Advice for Just Starting Out

Has this happened to you? You are introduced to someone new as a children’s author.

Response: “I have an idea for a picture book – how do I get it published?”

Oh, my where to start? Depending on where you are in your own process, you might say the market is hard to break in, that AI is a serious threat to creatives, that agents are impossible to acquire, that the publishing world is full of scams.

About 2/3 of those words will be incomprehensible to a new writer. All that is the kind of talk we share with others who have a Collection of Rejections! And miraculously – a published book!

But this hopeful writer wants a path, and so here is a 3-step plan to offer.

1 Write your story.

Ideas can’t be copyrighted or critiqued. It is the manner the idea is conveyed that matters.

Once the book is written, figure out what it is.

Is it a made-up story, a traditional story retold? Is it a story based on facts or a book of only real facts.

Would a baby or toddler listen to it? Would a preschooler like it in story time? Would an early grade school child read or explore it?

Are your characters children, animals dressed and acting like children, or animals acting like animals?

What do you want to change about your story in light of what you learned about your story?

2 Research the Market.

There are lots of books out there – how is your different?

Read at least 30 books like your story that have been published in the last five years.

Choose three authors who published books like your story and follow the blog or FB for six months. If they use terms that are new, ask or look them up.

Take a basic class that relates to your story type.

What do you want to change about your story in light of what you learned?

3 Get Feedback.

Now matter how good it sounds in your head….

Find 5 people you do not know to read your story, preferably out loud. Many online groups have manuscript exchange opportunities. Or pay for a professional critique.

What do you want to change about your story in light of what you learned?

Then and only then will your story be in a position to be submitted.

And if the wide-eyed writer asks the frequent follow up question: “How much can I expect to make the first year?”

Answer honestly: “Keep your day job.”

Multi award winning author Robin Currie holds a MLS from the University of Iowa, MDiv and DMin from LSTC, but learned story sharing by presenting over 1000 story times! She sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and has never given up her day job.