Career

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Your Writing Career

This is part of the online guide The Basics of Writing for Children, by Aaron Shepard, found on Aaron Shepard's Kidwriter Page. Excerpted and adapted from the booklet The Business of Writing for Children, Second Edition, by Aaron Shepard, Shepard Publications, 1997. Copyright (c) 1991-1999 by Aaron Shepard. May be freely copied and shared for any educational, noncommercial purpose.

Starting Out

Spend time with kids.

Read lots of current books in the genre and age group you're writing for.

Read magazines and newsletters -- for writers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, educators, anyone involved with children's books.

Take classes with qualified children's writers.

Join a critique group, or exchange manuscripts with other writers. Detailed feedback is essential for most new writers, and you're not likely to get it at first from editors.

Attend conferences and conventions. You will not only learn but will make valuable personal contacts.

Upon Publication

Develop a good relationship with your editor and other publishing personnel. Be professional and cooperative. Keep in close touch with them, and let them know what you're doing. Make them eager to publish and promote you more.

Make friends with your local media. A newspaper is most likely to be interested in your work, perhaps printing a feature story as well as reviewing your books. The smaller the town where you live, the better your chances for media attention.

Make frequent public appearances. This both promotes your books and supports your writing -- in fact, the fees can double your author's income! Contact educators, librarians, bookstore managers, and event planners, to tell them you're available. Here are some possibilities:

Long Term

Keep doing all the above.

Think in terms of career. Publication of your first book is only the first of many steps in building a career as a children's author.

Being a children's author is more than just writing. Your books will sell best when you sell yourself. Plan to spend maybe a third of your "writing" time on appearances, correspondence, and other forms of promotion.

Keep in the public eye by publishing at least one book a year. It takes about eight to ten books to "establish" a children's author!

Select your writing projects carefully. The focus and direction of your work as a whole will help or hinder your career.

Consider writing for different age groups. The more age groups you cover, the more chances you'll get to promote your work.

Consider writing a series. If one of your books is popular, readers will want to read more about those characters. A sequel or two can have a multiplier effect on popularity.

The more books you have with a single publisher, the more the publisher may want to promote you. Still, if you write more than one book a year, you may want to try for more than one publisher. Editors now change jobs frequently, and publishing houses are often bought up by larger companies -- so having more than one publisher can provide a margin of safety. And a little competition among publishers seldom hurts an author.

Agents are seldom available to beginning writers, and may or may not do better than you could yourself. Besides, through your own marketing efforts you gain valuable knowledge of your field. But at some point you might want to acquire an agent to share your work load, give you access to new editors, and/or maximize your earnings. If so, choose carefully! As in every other field, there are good and bad, and a bad agent can ruin your career. Also be aware that no agent can give your career as much time and attention as you can yourself. And agents -- like publishers -- must focus their efforts on their most profitable authors. So, take care not to hound your agent, but do check on progress, now and then.

The most important thing is to write great books. "Publishable" isn't good enough -- aim to write classics!

For more writer resources, go to Aaron's Kidwriter Page.

For other treats and resources, go to Aaron's Home Page.