Selling to the Children’s Market Ó2006
By Lee Roddy
. Lee Roddy is the author of Grizzly Adams and many other children’s’ and juvenile
books:
I hope this is the day when you begin turning
from aspiring writer to become a published author of books for young readers.
When I’m introduced to someone as an author
with more than 40 juvenile books published, I often get this comment from the new acquaintance: “I’m writing a
book for young readers.”
For
more than 20 years, I’ve taught writing to aspiring authors across the country. Countless numbers of those have gone
on to sell their first or many works from picture books to young adult or even adult novels.
I like
to help novice writers, so when I hear, “I’m writing a book for children,” I ask two vital questions.
- Who’s your target audience?
- What’s your story about?
Both
answers are quite predictable and are usually wrong -- from an editor’s viewpoint. Examples:
“My book is for all children.”
“My book is
about.” The speaker usually rambles off into a detailed account which normally
doesn’t include the main elements that an editor must know to make a favorable decision. You need a few words or 30
seconds to make your book sound interesting enough to buy.
I begin this monthly
column with the objective of guiding adults who want to write for children of any age, and who are willing to learn their
craft. Let’s start by considering the first question about the target audience.
Sadly, most aspiring
writers don’t realize that editors don’t buy manuscripts intended for “all children.” Kids’
books are divided into six distinct classes, according to Eden Ross Lipson, children’s book editor for the New York
Times and author of “Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children.”
My 40-plus published
juvenile novels are aimed at middle grade and young adult readers. I don’t write for little children. So pick your niche
and learn what it takes to consistently sell to that precise age group.
Before you start your
book, you need to recognize that you are first writing for an editor. If he/she isn’t “hooked” in a few
words, or if your work doesn’t fit in a particular slot for that house, young readers will never see it. Set your goal
to meet an editor’s needs in filling one of the following categories:
- Wordless books. 2. Picture books. 3. Story books. 4. Early reading books. 5. Middle reading books. 6.
Young adult books.
There are several
resources that give detailed writers guidelines on what each particular house wants. Two easy sources are on-line or at the
current issue of “The Writers Market” at the reference desk of your public library.
You may also go on-line
and bring up any publisher’s name to see if writers’ guidelines are given. Of course, you can look in current
issues of writers’ magazines to learn what houses are seeking. But never blindly send off a manuscript without matching
it to what the target house wants.
The second question
posed at the beginning of this column is one that almost every aspiring writer I meet – young or old – fails to
correctly answer.
You should be able
to present an intriguing summary of your story in about 30 seconds. Here are two examples:
- From Syd Field, one of the best-known teachers of screen writing, here’s his summary sentence of
a well-known movie: “A visitor from outer space misses space ship home and is found and befriended by some children
who help him escape – that’s E.T.”
2. From my best-selling
juvenile novel, “Secret of the Shark Pit” now
available
through Mott Media: “This is the story of a boy who disobeys
his
father and ends up in a pit filled with sharks – and no way out.”
For details, log onto
my website www.leeroddybooks.com.
Next month, I’ll
explain what an editor meant when he said: “You don’t have to eat the whole egg to know if it’s bad.”
I’ll detail how to “hook” an editor by giving him/her the critical beginning elements in a story. I also
plan to offer a free one-page hand summary I use in my lectures. The supply will be limited to the first 100 people who email
me to say they’re sending an SASE: (Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope) and it arrives a few days later.
I hope today is when
you began turning from aspiring writer to published author of books for young readers.
