3 Things You Must Do If You’re Serious About Writing for Children

“I want to write for children. How can I get started?”

There are lots of resources, books, etc. that can help you in the process. In “The Writer’s Toolkit” I suggest several excellent books. But as far as doing, besides actually WRITING, here are three things I believe will accelerate the process for anyone interested in seriously pursuing writing for children.

1.Buy the Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market Guide published annually by Writer’s Digest Books. This book lists contact information for publishers (book, magazine and other) and what they are looking for, whether they accept unsolicited submissions, etc. It also features excellent articles about different aspects of the industry, interviews with authors, etc. This is the book you will need to answer the question, “Where should I send this magazine story/book manuscript?"

2.Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI. ) www.scbwi.org THE professional organizations for writers and illustrators for kids, membership is well worth the nominal fee. The SCBWI organizes writer’s conferences at the regional and national levels, maintains a dynamite web resource, publishes a bi-monthly newsletter with invaluable information, and offers manuscript exchanges between members, among other wonderful reasons to join.

3.Get involved in a critique group. You can do this online or in-person and there are pros/cons to each. I know some writers prefer not to work with a crit group, but in my own writing life I have found my group to be one of the best experiences ever. I simply will not submit work until it has been vetted by this group of fabulous ladies. In fact, I believe they are so important, I have devoted an entire section to them; see “About Critique Groups.”