Leap Over the Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make and Hold Your First Published Book in Your Hands
By Thea Fiore-Bloom, PhD
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Want to avoid the worst rookie mistakes children’s book authors make?
I do.
Interested in skyrocketing your chances of authoring a children’s book that lots of kids will love?
A book that publishers will pay for?
Me too.
That’s why I tracked down award-winning children’s author Aaron Shepard.
Shepard kindly relieved me of several misconceptions I had about creating a worthwhile book for kids.
Shepard is the author of a towering stack of excellent children’s books including The Legend of Lightning Larry, The Baker’s Dozen, The Sea King’s Daughter, The Crystal Heart, The Legend of Slappy Hooper, Lady White Snake, Forty Fortunes, and The King o’ the Cats.
“I take the kind of pleasure in writing a book that I hope kids will eventually derive from reading that book—the delight or power of being immersed in a great story,” said Shepard.
“It’s not uncommon for me to cry as I write, or to pound the desk laughing.”
Sounds great right? But Shepard sure doesn’t sugarcoat the facts about getting a book published.
So let’s get the skinny from Shepard on just how to navigate around nine of the most common mistake-icebergs that are responsible for shipwrecking the dreams of many first-time children’s authors and illustrators.
9 Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make That You Don’t Have To
Mistake Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 1:
You Think You Need to Find An Artist (If You’re a Writer) or a Writer (If You’re an Artist)
For Writers: “Unless you’re an artist yourself, editors will want to match you with professional illustrators of their own choice, said Shepard. “Sending someone else’s pictures with your words can count against you.”
For Artists: Likewise, if you’re an artist you can crush your chances of getting published if you send someone else’s story along with your drawings, paintings or collages.
Artists interested in getting work published may want to look at this how-to article for illustrators.
Also check out SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and Rachelle Burke’s Resources for Children’s Writer’s Resource Page.
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 2:
Think a Kid’s Book Has to Teach a Lesson
Maybe the most common mistake children’s book authors commit is structuring their book around a moral.
Shepard put this quote on the flyleaf of one of his non-fiction books for children’s writers:
“‘Thou shalt not,’ is soon forgotten, but ‘Once upon a time,’ lasts forever.”
—Phillip Pullman, The Golden Compass
“Too many aspiring children’s authors see their stories as a way to indoctrinate children with heavy-handed messages,” said Shepard.
“Children’s stories do often contain guidance for living, but they should emerge naturally from the story as a lesson to be learned not only by the child but also by the author.”
“In that way, good children’s stories resemble life (which itself is a story),” said Shepard.
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 3:
Assume That Children’s Books Are Easier to Write Than Adult Books
“Good writing is difficult no matter what the reader’s age—and children deserve the best,” said Shepard.
Many people assume picture books would be the easiest kind of children’s book to create. In fact, the opposite is true.
“Picture books may be the hardest—because they demand conciseness, simplicity, and a visual sense,” said Shepard. “Also, the competition is greater, because more people try them.”
To present only the powerful essence of something complex in public requires a lot of hacking up, boiling down, and tossing away in private.
Be prepared to repeatedly pare down your story.
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 4:
Think Your Book Has To Rhyme
“Stories in rhyme are especially hard to do well, so editors look at them skeptically,” said Shepard. “In most cases, you should avoid rhyme.”
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 5:
Think Kid’s Book Require No Research
Many seemingly light and delicious kid’s books that may take a minute to consume are often researched.
To responsibly present an intricate children’s book based on myth or folktale requires even more homework.
“When I retold Lady White Snake, I spent almost a full year researching: Chinese opera, Chinese mythology, the evolution of the story and the opera itself, the geography of the relevant places in China, Chinese festivals, even the medicinal powers of the legendary Ganoderma mushroom — all before I even started writing.”
(Check out this short Charmed Studio video post about how the research habits of author/illustrator Beatrix Potter helped her create her Peter Rabbit magic.)
However, not all books must be researched.
The amount of research will depend on your story.
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 6:
Never Starting
Unfortunately, there is also such a thing as too much research.
You can sabotage your creative efforts by thinking you have to know a bit more about your subject, and a bit more after that, before you can start writing or painting.
“I used to read and enjoy a lot of children’s literature,” said Shepard. “But at some point, I think immersing yourself too much in other people’s stories can divert you from creating your own.”
Do some homework on structure and content, but don’t forget to begin.
For excellent, accessible tips on how to structure a plot for your book, you can’t beat Shepard’s, The Business of Writing for Children: An Author’s Inside Tips on Writing Children’s Books and Publishing Them, or How to Write, Publish, and Promote a Book for Kids.
“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” –Louis L’Amour
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 7:
Assume It’ll Be Peachy To Self Publish
Shepard’s got three words for folks new to children’s books who are thinking about self-publishing:
Don’t Do It.
“That may sound strange coming from me, as I was a pioneer in publishing through print-on-demand and selling online, and I’m still considered an authority on the subject,” said Shepard.
“But that has mostly been in adult nonfiction, and children’s book writing is a whole different matter.
“There’s a discipline and development that goes on, usually over several years, when you write for kids and submit to publishers.”
Shepard thinks if you self-publish, the process is short-circuited, and the development doesn’t happen. “You wind up publishing books that aren’t up to the standards we want in books for kids.”
If you’ve already sold books to publishers and you want to reprint one or try something new, that’s great, thinks Shepard.
Or if you’re at the point where you’re getting personal comments from editors, but none have been willing to commit; self-publishing could be the way to go.
“But if you’re still getting form letters for rejections, or you haven’t even tried to submit, then you’re almost certainly not ready,” said Shepard.
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 8:
Think Kiddy Lit Will Be A Quick Ticket To Financial Freedom
“Don’t count on ever making a living from your books, because that’s rare.”
“Even full-time children’s authors usually make about half their money from public appearances.”
Mistakes Children’s Book Authors Make, N0 9:
Giving Up Too Soon
Despite the challenges to the publishing industry, segments of the juvenile book industry grew eight percent last year alone. (Publisher’s Weekly, 2017)
So the chance of your once-upon-a-time dream becoming a reality is better than ever.
“Have patience,” said Shepard.
“For most authors, it takes years to write something publishable and find a home for it. Treat it more like a journey of discovery, and you’ll be alright.”
Lastly, remember your wild, creative ideas for things like a children’s book, a mural, or a mosaic have value.
Keep the words of Eleanor Roosevelt close to your heart:
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
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Sometimes it’s our fear of greatness, not our fear of failure that keeps us from achieving our dreams. Check out our post The Jonah Complex: How Artists Can Overcome Fear of Greatness.
If you want one on one help making your writing dreams come true, pop over to my writing coaching page for artists:
Or get support by reading:
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How Artists Can Write More Often: 1 Realization That Can Change Everything
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5 Best Books on Writing For Artists
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Letting Go of Approval: A Story for Artists
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How To Let Your Vulnerability Make Your Art Writing Shine
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SEO for Artists: How SEO Can Boost Your Sales and How to Start
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How Do I Write an Art Blog
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51 Blog Post Topics for Heart-Centered Artists for 2021
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“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.” —Madeleine L’Engle
What has stopped you from beginning to write or illustrate your story for children?
Have questions?
Let us know in the Comment section below. 🙂
For even more free, practical info for publishing your first book visit: Aaron Shepard’s Kidwriting Page.
You summarize all the points in a single post, Brilliant. This is so true that people think it’s easy to write a children’s book instead of an adult book writing but never know until you attempt to write a children’s book.
Thanks, Jason. Best of luck to you in your writing.
Thanks Thea! This is very helpful..
Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Kind of you Janet. Wishing you further success with Sammie the Shark and the Return of the Lost Gift. Two questions for you that may help future children’s book writers that read this blog:
1.What was the hardest part of creating or marketing your book?
2. What was the most rewarding part?
I used to design young adult and children’s books for several years. It is also important to find a publisher that is the right fit for your style or genre of work. I recommend visiting bookstores and publisher websites to see what type of work they publish and then submit to those that specialize in your type of work or intended audience.
Thanks Barabara, a bookstore trip is a great idea. You can gather the names of dream publishers and then do web research at home. Great “artist’s date” as Julia Cameron would say. I love your artwork.
Thank you so much Thea! I’ll let you know if I get published some day!
I look forward to reading the email where you tell me the good news of your being published. I can totally see and feel that happening for you. You deserve it. 🙂
Thank you for this informative post. I enjoyed reading it. Its interesting to get to know the perspective of an illustrator and to get his professional advice 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by and reading the piece, I’m honored. Glad it gave you some new info. Can you give me a hint what you and your mom’s book will be about? Or if you don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet, I would love to know what part of the creating of the art for your book are you most excited about??
Great tips here! I honestly can’t believe I haven’t done something more with my stories and it’s been 20 years since I wrote my first one. I didn’t give up, I just took a long vacation. Seriously thinking of illustrating next. I know that one of Aaron’s tips says not to rhyme but I think my rhyming one is ok. What do you think? That would be the most fun to illustrate. That’s probably not book-length, but maybe children’s magazine? I have a good friend, Larry Gonick, who is a cartoonist and is the genius behind the Kokopelli & Co. series in Muse magazine (the series is now retired). He also did the Cartoon History books: Cartoon History of the Universe, Cartoon History of the U.S., Cartoon History of Sex, etc. Who knows, maybe that is a path I should consider for my stories.
Just so you know, the link to Aaron’s Kidwriting page takes you to an error page–if you click you’ll see a period at the end of the word “kidwriter”. I removed that period and the link works.
Thanks for another fun blog post!
I thought your rhyming piece was strong, yes. I think you still could whittle it down. And yes something like Muse or Cricket would be great venues to look into. They are both tough publications to break into though so be warned. Their writer’s guidelines are tough! I have never submitted to them but was exhausted just reading the instructions, lol. But they pay well unlike many other magazines today. That is another post I will do. Breaking into magazines, how to query etc. I fixed the link, thanks for spotting that.
Actually Shawn I thought the rhyming piece was the strongest out of all of them! Aaron himself would point out these are just general rules and there are wonderful exceptions to all of them. I would trade or hire an kids book editor to help you get it down to it’s essence and send that magic out!
I think this might be my new work in progress. 🙂
Just self published my first children’s picture book IM NOT SCARED NO WAY! By Kimberly Pattison and the second is back from the editor. Im one of those people who dive in and ask how to swim later. Im 55 yrs old and JUST NOW have decided to run and not look back to this new found love of writing. Ive been a hairdresser since I graduated high school 35 years ago and still work part time.
No clue what I’m doing but I’m doing!
Any guidance would be deeply appreciated. Im self published with KDP and picked up by Barnes&Noble, Walmart and Target. Still don’t know how that happened? Just googled my name and found out that way . Totally in the dark but carrying a book light .
Kindest Regards,
Kimberly
Kim, what a giant, huge, colossal, really big, fabulous accomplishment. Congratulations. I love the image of you bravely carrying a book light with you in the dark of your amazing adventure. as Zita Fontaine said: “Courage means to be scared and choosing to do it anyway. Courage is about admitting your most well-kept secrets and dreams — even if you can get mocked, ridiculed and humiliated for them.”
Seems like a logical next step for you would be to learn more about marketing your book locally and further afield. You might like to start here with Julie Broad free videos.https://youtu.be/QymUJwLlolI
This video suggests next steps like creating a media kit, and having a great Amazon author page etc.
Good luck!
So helpful in such a wide range of areas. The small details and the big strokes of how to go about this. Thank you Thea for always getting to the big details and the cross hairs in such a short amount of space. Wonderful. This also gave me a sense of just write and research and let go. It can develop like other pieces of art or not and you move on.
Gale thank you so much for letting me know, when I get comments like yours it helps me go forward knowing what to keep striving for and what to let go of. I never thought of it as containing big picture and the smaller details together. 🙂
I want you to write a kids book!!! Are you thinking of doing both the art and the writing? So exciting to contemplate what you’ll bring forth.
Trying both sounds exciting! Thanks for letting me know you relate to the mistakes, me too! I wanted to write the article because I had so many things wrong before I talked to Aaron and read his book. It’s freeing to know we don’t need a heavy handed moral message. I mean look at the success and joy Edward Gorey brought to kids!
Your art will appeal to kids, I just feel it. But if you need proof, find a few and share it with them. Have you considered beta testing rough drafts of stories with kids and see what they respond to? I volunteer reading to little kids at my local library. If you ever want to send me something I will share it with them and tell you what happens!
Wow that would be amazing! (now I have to actually finish something!!!) I’ll let you know if and when I have one 🙂
Edward Gorey’s alphabet is one of my favorite children’s books – the ideas and illustrations. I hope to one day have a completed alphabet of creepiness (Alphabet of Haunted Food is the working title) and write a little story for each letter. As your article says – it takes a LOT of time and research!! Whats nice about Gorey’s is even though the letters aren’t connected by a story, they are still very much connected by theme – I think mine would need some more backstory …maybe!
It’s nice to talk about it though, thanks for sharing your experiences!
That alphabet book of Gorey’s is one of my faves too. I was going to include it at the end of the article to point out that even the most outrageous ideas can work if presented with skill. But I deleted that section at the last minute because I didn’t want to offend anyone. But it did work as a book. I mean who would of thought that kind of macabre theme would work with kids?! But they loved it right? I did too. I want to do an alphabet themed non fiction book myself (for adults), lets keep each other posted on our progress.
Yeah it is a little controversial heh heh. An adult non-fiction alphabet book sounds very unusual and now I’m intrigued – do you have a basic idea for it? Can you give a little hint? ;D
Sure I’ll let you know how it goes with me, I just need to start – There are only three hard parts, the start, middle and end!
I will divulge all. Via email someday. As far as beginning , middle and end goes…I hear ya. But if you tackle the beginning the other two parts will waddle along behind. Don’t give up on your alphabet. Really good idea woman!
Thanks so much for the advice and encouragements! Lots of good ideas in here, I hope I use at least one ;D
So nice of you to leave a comment, thanks! I think your work would be well suited for kid’s books, go for it! Do you want to both write an illustrate a story? Or are you thinking of just doing the art end?
I would love to be able to do both! As in collaborated with a writer and also write my own story and illustrate it. Thank you so much for that, I hope my work appeals to kids 😀
I feel like this list is exactly what I do!! (always thought I HAD to find a writer cause I’m not so experienced with writing and I try and put in a “lesson” and I hate it because of that, then I give up because I don’t know what to write! )
I think if I could just write one short story really well and complete it, it would at least show me what it takes to do it.