Do You Want to Learn to Write for Children?
by Kathy Stemke
As an author, educator, and freelance writer, I write books, poems, and articles. I love to write about, education, dance, children, exercise, antiques, science, and just about everything! Writing in multiple genres, I can tell you that writing for children is the most challenging. There are many guidelines to keep in mind to help your story avoid the editor’s trash pile.
Age appropriate story lines with simple vocabulary and sentence structure are essential to success in the children’s market. How do you learn the rules, and tricks? Where can you develop your voice and unique approach to story writing? Sure, you can plod through “how to books,” and receive hundreds of rejection letters, or you can learn quickly with an experienced coach.
OK, I admit I wasted some time myself. That’s why I’m telling you about the Childrens Writer’s Coaching Club (CWCC). Thanks to what I’ve learned in this club, I have an e-book available through Lulu, and two picture books under contract with publishers. I publish a free monthly newsletter titled, Movement and Rhythm on my blog. I’m a contributing editor at the National Writing for Children Center. I’ve sold many articles, and I’ve just joined the staff at DKV Writing 4 U, a writing services company.
I joined Suzanne Lieurance’s club when I first became serious about writing for children. Suzanne has helped me get those book contracts. Her experience, inspiration, advice, lessons, weekly teleclasses, weekly critiques, and marketing tips helped me to develop my writing skills. In fact, everyone that was in the club when I started has been published in either books or articles. All the members share their time and information with each other as well.
What’s amazing about the CWCC is it is only $27 per month. That’s less than a dollar a day! It’s the smartest thing you can do for yourself!
Along with Suzanne’s excellent coaching skills, the CWCC also guides you through creating and maintaining visibility and marketing your work. Classes vary from creating book trailers to writing a winning query letter, and so much more!
Plus, Suzanne has the best and the brightest authors on her staff! They include Margot Finke, Nancy I. Sanders, Pat McCarthy, Renee Gray-Wilburn, Simon Rose, and Margo Dill.
So, if you’re serious about writing for children, sign up today. It’s an investment in your future! Join the Children’s Writers Coaching Club.
You Can Become a Published Children’s Book Author!
Overwhelmed with all the information out there for writing for children?
Not sure how to weed out the essentials?
Look no further!
Join theChildren’s Writers’ Coaching Club (CWCC) today and learn how to set your weekly marketing plan in place (you may refer to this as your “To Do List”). Coupled with weekly tele-classes and monthly assignments you will soon see your writing career moving in a positive direction.
The guidance and support at the CWCC has been instrumental in the success of my writing career. My first story book, due to be released Spring/Summer 2010 by Guardian Angel Publishing, is a direct result of an assignment through the CWCC. And my most recent news, by attending one of the tele-classes I received direct information about a work-for-hire opportunity, I took the plunge, submitted my information, and was hired within 14-days!
Writing can be a lonely business, but with the expert coaching from Suzanne Lieurance and camaraderie of the CWCC members you will no longer feel adrift in a sea of jumbled words.”
Donna M. McDine
Member, Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club
Children’s Author
How to Get Published as a Children’s Author, Earn an Income, and Have Fun Writing Even when the Economy Goes Sour
July 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under Writing for Children
Many children’s authors work on a manuscript that they love to write. Then they try to get it published and hope to earn income from it. This all adds up to years of few published credits, not enough income to help pay the bills, and piles of rejections.
At a time when the economy is growing steadily worse, we writers can’t afford to continue in this downhill spiral. It’s time to stop in our tracks, retrain our brains, and utilize a different strategy that will empower us to get published frequently, earn a decent income from writing, and still have fun honing our craft to perfection.
What’s the secret? My strategy is to always be working on three different projects for three different purposes, each with its own recipe for success.
For instance, I know it’s important as a writer to get published frequently and at a steady rate. So I do. Year after year after glorious year. I see my manuscripts in print, my name in bylines, and my published credits accumulating steadily. The upcoming year promises to be the same, in spite of the dismal economic forecast.
If you want to get published, you can do what I do. Every year, I target three to five no-pay/low-pay publishers. Since my only goal for these projects it to get published, I look for publishers who are hungry for writers to submit their manuscripts to them. These same publishers are often overlooked because they don’t pay very much. You can find them in your market guides, on the Internet, or in your local community periodicals. They offer a goldmine of opportunities for publication, so I jump on board and write the kinds of manuscripts each different one needs.
I also know it’s important as a writer to earn an income that helps pay the bills. So I do. Year after year after glorious year. I earn tens of thousands of dollars each year depending on my projected goals. The upcoming year promises to be the same, even though doomsday stories abound in the publishing world’s current economy.
If you want to earn income from your writing, you can do what I do. Every year, I line up deadlines and children’s book contracts like ducks in a row. Some are work-for-hire assignments that provide cash up front. Others are royalty contracts that guarantee income spread out over future years. How do I achieve my goals? I target children’s book publishers who accept queries. I study market guides, attend conferences, read writer’s magazines, and look for editors who are open to receiving queries. Then I study my target publisher’s website until I think of three to five brand new ideas that might fit into their unique product line. I write a little paragraph about each and ask them if they’d like to see a proposal for any of those potential ideas. Then I send off the query letter to that publisher. As soon as I send out that query, I don’t wait around. I choose a different publisher to target. Oh sure, there are lots of children’s book publishers who require an agent, demand an exclusive submission, or say they only want the entire, finished manuscript. I skip over those. There are plenty of publishing houses these days who accept queries as well. Those are the publishers I contact. I send each one a different query with unique ideas for books not yet written that fit into their one-of-a-kind product line. I keep sending out queries until I land a contract with one of them to write a book or article. Then I land more contracts until my year is filled with deadlines to write. It’s scary and it’s daring. The topics I write about might not be my passion. But it guarantees a reliable income in the upcoming year.
I also know it’s important as a writer to work on a manuscript I love. So I do. Year after year after glorious year. I write books I’m passionate about, pour out my heart on the printed page, and find personal fulfillment as a writer. The upcoming year promises to be the same, and I won’t stop even if we face the worst economic crisis in history.
If you want to write for personal fulfillment, you can do what I do. Every week, I carve out precious time from my other writing commitments to write what I want to write. I submit these to the publishers of my dreams. I just make sure I keep these projects separate from my projects I’m working on to earn income and get published.
My recipe for success works for me, and I’m confident it will work for you. Use three different approaches to meet three different goals. Make this year your best year yet—even in the midst of a tough economy!
Nancy I. Sanders is the award-winning and best-selling author of over 80 books including Anyone Can Get Published—You Can, Too! A Practical Strategy for the Christian Who Writes. She has also written the groundbreaking new book Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Children’s Books, Get Them Published, and Build a Successful Writing Career, available at www.YesYouCanLearn.wordpress.com. She currently writes the column, Writing for Children for The Writer’s online magazine. Visit her website at www.nancyisanders.com.
Nancy I. Sanders is an instructor for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. Learn more about earning a living as a children’s author by listening to any of her recorded teleclasses, available here.
Creating a Blog and Sticking With It!
July 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under July 2010 Teleclasses
Presented
by
Margo L. Dill
Our next LIVE teleclass takes place on Tuesday, July 6, 2010. at 7:00 p.m. CDT.
The teleseminar will cover:
*Choosing a host for your blog between Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, or Live Journal
*Creating a focus and then a name for your blog
*Ways to make your blog unique and useful
*Creating a schedule for daily posts
*Tips for staying motivated
*Ideas for your first post and first week posts
*Answers to Your Questions about starting and maintaining a blog
Sign up for the LIVE teleclass here:
Magic in Stories for Children – Part 5
July 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under July 2010 Teleclasses
Simon Rose
Simon Rose presents Magic in Stories for Children: Part 5 on July 21, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. CDT.
What the Heck is Tight Writing Anyway?
July 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under July 2010 Teleclasses
Margot Finke
Margot Finke’s next LIVE teleclass takes place on Thursday, July 29, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. CDT. The title of the teleclass is What the Heck is Tight Writing Anyway?
What I Like About the CWCC!
Recently I had the opportunity to have a story critiqued during a teleclass called Once Upon a Time: A Picture Book Workshop, through the Children’s Writers Coaching Club. I must say I was very nervous to have so many others looking at my very rough draft.
Suzanne Lieurance showed me (and everyone who took part in this teleclass) how to look for areas to improve and how to introduce the main character.
Through the CWCC I have been able to fine tune my work and look at my drafts in a critical thinking manner that I didn’t know before.
This teleclass was a great experience, and I learned that every writer, published or not, has to go through the same process. Revisons are necessary and critiquing manuscripts has proven to be the best way to get outside feedback from other experienced writers.
I love the CWCC and am so glad to be a part of a group that is nurturing and willing to share information to help new writers like me learn and grow to become better writers.
Click here to learn more about the CWCC!
The Key to Success as a Children’s Writer
Wow! Members of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club are acquiring new publishing contracts and writing assignments faster than I can get them posted in our Member Spotlight! That’s wonderful!
Is there some secret or key to their success?
Well, I’d say there are several “keys” to success a children’s writer. They include:
1. Information – To become a published children’s writer you need to know what to do in order to create “marketable” manuscripts. There are certain elements in work for children that editors and publishers look for. If you don’t know these elements, you’re pretty much “flying blind” when it comes to writing. Published children’s authors get the information they need in order to become successful.
2. Practice – Once you get the information you need to know in order to write marketable manuscripts, that doesn’t mean you can instantly use this information with any real skill. For that you need practice. All of our published writers in the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club are writing on a regular basis. They are practicing what they learn and improving their writing skills.
3. Confidence – It’s much easier to be confident when you know you know what you’re doing. Plus, once you’ve improved as a writer through constant practice, self-confidence comes naturally. And, once you have confidence in your writing ability, you’re more willing to take chances and put your work out there by submitting it to a variety of publishers. You’re also more willing to apply for writing assignments because you KNOW you can complete them to the satisfaction of the editors/publishers or other people who are offering these assignments.
These are just a few of the keys to success for our coaching club members and all successful children’s writers.
Can you think of others?
Share them with us here by leaving a comment.
Happy writing!
What I Like about the CWCC
I had been writing for many years and had several published books under my belt when I decided to join the Children’s Writers Coaching Club… and boy, am I glad I did!
It is is one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made.
The weekly teleclasses, critiques and moral support have kept me more focused and productive than ever before. I used to struggle juggling many projects at the same time and, naturally, I tended to panic and freeze and become overwhelmed, but shortly after joining the club I learned how to work with weekly plans and now I can’t live without them. I’m able to work on several projects without getting overly stressed and most importantly, I’m producing a lot of written work and submitting to publishers on a steady basis.
I’ve learned that the most important part of completing a long project (such as a novel) is to make progress each day, no matter how little, to stick to it until the end. Of course I knew this in theory before, but Suzanne’s constant encouragement and time management techniques have made all the difference.
–Mayra Calvani, www.mayrassecretbookcase.com
Why I’m a Member of the CWCC
Read Why Terri Forehand Enjoys Membership in the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club!
from Terri Forehand
I can’t really say enough about The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and Suzanne Lieurance’s mentoring. I gained so much knowledge from her bootcamp and then I have continued to stay in the club for the constant support and encouragement it offers. I have obtained paid writing assignments from publishers like Mometrix Media and Kaplan as a direct result of the information and skills that I have learned from being a club member. I continue to get repeat assignments from these publishers on an ongoing basis including writing health exam questions for National Certifications in Nursing. It is so rewarding to get paid for what I love to do, write.
The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club also teaches the skills needed for creating a blog, writing a marketing plan on a weekly basis, and learning critique and editing skills. Sharing my marketing plan with the club members makes me accountable for my writing career and encourages me to work harder and write more. I can’t thank Suzanne enough and the others for the positive feedback I get and for being honest when I need to seriously revise some of my work. The weekly critiques help get my writing focused and makes the material more polished for submission to appropriate publishers.
Because of being a club member, I now have two manuscripts for children ready for submission. I am working on a third story for children and have started to introduce my main character on my blogs. These blogs would not be possible if I had not gained this information from bootcamp and being a club member. I have a blog for new writers at http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com and a blog for parents and children who are dealing with serious health issues including terminal illness at http://heartfeltwords4kids.blogspot.com. I even have two websites I am working on and a mailing list of followers, all a result of what I have learned at The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club.
Anyone who wants to write for children would benefit from becoming a club member. We learn, we write, we support each other, and most of all we have fun doing what we love thanks to being an active club member. I encourage all of your readers to join us as soon as possible to gain everything the club has to offer. It has been a huge impact on my writing career and has opened so many exciting doors to publishing.
