Should You Break Into Writing Through Children's Books?
Are you the next Lewis Carroll? Anna Sewell? R.L
. Stein or L. Frank Baum? You may very well be. But do not plunge into the world of children's books thinking that because books for children are shorter and simpler, that it is easy to make money with them. Just like most things, if it was easy everybody would be doing it.
Competition in the children's book industry is as competitive and as fierce as any other market. An author with no previous publications is going to have just as challenging a time with this genre as with mysteries, thrillers or every other. And because children's books are shorter and less complicated, it's much more difficult to write something really unique, something that will stand out from the crowd. Does the world actually need another book about a duckling and a bunny?
Is it possible to make more money composing books for children than you can writing books for grown ups? Intuition tells us that since publications for youngsters are shorter they ought to be simpler to create and if they're less difficult to write we ought to be able to write far more of them in the same amount of time it takes to write a novel. Assuming that's true, you still need to bear in mind that you do not get paid until your book is actually published. And your second book will not be revealed if no one buys your first one.
Keep in mind, the market for these books includes everything from board books with few or no actual words in them to fiction and non-fiction for teens. This gives you a wonderful chance to find your voice and to write in an area about which you feel passionate. Write about what you know and really like and you will be significantly more able to capture your reader than if you might be writing only for a pay check. For many, that pay check never comes.
Should You Break Into Writing Through Children's Books?