I get a lot of questions from aspiring authors on the best way to write a children’s book. And I don’t blame them. The children’s book market is huge. In fact, it’s projected to be a $2.2 billion dollar industry in 2024.
So as a professional children’s book printing manufacturer, I want to give you my best tips on how to write a winning children’s book manuscript that could potentially get published.
Why Children’s Book Manuscripts Are Different
Before we dive in, you need to understand that writing a children’s book is NOT the same as writing an adult book.
Here are a few key differences:
Shorter Word Counts
The word counts for popular children’s book formats are:
- Picture books: 500 words or less
- Early readers: Under 2,500 words
- Middle grade: 30,000 to 50,000 words
- Young adult: 55,000 words or more
As you can see, aside from YA novels, children’s books tend to be much shorter than adult books.
Illustrations
The vast majority of children’s books contain illustrations. The exceptions are young adult novels and some middle grade books.
This means you need to leave room in your story for illustrations.
Age Appropriate Content
This one is obvious but it’s important.
You need to ensure that your content, themes, and vocabulary is appropriate for the target age group. Otherwise, no publisher will pick up your story.
How to Write an Awesome Children’s Book Manuscript
Alright, now that you understand some of the key differences when writing children’s book manuscripts, let’s talk about how to actually write one.
1. Choose Your Target Age Range and Format
The first step is deciding on:
- Your target age range
- Your general book length/word count
This will determine what type of children’s book you write.
For example, a 500-word story with illustrations would be a picture book for ages 3-8 years old.
Whereas a 50,000-word novel without illustrations would be middle grade for 8-12 year olds.
Here’s a helpful chart:
| Format | Age Range | Word Count |
|---|---|---|
| Picture Book | 3-8 years | <500 words |
| Early Reader | 5-8 years | <2,500 words |
| Middle Grade | 8-12 years | 30k-50k words |
| Young Adult | 12+ years | 55k+ words |
Once you’ve determined the format and target age range, you can start developing your story idea.
2. Brainstorm Story Ideas That Appeal to Kids
A common rookie mistake is writing stories that adults find clever or amusing. But kids see the world differently than we do.
So you need to put yourself in a child’s shoes to find ideas that will truly resonate with them.
Here are some proven tactics:
- Use your own childhood for inspiration: What books did you love as a kid? What adventures did you imagine?Tap into that childlike sense of wonder.
- Observe real kids: If you don’t have children of your own, talk to friends with kids or even chat up children at story time at your local library. What excites them? What bores them? What do they wish existed but doesn’t?
- Read recent bestsellers: Head to the children’s section at the library or bookstore. What new releases are popular right now? What themes and subject matter do they cover? Dive into a few to immerse yourself into what kids love reading at this moment.
3. Outline Your Story
Just like an adult book, your story needs a solid structure, including:
- Well-developed characters
- An engaging plot
- Rising tension and stakes
- A satisfying resolution
The difference is that children’s stories tend to move faster with more significant plot points occurring on each page.
So make sure to outline all the major story beats that will occur over the course of your book.
4. Leave Room for Illustrations
Remember what I said earlier about illustrations? If you’re writing a picture book or even an early reader, you MUST leave space for drawings or other visual elements.
The conventional wisdom is to limit your manuscript to no more than 3-4 lines of text per page.
The reason is that the illustrator needs room to add images that complement your story on every page. Too much dense text crowds out the visuals.
5. Read Your Story Out Loud
Children’s stories are almost always read out loud to kids at first.
So you need to ensure that your book sounds good when spoken aloud.
As you write, continually read your manuscript out loud, one page at a time. Listen to the rhythm of the sentences. Make sure there’s a lively cadence that will keep children engaged.
And be on the lookout for any tongue twisters or oddly phrased passages that could trip up someone reading your story.
Final Tips for Creating an Awesome Children’s Book Manuscript
If publishing a bestselling children’s book is on your bucket list (and why wouldn’t it be?) make sure to do these last few things:
- Show, don’t tell: The best children’s books create vivid scenes and let the reader immerse themselves in the action. Often you can cut unnecessary explanations about how a character feels and instead describe their actions and let the scene speak for itself.
- Read diverse books: Modern kids expect diversity and inclusion in their stories. Make sure to pick up recent award-winning diverse children’s books to see examples of how to incorporate inclusiveness into your own manuscript.
- Get early feedback: As with any book, feedback is critical. Have both children AND adults read early drafts of your manuscript to get a sense for what resonates and what falls flat.
Alright, those are my top tips for writing incredible children’s book manuscripts that kids, parents, publishers and hopefully Hollywood will all adore!
Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below!