Writer and publisher for my childrens book

[summer]

Hi,

 

Ever since I was at uni, which was a few years ago, I have wanted to draw/write my own childrens books. I have done loads of drawings and have all my characters ready to be put into story books. My books are mainly about the bright bold pictures and not very much writing, so they would be aimed at younger children.

 

I basically dont know where to go from here, I can draw my characters for the book in any situation, but cant think of the type of short storys to do them in, I can draw them say on a day out at a beach, but then there is no story to go with it, it seems boring, like, they go to the beach, get an ice cream etc.

 

I dont want to give up on my books just because I cant think of a short story to go with the pictures, its very frustrating but I am just useless at writing stories! Also if someone writes me the stories, how much profit do they take if it did get published?

 

My other problem is that once I have rough pages of my story book how do I get it published? Do I need to get it professionally made up to send to publishers, or can I send them the rough black and white photocopied pages?

 

It is all very confusing, but I feel I need to at least try and get my work published as I will always wonder if it would have ever been successful or not.

 

I'm not wanting this to make me rich, although that would be nice! More that I have good ideas that I think would make great childrens books.

 

If anyone could help in any way or give advice it would be much appreciated! Thanks

[Mantaspook]

Hi Summer,

 

This is a fairly complex situation so I'll break the advice into five parts.

 

1. It sounds like your main strength is as an illustrator, some of the publishing houses that produce children's books may be interested in your services, a lot of them hire in-house illustrators so this may be a limited option.

 

The quality of work is very high, I'd recommend you have a look at the children's books in Waterstones / WH Smiths etc. and study the illustrations carefully, if you think you can meet those standards make a note of the publishers and enquire if they would be interested in seeing samples of your work.

 

2. You could "hire" a writer to create a story based upon your drawings, how much you pay them is something you'd have to negotiate, for instance, you could pay a flat fee for the story, effectively buying the copyright off the writer so you have exclusive rights.

 

The writer may not want to do this and offer rights for a limited time, say, the rights revert back to them after 5 years, or they may want a percentage of the profits.

 

Assuming the book is successful the latter option is the best for both parties, you may be asked to repeat the process for subsequent books so it would be worth cultivating a working relationship that would keep a winning team together.

 

3. How to get the book published depends on lots of factors, you have to identify a publisher that would be interested in your work. (For instance, it's no use sending your work to a publisher that specialises in children's text books.)

 

Again, have a good look at the children's books in the shops and make a note of anyone that does similar work to your own. Contact them and ask what their submission guidelines are, some may ask for samples, others may insist you go through an agent or tell you they are not interested. Note the names of people you speak to - keep notes, if they say something like "Our Market is older, teenagers etc." you may have something for them that is more suitable in the future.

 

4. As you admit you're useless at writing stories but then say you're good with ideas you really must try to get together with a good writer that can either write a story to your picture boards, or they supply the story and you create the images to suit. - You're both going to have to put the effort in for the project to succeed.

 

The other alternative is to develop your writing skills so you're responsible for the entire content, after all "writing for kids is easy" - allegedly - before you try it have a look at

Ten Myths about writing for kids.

 

5. Have a good look around THIS WEBSITE, It will give you a quick online look at the market.

 

Click on the illustrators tab - and look at the range & quality of the work! Can you identify one that is similar to your style?

 

Please feel free to post some links to your pictures if you want, I'd be very interested to see your work and some of the writers may be interested in teaming up with you to create a children's book.

 

Good luck.

[summer]

Thanks for your response, that is most helpful!

 

I am not really interested in being an in-house illustrator, how do I put it, my designs or characters would be like Mr Men, where I could do many books based on them and it is my goal to see them in a book as stories.

 

They would need very little writing in them as the characters sort of act the stories out in the pictures but I still obviously need writing so children can learn! But like you say, it seems a shame becuse the writer would literally be writng about 10 lines out in the book and I would need to pay them!

 

I would definitly prefer someone to just write a few lines out and me draw the pictures around it, my books would not be anymore than 10 pages and I wanted them to be the hard board books.

 

Hmm, my work is very similar in style to something like miffy, or spot the dog, the characters are very bold and bright, and my backgrounds are very detailed but bold and bright, again, I am not sure if any part of my designs need changing, publishers might think my backgrounds are too much for the overall pages.

I read the link you sent me and it says publishers are not into animal books at the moment as well and mine are animals!

 

I could post some pictures but they are in black and white so won't stand out that good, they are meant to be colourful and bright! You would still get an idea though of the style.

 

Oh, what to do!

[Tallyman]

Hi Summer

 

Mantaspook has covered pretty much everything in his usual, comprehensive way, and there's not much I can add to what he said, except this:

 

Your ideas would seem to be heading in the direction of books for very young children - either first readers or children being read to (like the Mr Men books).

 

Although there aren't many words, all those words are so very carefully chosen to be the very best words to use. Writers hoping to be successful in that area of children's books need to understand the way young readers are taught in school, the various methods teachers use, and the way children learn to read.

 

The best children's books are those which pay attention to 'high frequency' words, repeat words and phrases, and pay attention to a myriad of other techniques for advancing a child's reading ability - as well as being hugely entertaining and irresistible!

 

Don't let that put you off, but it's as well to be aware that 'only a few words' doesn't mean 'only a small amount of work'!!

 

I think my option would be to try and find an experienced children's writer to team up with - it will make a huge difference to your chances of success, I think.

 

Best of luck, and hope you stick around with the group here!