How YOU Can Learn to Write for Children!
by Karen Cioffi
I write for young children and I also write marketing and health articles. Writing in multiple genres, I can tell you that writing for children can be much more challenging. When writing for children, there are guidelines to keep in mind to help your story avoid the editor’s trash pile.
Writing for children involves specific rules and appropriate story lines geared to each specific age group. Each age group even has its own vocabulary: Is the word “smuggle” appropriate for a 2nd grader? There is just so much that goes into writing for children and the question becomes how do you learn all the rules, tricks and answers. Well, there are a number of ways to learn and hone your children’s writing skills, but the most efficient and expedient is to find an experienced coach.
I’ve only been writing seriously for publication for about two years. And, I admit I had it all wrong at the beginning. While I am still learning, I’ve come quite a ways. I’ve come so far that I recently got a contract for one of my children’s books with 4RV Publishing.
So, how did I learn the children’s writing ropes enough to land a contract?
The answer’s simple, through the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC). I joined Suzanne Lieurance’s club when I first became serious about writing for children. I can say without hesitation and with all honesty, Suzanne helped me get that contract. Her guidance, tips, knowledge, advice, lessons, teleclasses, and weekly critiques of my work all helped me to hone my craft.
What’s amazing about the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club – CWCC – is that membership is only $27 per month. It is probably the best outright bargain online. That’s less than a dollar a day!
And, I praise the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC), only for what it’s helped me accomplish, but for what each and every member in the club has accomplished. I can’t be certain, but I think every club member has become published through either books or articles. That’s an amazing track record!
Suzanne Lieurance knows her business and has an innate ability to impart her knowledge to others. She’s a great coach, instructor, and motivator.
To add to this, along with Suzanne’s excellent coaching skills, the members of this group are all amazingly giving and helpful—this all makes for a dependable and proven path leading to publication.
But, if this isn’t enough, the CWCC also guides you through creating and maintaining visibility and marketing your work. We had one teleclass on creating a video so we could all learn to make book trailers for our published books!
So, if you’re serious about writing for children, don’t procrastinate, jump on board. It’s an investment in your future!
Join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club today.
Karen Cioffi, Author, Freelance Writer, Reviewer
Digging for Gold – Researching Nonfiction
Our first CWCC teleclass for March 2010 will take place on Friday, March 5, 2010, at 11:00 AM CST. Children’s nonfiction author Pat McCarthy will present Digging for Gold – Researching Nonfiction.
Research is all about finding those little fascinating bits of info that are like gold nuggets, and Pat will present many ways to find those little gold nuggets for YOUR nonfiction book or article.
To receive an invitation to this LIVE teleclass, join the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club here now or simply register for the teleclass here.
Field Trips – They’re Not Just For Kids If You’re a Children’s Writer!
February 27, 2010 by admin
Filed under Writing for Children
by Suzanne Lieurance
It always amazes me when I meet people who want to write for children, yet they haven’t read a single children’s book since they were children or since their own kids (now ages 35 and 42) were little.
Don’t they get it?
Publishers change, publications change, and even children change with the times! If you want to write for children, you need to start taking “field trips” to keep up with these changes. You’ll not only be better informed about today’s markets, you’ll also become a better writer in the process. Besides…these trips are fun!
Take regular field trips to the children’s section of your local bookstores and the public library. If your interest is in writing picture books, start by looking at as many pictures books as you can each time you visit. If you’d like to write beginning readers, or early chapter books, take time to look at some of these. Also, look for children’s magazines. If you go to your public library, they will often have back issues of magazines, so you can read up to a year’s worth of a particular publication. This is great because you need to know what has been published by each particular magazine in the last 6 months to a year so you won’t be suggesting ideas they have recently covered.
Your public library might not have some of the newest books available at bookstores. But you will be able to check out the books and take them home where you can read them and study them. So make a point to visit both the library and a local bookstore on a regular basis.
Once you start making these little field trips, you’ll look forward to them and realize how valuable they are to your writing.
Stay-at-Home Moms – Why Writing for Children Can Be the Perfect Job for You
February 27, 2010 by admin
Filed under Writing for Children
If you’re a stay-at-home mom with small children, writing for kids can be the perfect part-time job for you. Here’s why:
1) You’re in contact with kids 24/7, so you know what kids think about and how they talk. This can be very helpful when trying to develop story lines that kids would enjoy reading. It will also help you write dialogue that sounds like things kids would actually say these days.
As a mom, you probably also read many picture books to your own child or children. And, as every writer knows, one of the best ways to learn to write picture books and other stories for children, is to READ these types of materials. So just think – each time you read to your child, you’ll also be doing something to develop your own career as a writer.
2) Since your full time job is taking care of your family, you’ll probably only have short snatches of time during the day and evening to write. But this is perfect for writing short works for kids – things like picture books, easy readers, and even magazine articles and short-stories.
And, if you carry a pocket-size notebook with you during the day, while you’re watching the kids play at the park, or supervising them as they go about their daily chores, you can take notes for story or articles ideas. And, please note, it IS important to jot down a few notes about your ideas. Otherwise, by the end of the day you will have forgotten them.
3) In addition to writing stories and articles FOR kids, you will also develop a wealth of topics for writing ABOUT kids – articles for parenting magazines, for example, or even tips for classroom teachers.
And, there are usually at least a couple of small regional parenting publications in every large city, so you can gain publishing credits by starting out writing for these publications. If you’re good at it, you might even eventually gain your own regular column in one of these publications.
4) You can develop professional connections and associations with other moms who write, so you’ll have other adults to communicate with on a regular basis every day. Many moms can feel isolated when their only contact during the day is with their children. But as a children’s writer and mom, you can become part of a professional network of other stay-at-home moms who write for children.
5) You’ll build up your writing skills and publishing credits through the years, so by the time your children have grown and left the nest, you will probably be able to make the transition from part time children’s writer to full time children’s writer fairly easily if you so desire.
As you can see, for moms who like to write, writing for children offers the perfect part-time career.
Marketing Tips for Children’s Book Authors
Every month, members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club have the opportunity to take part in a LIVE 55-minute teleclass called Marketing Tips for Children’s Book Authors & Aspiring Children’s Book Authors presented by Suzanne Lieurance, children’s author and coordinator for the CWCC.
This month’s marketing teleclass will take place on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at 3:00 CST.
Nonclub members may also register for the teleclass. Get more information about that here.
