Compliments for Shirley Raye Redmond and Jennifer McKerley
“You just inspire people to get out and write (and submit)!”
–Robin, newspaper reporter
“That is just what is neat—you are not stingy with your knowledge!”
–Sally, librarian
“You presented so much practical information on the business side of writing…”
–Syble, history instructor
“Shirley Raye has the gift of mesmerizing her audiences with her practical advice, specific tips for getting published, and her quick wit and humor. She inspires, encourages, and provides the tools for success. Writers who follow her techniques GET published and have a great time along the way!”
–Bev, school teacher
“Jennifer motivates people to persevere. When she told the process of how she sold her first book, I realized I could do it too. I especially appreciated the detailed help on research, writing with a child’s perspective in mind, and how to produce a manuscript with kid appeal.”
–Richard, systems analyst
Copyright © 2010 by Shirley raye redmond and Jennifer mCKerley.
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all rightS reServed. no part of thiS publiCation may be reproduCed, Stored in a retrieval SyStem, or tranSmitted, in any form or by any meanS, eleCtroniC, meChaniCal, photoCopying, reCording, or otherwiSe, without the prior written permiSSion of the author.
iSbn - 978-1-934938-95-9
iSbn - 1-934938-95-5
ISBN: 9781483512341
lCCn - 2010928594
Cover deSign by alan pranKe
typeSet by JameS arneSon
Printed in the United StateS of america
Now is the Time for You to Write a Children’s Book
The Truth about Breaking In
Multiply Profits with Nonfiction
Motivated to Write Fiction?
Discover the Magic of Kid Appeal
Your Opportunities Abound
The Scoop about Illustrations
The Skinny on Rhyme
Seize the Market
Week 1: Unravel the Mysteries of the Market
Week 2: The Key to Plotting
Week 3: The Only Way to Fulfill Your Dream
Week 4: The Most Dangerous Time of All
Week 5: Full Speed Ahead. You’re Almost There
Week 6: More You Must Know About Marketing
Week 7: Your Chance to Polish and Revise
The Authors
Samples
Were you one of those kids that loved to curl up with a good book? If so, you may have dreamed of writing a children’s book of your own. It’s a dream many people have. Yet very few do it.
Now is the time for you to take action and fulfill your dream.
Free up about two hours a day for seven weeks, and you can finish a marketable book for kids. We’ve used this method 30 times to write manuscripts that sold to major publishers, such as Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Gale Cengage. Some of our titles have even won contests and awards. You can use our plan to write a picture book, a chapter book, a reader, a middle grade nonfiction book, or a middle grade novel in seven weeks.
We’ll provide the “how to.”
You provide the determination and elbow grease.
But the key to success is YOU.
No more procrastination. No more excuses.
Today is the day. Start here. Right now.
You don’t find the time to write a book.
You MAKE the time.
Published writers have no more hours in their day to write than you do. Even the mega-authors on the New York Times Best-Seller list have leaky roofs, rebellious teenagers, illness, and car trouble to contend with. They work around these problems. You can too.
Free your schedule and start now!
Your First Assignment
Pledge to eliminate time-wasters. Go TV-free four nights a week. Schedule 15 hours per week in an appointment book for your project.
Week 1: |
Learn about the market. Read sample books. |
Week 2: |
Plot and plan. |
Weeks 3-5: |
Write at least 5 pages every day. |
Week 6: |
Do more marketing research. |
Week 7: |
Revise. |
The longest type of book you should write for this project is a middle grade novel—average length 25,000 words. You can complete it by writing five double-spaced manuscript pages each day for three weeks. You can certainly finish a shorter manuscript such as a picture book, a reader, a chapter book, or a nonfiction middle grade book in that same amount of time.
We’ll cover fiction writing in this workbook, but you need to know your best chance of getting published is with nonfiction. Why? Because fiction cycles through soft markets. The picture book market is often glutted, and editors don’t want to see novels that are knock-offs of bestsellers.
Jennifer broke in with nonfiction. Years ago at a conference, she heard an editor say Random House wanted manuscripts for their Step into Reading line. The editor also said, “We always need true stories for kids.” Later Jennifer learned from the editor that they were open to dog and horse stories at that time. Jennifer visited the library and read dozens of nonfiction readers published by Random House and other publishers. She learned the format, sentence structure, word usage, and subjects covered and how readers differed from publishing house to publishing house, but she focused on Random House’s Step into Reading line.
She chose the famous horse Man o’ War to write about because she found only one reader about a racehorse (which was about Seabiscuit). It was by a publisher other than Random House. Jennifer wrote her story for a higher level than the book which was currently on the market. When she submitted to Random House, she stated in her cover letter what the competition was and that her story featured a different horse and targeted older readers.
You must write a strong story that stands on
its own and fills a market need.
Joyce Milton’s reader Dinosaur Days has sold more than one million copies and gone into more than 50 printings since it was first published in 1985. Shirley Raye’s first nonfiction titles, Lewis & Clark: a Prairie Dog for the President and Tentacles! Tales of the Giant Squid (both published by Random House), have sold over 150,000 copies each. Jennifer had similar success with Amazing Armadillos which was published by Random House in 2009. Less than three months after the book’s release, Random House licensed the title to Scholastic Book Clubs, Inc., which made an initial purchase of 51,816 copies for their book club and school fairs. Few picture books or middle grade novels have such success. According to bookstore owners, if a fictional children’s book doesn’t “make it big” within nine months of release, it won’t ever.
An editor at Random House once lamented that many writers don’t write nonfiction for children because “it isn’t glamorous.” Perhaps it isn’t. But we’ve found it to be as challenging and enjoyable as fiction, as well as being profitable.
If your dreams and ideas lead you to write fiction, then do it.
Some fiction books become great successes.
They might as well be yours!
Shirley Raye’s first published children’s book was a middle grade novel. She got the idea while speaking to grade school students about writing careers. Youngsters were intrigued by the term “ghost writer,” and her no-nonsense explanation of the word always seemed to disappoint them. She was intrigued by their fascination with the word, then she wondered—what would happen if a couple of kids, knowing full well what a professional ghost writer is, advertised for one in the newspaper, but got a ghost of the Halloween variety instead? Would they be scared? Skeptical or delighted? How would they relate to the ghost?
These questions led her to write Grampa and the Ghost (which was published by Avon’s Camelot Books). The title even became a Weekly Reader selection, but it disappeared from stores in less than a year. The royalties she earned all went back to the publisher to reimburse them for her advance. Still, the novel helped her get a foot in the door of the publishing world.
Whether fiction or nonfiction, a manuscript must have kid appeal. Before your manuscript can be transformed into a bound book sitting on a bookstore shelf, it must run a gauntlet. First, it must interest an editor. Then the editor will try to convince an editorial board and marketing execs that your book will make money.
Not sure if your idea has what it takes? Search online for popular titles for children or visit bookstores to see what’s selling. Werewolves have had streaks of popularity, and children often like skateboarding themes. But there are no new adventures of Betsy-Tacy and Tibb or The Five Little Peppers.