Читать книгу Writing Children's Books For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 11

Before you do anything else, figure out what kind of children’s book you’re writing (or want to write).

Manuscripts are published in several tried-and-true formats, with new ones developed every year. Formats involve the physical characteristics of a book: page count; trim size (width and height); whether it has color or is in black and white, has lots of pictures or lots of words, is hardcover or softcover, comes as an e-book or an app — or both. Chapter 2 gives a thorough explanation of what’s what in formats.

Also, your book may (or may not) fall into a lot of different genres. Genres are broad subjects, like mystery or adventure or romance. So figuring out your format and genre can help you determine exactly how to write and present your book. Chapter 3 has a lot of examples of genres that can help guide you in your writing journey.

You need to ask yourself: Who is my audience? Believe it or not, children isn’t the correct answer. Children of a particular age bracket — say infant to age 2, or ages 3 to 8 — may come closer to defining the target age you’re trying to reach. But are they really the ones who buy your book? Because books are ushered through the process by grown-ups — signed up by agents, acquired and edited by editors, categorized by publishers, pushed by sales reps, shelved and sold by booksellers, and most often purchased by parents, librarians, and other adults — your audience is more complicated than you may think. In Chapter 4, we tell you all about the different people you need to impress before you get your book in the hands of children.