absorb ya know?...

EileenG

Just start writing. There are an amazing number of people out there with ideas, very few actually get them down on paper and finish a book. Spend a bit of time in book shops looking at what children are reading, it's a lot different from ten years ago.

Don't assume that children's books are easy, you need to be just as thorough with your plot and characterisation and writing as for adults, and you can deal with the tough subjects too. My kids have just finished reading a book called "13 reasons why" about teenage suicide.

Then write the sort of book you'd have loved to have read when you were that age.

AggressiveWorm

yea i agree, with familiarising myself with ``todays`` childrens books...i will do just that and as much as i can to ensure success...again, chairs for the advice,...gem

EileenG

When you start getting a book together, I could read it for you, see what I think?

AggressiveWorm

really?..cool, i really appreciate that..thanks..maybe you can get pickarooney off my case...i was warned for saying ``nude``..kinda funny i tought...in the photography section, there discussing how to best utilise the old people they photo in their community..i mentioned nude...haha....got warned...ha...anyways....chairs again eileen...

EileenG

Well, one definite thing in children's books is that you keep profanity and references to sex to a minimum unless they are absolutely essential to the story.

AggressiveWorm

ghghgh..haha..steady on....

BigSiyo85

Get stuck in Van Wormsing, no better way. Create a few characters and have a buzz with it. Drop some acid and lash it out in 1 night and sure just edit your text with the sober head and you will be on to a winner, for sure buddy. Good chat yeah.

Ingenuist

AggressiveWorm wrote: »

well im interested in starting childrens books...from 0-10 id like to aim for...absoloutley nothing done yet..bashin a few ideas around, nothin written yet...id obviously love to end up writting ``grown up books`` if u will..ghgh....only 21 so still sum knowledge to absorb ya know?...

Yeah u come across as a talented writer from that post...

Ingenuist

Chairs

AggressiveWorm

i appreciate the fact that you came here as you seen my username, as you recently posted ``...what?``, in a thread i started, seemingly to have boiled your blood..chairs=cheers, just some personal slang..i also dont particularly wish to precieve myself as a writting god on a shoestring website, just not my thing, dont feel i need to spill my guts in any half hearted post..maybe your style, aint mine....k?

Monkey61

AggressiveWorm wrote: »

well im interested in starting childrens books...from 0-10 id like to aim for...absoloutley nothing done yet..bashin a few ideas around, nothin written yet...id obviously love to end up writting ``grown up books`` if u will..ghgh....only 21 so still sum knowledge to absorb ya know?...

Okay I'll throw out a few pieces of advice...

Firstly, you need to be a lot more focussed on who you want to write for than 0-10. That age range covers baby books, picture books, pop-up books, lift the flap books, first experiences, developing readers, shorter chapter books in the 5-8 age rang, longer chapter books and then everything in the 8+ range from Michelle Magorian to JK Rowling.

Secondly, it is an insult to children, good children's authors and children's fiction in general to consider writing kids books as some kind of step up to eventually moving on to "grown up books" which "obviously" you want to do. That implies to me anyway that you have very little experience of children's books or even writing in general.

And finally...no aspiring writer should use the grammar, spelling and punctuation that you do in your posts. "Some" is the correct spelling, not "sum" and "nothing" not "nothin." At the age of 21 you should be aware of that. Posting on a message board is not an excuse. That is cringeworthy and does not lead to you being taken seriously.

EileenG

Totally agree. Writing for children is not an easy option. Look at Jacqueline Wilson. She writes for that age group and deals with death, divorce, child abuse and all sorts of other heavy subjects. In some ways it is harder, you need a gripping story, because children won't read if they are bored, it has to be well written, and it has to not offend the adults who will buy it for the child.

AggressiveWorm

Monkey61 wrote: »

Okay I'll throw out a few pieces of advice...

Firstly, you need to be a lot more focussed on who you want to write for than 0-10. That age range covers baby books, picture books, pop-up books, lift the flap books, first experiences, developing readers, shorter chapter books in the 5-8 age rang, longer chapter books and then everything in the 8+ range from Michelle Magorian to JK Rowling.

Secondly, it is an insult to children, good children's authors and children's fiction in general to consider writing kids books as some kind of step up to eventually moving on to "grown up books" which "obviously" you want to do. That implies to me anyway that you have very little experience of children's books or even writing in general.

And finally...no aspiring writer should use the grammar, spelling and
punctuation that you do in your posts. "Some" is the correct spelling, not "sum" and "nothing" not "nothin." At the age of 21 you should be aware of that. Posting on a message board is not an excuse. That is cringeworthy and does not lead to you being taken seriously.

yes i understand and completley agree with you in regard to the age groups..but punctuation is bottom of my list in relation to ``posts``..i do have very little writting experience but the more i write, the more experience i will aqquire...please dont ``spell check`` me...i am completley aware of how to spell, chairs for the ``advice``,...was it?...

EileenG

Then spell things right. Seriously, the more often you spell a word wrong, the more likely it is you will spell it wrong on a manuscript you are submitting to a publisher, and the less likely you are to notice it. I have enough trouble with words that are correctly spelled, just not the right word!

BigSiyo85

Here Monkey , this chap came on here to see maybe if people could advise him about writing kids books or related chat. This forum is as informal as conversation can be. Do you or Eileen believe he would forward a manuscript with this type of grammer/spelling ?? He obviously has no experience as he composed this thread so for you to quote him and badger him about spelling mistakes on the internet of all places is sad. Insult to children ?? Where ?? If you dont write for children then you write for adults or grown ups. Who are you to determine weather he should be taking serious or not ?? Posting on a message board most certainly is an excuse as its informal chat on an internet forum. Maybe give him solid advice rather than giving stick as you seem to know it all from pop-up books to novels.

Monkey61

You should be aware from Boards that text speak is frowned upon and ludicrously poor spelling, grammar and punctuation is going to raise a few hackles in a creative writing forum. Posting on the internet is no excuse for purposely using incorrect spelling if one actually knows the correct spelling. I fail to see how anybody who knows how to spell a word would spell it incorrectly - a writer would definitely not do this. That is advice and useful too.

It is an insult to children, if you would read my post correctly, to look at children's literature as a soft option or some kind of warm up to adult literature. It is a discipline in its own right and there is nothing easy about it. That is also useful advice as to approach it from that angle (as I have seen people do) is a sure path to failure.

pickarooney

AggressiveWorm - so far on this thread your posts have been abrasive, vague and woefully mispelled. What is it exactly, if anything, that you would like to discuss on this thread?

If you're looking for advice, please take the time to formulate a clear question. If you're looking for feedback, you're welcome to post up anything you have written for consideration.

The point on spelling has been made several times. Please try and write coherently as best you can. On that note, no more squabbling over spelling from now on please everyone.

AggressiveWorm

point taken on the age group target,..didnt mean to come across naieve...but literaly couldnt care less if my spellings on a shoe string website are woefully mispelled...i dont feel you would praise anyone for a coherant post, so im happy in the knowledge that your very negative, like most here....may aswell lock this thread,...just pissed me off to be fair...got a little advice which was helpful, which i was looking for,...but dont wish to be harrased over a spelling....school is over you middle aged weirdos....

pickarooney

As you wish.