Writing children's book is a passion for many would be authors. So where do you start? Children's books are vastly different from books written for adults or teenagers. The biggest difference is that children's books are almost always based around pictures and images.
Before you even think about starting to write, take a trip to your local bookstore and spend some hours browsing through the children's section. Take note especially of books aimed at the age group you are targeting. Look at how many pages they have. The sizes of the books. The type of fonts they use, how the pictures are positioned on the pages, the type of artwork, and so on. Before you write your first book for the children's market, immerse yourself into the market to find what parents are buying for their kids right now.
Writing Child Book and Illustrations
When writing a child book, you are going to need an illustrator. If you are an illustrator, as well as a writer, you may feel that you can illustrate your own book. And, you can, if you are self publishing your book. If you're not an illustrator, you can also find illustrators on the Internet who will offer to illustrate your children's book.
However, if you are submitting your book to a publisher for approval, they will usually have their own in-house illustrators that they use. That way, not only are they able to brand their books with a similar look but they also have complete control over the quality of the illustrations.
In reality, this is good news for you. As a children's book author, you only have to worry about the writing and can leave illustration concerns to others. This doesn't mean that you will have no influence on the artwork, as you probably will. The publisher will most likely request that you work with the illustrator and impart your vision to him. After this, however, the artist will normally go off on his own to complete the artwork. By the way, you should also know that the illustrator will receive royalties as well as you.
When you write a children's book, the visual is as or more important than the writing itself. In fact, children's books are also known as picture books. In children's books, illustrations play a huge role in the telling of the story. They are put together so that a child can get a good idea of what's going on by simply turning the pages of the book. Picture books are also a great deal of help in teaching a kid how to read. Because the words are limited, the child only have to expend limited energy on trying to read the words.
When one speaks of children's books, there's a broad overlap. There's young adult books, middle grade books, early readers, and books for pre-schoolers. As a writer, you have to decide where your focus is going to be.
