How do you write children's books and get them published? You write a children’s book by choosing a target audience, incorporating captivating elements, and beautifully illustrating it. Children’s books may either be self-published or submitted to traditional publishers.
And this article can give you the other tools you need to write the next great children’s book that you may have been thinking about for years, but never thought you'd be able to write and share it with little ones.
What’s your reason for writing children’s books? For me, it’s that smile.
Many authors or aspiring writers dream of publishing a children’s book. Maybe you have an incredible idea that you can’t stop thinking about. Or perhaps you want to put to paper your little one’s favorite bedtime short story — the one you made up while snuggling together.
Whatever the reason, now is the time to check this dream off your bucket list.
And I'm here to help you do that.
I'm a multi-award winning & bestselling children’s book author and ghostwriter of more than 50 children’s books. And I founded a little thing called Children’s Book University®, which helps other authors create books like I have.
What follows is as much information as I could condense into a single article on how to write a children's book. Enjoy!
Get Your FREE Children's Book ChecklistDon't know where to start your children's book? We've got a checklist that will take you through the entire process, from the initial idea to the finished, polished product. Check it out!
Writing and publishing your own children’s book is no longer super challenging to achieve, nor does it take all your life savings (like it might have 20 years ago).
Unless you’re a celebrity or have a large following already, self-publishing your children’s book is a great way to get your foot in the door, even if your ultimate goal is to eventually explore traditional publishing.
If you present a well-performing book and an established author platform, your chances of landing a publishing deal are much higher than if you simply submit a query or manuscript.
How much money can be made from writing a children's book? The answer to this question greatly depends on the subject of the children's book. That's why doing our research is so important, even before we start writing our children's book.
Even for children’s books, we need to validate our book idea.
In this article, you will learn:
Get it here for FREE!Looking to find the right niche for your children's book on Amazon? Download my personal guide on increasing your book's rankings and discoverability on Amazon so you get more sales continuously!
Additionally, book series are generally doing very well with kids. Once little ones come to love a character, they often can't get enough of them and their parents continue buying the books. The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne and The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle are wonderful examples.
The roadmap below outlines what steps we’ll take to write and publish a children’s book:
For books marketed to younger audiences, you need to know that parents will want to buy this book. Children usually don’t spend the money to buy your story. Yes, make something entertaining for kids — but you need parents to buy your book first.
The primary purchaser of children’s books is between 30 and 44 years old. Females make up more than 70% of these buyers.
A few ways you could really get to better know your audience are:
Market research is also a huge tool to see what books parents are looking to buy their children. You'd be surprised at how much interest some themes get when compared to others. Take a look at this example here, showing the search volume for common children's book themes on Amazon:
Data provided by Publisher Rocket
Right away, you should see that some topics get way more interest than others- and depending on your personal goals, you might want to avoid writing a book about a topic with low searches.
Side Note: We recently reviewed another great course on publishing children's books, read our review here.
When writing a children’s storybook, it’s really important to know the basic structure of a children’s book. There are lots of templates for writing a children’s book!
To learn more about children’s books and how to structure your writing for a younger audience, you could:
Is there a template for writing a children’s book? Yes, there are many templates for writing a children’s book. Here are some of my favorites:
You should be able to explain your book concept to anyone in a single sentence and in fewer than 30 seconds.
To best explain your book concept to potential readers or traditional publishers, you should develop a logline that encapsulates the plot and the hook.
If you’re not concisely explaining your book’s concept, you might lose potential readers and publishers because it’s too confusing.
These 7 writing tips may help you avoid common issues when writing a children’s book:
Over 47,000+ authors, NYT bestsellers, and publishing companies use Publisher Rocket to gain key insight to the market. Help your book now
Get Rocket NowYou want to make a children’s book. Below is every resource you’re going to need.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to write a children’s book:
STEP 1
. Choose the FormatShould you publish an ebook or paperback? You should consider publishing your children’s book in both ebook format and paperback format.
Paperback is still the most popular format for children’s books. If you’re looking to sell your children’s book on Amazon or in brick-and-mortar stores, you should invest in a high-quality paperback format.
Ebooks are not a very popular medium for children’s books. However, children’s ebook usage is continuously increasing.
Most parents still prefer their kids to read print books, but the number of parents who prefer ebooks or who have no preference is growing.
Ebooks also come in handy during promotions and review requests. Giving away an ebook for review is a lot easier and more cost-effective.
With a little research, you can determine how well books are selling in your desired format. Here's an example of five competing paperback books on Amazon showing for the keyword “Children's Books About Puppies”, which should give you an idea of how well that format is performing. You can even see how many pages these books are, so you can calculate your estimated costs!
Price, Earnings, and Pages Data provided by Publisher Rocket
It’s worth noting that a study out of the University of Michigan found that storytime with ebooks is not as effective. Compared with physical book storytime, parents spent more time talking about the technology, instead of the book’s content, during ebook storytime.
So physical children’s books won’t go away anytime soon.
STEP 2
. Know Your Target CategoryTo write a children’s book, you need to know your target category — that is, the age of your target audience.
When publishing on Amazon, you will be asked to list what ages your book is for. So it’s important to add the most appropriate age range. Otherwise you may receive lots of negative reviews from parents and other caregivers that thought your book to be unsuitable for their little ones.
Depending on the kids’ age reading your book, you will want to adjust the number of illustrations, word count, writing style, and more.
Most children’s books fall into one of these 5 categories:
Below is a table to show average statistics for the most common types of children’s books:
Short words and short sentences are critical for the youngest children, so readers don’t feel overwhelmed. Colorful illustrations and fun characters are more necessary in children’s books than in adult fiction. Where adults can mentally grapple with ambiguity, kids prefer resolved stories and answered questions.
Each stage of development in a child’s life requires a different story structure and book setup. Adapting to each stage and its cognitive ability is essential if we want our book to be meaningful, educational, and fun.
Board Books are considered the youngest category — including on Amazon’s marketplace. They are for kids aged 0 to 2.
A Board Book is printed on thick paperboard. Often, it contains all pictures or fewer than 100 words.
In most of these categories, but especially these Board Books, marketing to parents is probably more important than appealing to kids. Of course, you want your book to be fun and intriguing to children. But make sure you give parents what they’re looking for: a good message and subtle, effective education.
Picture Books are the next category of children’s books. They are for 3- to 5-year-olds.
Children’s picture books contain up to 400 words, but there should still be vibrant illustrations on every page.
Also called the “Early Readers” category, Chapter Books are just what they sound like — the first books that children will read with the story split up into chapters.
Though some children will be excited to start reading chapter books, others will be reluctant. The broad age range for basic Chapter Books is 6 to 10.
Middle Grade books are for children 8 to 12 — a step up from Chapter Books.
These books typically feature a protagonist aged 10 to 13, slightly older than the reader. They should contain no profane language, no violence, and no romance outside of a first kiss or an innocent crush.
Common themes include friendship, acceptance, good conquering evil, and the importance of family.
A Middle Grade book is longer than a Chapter Book but shorter than a YA book. It usually contains between 30,000 and 45,000 words.
Young Adult books are targeted towards readers aged 13 to 18. Abbreviated as YA, Young Adult is meant to appeal to teenagers, although it’s important to note that more than half of YA books sold are read by adults older than 18.
Some people also use “Young Adult” to mean a genre where the protagonist doesn’t fit in, the parents are absent, they live in a post-apocalyptic world, and a coming-of-age story takes center stage. These are tropes and don’t necessarily apply to every YA story, but you get the picture.
YA books won’t always be considered children’s books. But some traditional publishers may classify “Young Adult” as a children’s book category.
STEP 3
. Choose a TitleYou need to choose a winning title for your children’s book. You could do this after it’s written, but having a title in mind may guide you in your writing. You can always improve and change the title after the story is written.
A creative title lets your story’s personality shine through. But you also want readers to actually find your book. This could be difficult if you don’t name your children’s book correctly.
Fortunately, Dave at Kindlepreneur wrote excellent articles on How to Title a Book and Book Title Generators. They will definitely help you craft that perfect title.
To title a children’s book, you need:
The book The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions is a great example:
Speaking of subtitles: It’s important to include a subtitle underneath your title. This helps the marketing of your book by including additional keywords that parents can search for.
As you can see, some kids book genres have decent money coming into them, with less competition. So, make sure you do your research beforehand and see what possible types of kids books you can create. One way you can quickly see the competition of a genre is checking out your book's Amazon categories, and seeing how many sales it takes per day to become a bestseller. That should give you a good idea of the competition in that genre.
For example, take a look at the competition difference here for several children's categories about specific animals. Many young children have a favorite, and making a high quality book in a lower competition category can help your book be discovered by readers.
Data provided by Publisher Rocket
By writing a quality book for a category with low competition, but significant interest, your children's book will stand out from the crowd. If you decide to target a high competition category, just know there are publishers and authors with high experience already in that space, and you will have to work harder to capture a customer's attention.
STEP 4
. Find a Writing StyleYou need to find a writing style that fits the age group you are writing for, the associated word count, the story you’re telling, and your own preferences.
You may be an excellent writer, an engaging blogger, maybe even an already accomplished author of adult fiction or nonfiction. But when it comes to writing style for children, you have to adopt a new mindset and an appropriate writing style.
Here are some writing styles you should consider:
There is no right or wrong approach; it’s merely a question of style. Once you have chosen your style, you will need to stick to it throughout the book.
. Incorporate Important Elements
When you write a children’s book, there are important elements that you need to incorporate, such as an appropriate theme, memorable characters, and relatable dialogue.
Your inspired story idea is only as strong as how you tell it. There’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. There are actions, scenes, and emotions. Be sure to be clear about your core message.
The 5 most important elements in a good children’s book:
While the sequence and rhythm of events are significant, keep in mind that not all stories have the same structure. There is no one formula because following a formula would rob stories of their true potential.
Yes, it’s crucial to have an intentional structure. But if it doesn’t fit perfectly, don’t force it.
STEP 6
. Use Solid CharactersYou have to use solid characters in your children’s book. Interesting, unforgettable characters are a must, especially when helping kids recall your story and core message.
The best characters in children’s books…
It's also important to research a character's surface level attributes before starting to write your book. Children will often ask their parents for a specific type of character such as a train, or a pig, or any other current interest they may have. For example, take a look at how much bestselling books earn for these character types, as well as the level of competition become a bestseller:
Data provided by Publisher Rocket
STEP 7
. Make the Story EngagingYou need to make the story engaging in your children’s book.
First, you need a good ending. Younger kids need a happy ending that satisfies them. You don’t want to make a kid cry because your story ended sadly. That doesn’t mean slightly more realistic conclusions are pointless, but your audience may struggle to understand complex topics.
Next, make sure your main character is making deliberate choices to move the story forward. If they aren’t making any decisions, they probably shouldn’t be the main character.
Any good story needs suspense, no matter your age category. Cliffhangers are a great way to engage your reader. In a younger book, a cliffhanger may be as simple as writing “Peek-a-” on one page, then “BOO!” on the next.
Here are some examples of suspenseful questions that different age ranges should ask throughout the story:
STEP 8
. Proofread & EditWhen you finish your first draft, you need to proofread and edit your children’s books.
Check out Kindlepreneur’s useful article on the Best Proofreading Services You'll Ever Find.
You should wait to hire a professional editor until you have self-edited your book. But you need a pro to look at your work before publishing.
Editing is a valuable and necessary investment, particularly for anything longer than 600 words. A professional proofreader or a line editor can help with spelling and grammar. For chapter books and beyond, you may want to hire a developmental editor to look at the big picture.
A good editor is instrumental in making your book a success because poor spelling, grammar, and book structure will reflect poorly on you as a children’s book writer, leading to negative reviews and fewer sales.
Your book and its message might be fantastic, but too many errors will be noticed by your readers. They may voice their opinion in a review like this, which ultimately lowers your overall rating.
So if your book is more than 600-800 words long, you should send it off to a professional editor for proofing.
Yes, you can go over it yourself and let your significant other read through it. But letting an unbiased, independent professional look over it will make your manuscript as good as it can be.
To find a great editor, read Kindlepreneur’s handy article Selecting The Best Book Editor.
STEP 9
. Illustrate Your BookWhen it comes to adding illustrations to your children’s book, there are three options you can choose from:
The best option for you will depend on your budget, time, skill level, and trust you’re willing to put into someone else's interpretation of your story.
Illustrating your book may take almost as much time as — if not more time than — actually writing the words of your children’s book.
I’ve broken up the illustration process into 7 steps:
Your book cover is a particularly important illustration. Make sure it attracts the right readers! Services like 100 Covers can really make it shine with special typography.
When it comes to picture books, there are 3 orientations to choose from:
(This doesn’t apply to chapter books or books for older children. Those usually feature the classic 5½” x 8” format.)
You should choose your book’s orientation early on since it will inform virtually every decision about illustrations down the road.
This is not a hard and fast rule, but here are general reasons to choose each:
Whether you hire an illustrator or create the illustrations yourself, you’ll want to make sure you plan your image sizing correctly. This way, once you upload your artwork, everything runs smoothly.
Below are the most common sizes for children’s book images:
If you plan on having your images cover the entire page, make sure to add 0.125” to the top and bottom, as well as one side. This accounts for trimming (sections to be removed in printing).
Amazon offers handy templates to plan your image sizing. But remember that you’ll still have to add the bleed allowance yourself.
Here are great inches-to-pixels and pixels-to-inches converters. These help you know how large your image should be, depending on your selected trim size. Be sure to choose a DPI (dots per inch) of 300 when using the mentioned converter.
A storyboard or book dummy helps you decide what to include in each illustration and how the text will match up with the images.
This is meant to help you determine which illustrations you want to include, better informing your quest to find and hire an illustrator. This step is extra helpful if you are planning to create your illustrations yourself.
The storyboard creation process doesn’t have to be perfect. Be expressive, and have fun. In the end, you’ll probably create a few different versions, each being an improvement over the previous one.
How to create a storyboard or book dummy:
How you combine your text and illustrations is entirely up to you.
However, it's a crucial element on how to write a children's book. Whatever you choose, be consistent throughout.
There are two ways of combining text and illustrations:
Having the text as part of the image makes your book format much more straightforward,, and looks consistent across all devices.
However, you decide to include the text in the image itself, this will have to be done by your illustrator. This method makes editing the text a bit harder — any changes or corrections have to be made within the image itself.
Below (left) is a page from my book The Garbage Trucks Are Here, and on the right is a page from my book A Gemstone Adventure.
The other option is to have the text and image separate. The text sits below or above the illustration or on a separate page.
Below is a double-page spread from my chapter book series, The Amulet Of Amser. It has an image on the left-hand page and the text on the right-hand page.
You can arrange this layout by yourself. You don't have to involve your illustrator.
I've started gathering individual authors and agencies into one big list to help with your search. Check them and their sites out below. Keep in mind that I haven't used these services myself.
Here’s a list of outsourcing sites and social media sites where you can choose an illustrator for your children’s book:
These outsourcing sites provide you with reviews from the artist’s previous clients and may even include information about previous completion rates. Most importantly, these sites are cost-effective.
On most outsourcing sites, you’ll post your project (similar to a job offering), and children’s book illustrators will bid on it.
To get an idea of how much you should be offering, browse some of the platform’s current projects. Know that your bid sets a baseline only, as each illustrator will bid individually on your project if he or she is interested in working with you.
: To get you started with your illustrator search, I’ve created swipe files that you can use to post your Illustrator Project Description into any of the previously suggested sites. You can download it here
After the initial bidding process (usually a couple of days), you will have to go through each illustrator’s profile and portfolio to decide who would — or wouldn’t — be a great fit.
You’ll need to pay for illustrations. An illustrator is more critical than an editor for picture books — the illustrations are what the reader will be most focused on.
To get a feel for acceptable prices for a project, browse websites to find postings for similar projects. Actual prices differ significantly from service provider to service provider and change drastically over time.
Payments are generally released based on milestones that you set, such as the completion of the storyboard. The milestone setup will depend on the scope of your project and the platform you are using to hire your illustrator.
The cost of your illustrator depends on multiple things:
Once you choose the best-fitting illustrator for your project and they’ve completed their work, you need to obtain the illustrations.
You want high-resolution images (300 dpi) with the proper sizing and the raw files of all images. This will enable you to make changes directly to your illustrations if need be.
A signed art release form is relevant if you decide to hire an illustrator directly. Any art attained via outsourcing sites should automatically make the illustrations your intellectual property.
Take my full featured video course on how to select the best keywords and categories for your book.
Take the CourseThe answer to whether or not you should copyright your children’s book is entirely up to you. Just know that under U.S. copyright law, you already own your work the instant you write it down. However, you can protect your copyright by registering it with the US Copyright Office.
Read Kindlepreneur’s handy article written by a lawyer: How to Copyright a Book in the US
What should I not do when writing a children’s book?
You should try not to sound too preachy or instructional about your themes and morals. Kids are very perceptive. They smell an agenda miles away.
You should not leave a story unresolved or a question unanswered. Depending on the age group you’re writing your children’s book for, you need to provide a satisfying ending — particularly for smaller kids.
You should not break patterns. Children love a routine. The key to routines or patterns is to not break them. In your children's book, once we’ve established a pattern (rhyme, repeating phrase, character behavior, etc.), try your best to stick to it.
One of the easiest ways to convert your children’s book into an ebook is Amazon’s Kindle Kids’ Book Creator.
While I use other methods, I love working with and recommending this simple yet powerful tool. It’s FREE and helps you create an ebook version for your illustrated children’s book. You can import artwork, add text, and create Kindle Text Pop-Ups.
And the best part is that there’s no HTML/CSS knowledge required!
Yes, your children’s book should have a subtitle, mainly for marketing purposes.
As I share in my book How To Self-Publish A Children’s Book, making use of a subtitle can be very beneficial for connecting with potential readers.
Giving your children’s book a subtitle provides you with an additional opportunity to use keywords, key phrases, or synonyms that potential readers might be using when searching for a children’s book like yours.
Using a subtitle also allows for more creative freedom than with your actual title. So if your title itself doesn't fully communicate the topic of the book, you’ll have the subtitle as a backup.
Figure out what is trending in children's books using Publisher Rocket. Use this info to develop an effective subtitle.
Just type in a children's book idea, and you can quickly see how many people are searching for those books on Amazon, the average amount of money made by the top books, and even the competition:
This data was created using Publisher Rocket.As you can see, some kids’ book genres have decent money coming into them with less competition. Make sure you do your research beforehand and title/subtitle your children’s book accordingly.
You write a children’s book description (blurb) by looking at similar books’ descriptions. Pay special attention to length, word choice, and the style they are written in. That’s usually a great way to see what your audience expects and is used to.
Like books of other genres, your book description is fundamental to your children’s book’s success.
While your book cover and title help with your book’s discoverability and grabbing a potential buyer’s attention, your description is often the reason a reader decides to buy (or not to buy) your book.
To help you with your blurb format, be sure to check out Dave’s amazing Book Description Generator that takes care of all the text formatting for you.
Amazon has over 450 paperback and 260 eBook categories for children’s books. Your children’s book should be in the category that best describes your audience:
(These categories are how Amazon’s marketplace categorizes children’s books.)
During your children’s book setup, you may have noticed that not all children’s book categories are offered as an option. That’s because some of Amazon’s categories need to be unlocked before being selected.
However, if you set up your children’s book correctly by adding age ranges, you will be able to add your book quickly and easily to any of these hidden categories by following Dave’s steps in his article How To Choose the Best Book Categories. This is a game-changer for you and your children's book.
The best book cover design for your children’s book is one that entices potential readers, looks professional to parents, looks fun to kids, and communicates what your book is about.
To get the best cover design you can for your children’s book, follow this guide for making standout book covers. Then create a book mock-up for your book marketing efforts.
Follow this guide, and you’ll craft a beautiful story tailored toward your audience. And you’ll have the illustrations to make your children’s book eye-catching, and intriguing.
Children value creativity and individuality. There is no one way to draw. No one way to paint. No one way to write. It’s about being uniquely you, lending your unique voice to your unique story.
That’s why you shouldn’t be afraid of the way you write, and you draw because that’s what sets you apart. Diversity is important. Tell your story.
Check out my book, How To Self-Publish A Children’s Book – Everything You Need To Know To Write, Illustrate, Publish, And Market Your Paperback And Ebook.
It will teach you how to:
Writing a children’s book is one thing; writing a children’s book that sells is another. Check out Kindlepreneur’s video on How to Write a Children's Book: 8 EASY STEPS!
Want more videos like this? Then click HERE to subscribe to Kindlepreneur’s YouTube channel.
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Many authors' dream is to write a children's book, and to inspire young minds with heartfelt stories and playful imagination. Many assume that writing for kids is easier, but writing great children's literature is no easy feat, especially if you're brand-new to the game.
In this post, we cover everything you need to know about writing a children's book, borrowing insights from experienced children's book editors like Anna Bowles, Jennifer Rees, Cara Stevens, and others.
How to write a children’s book in 8 steps:
FREE RESOURCE
Children’s Book Development Workbook
Bring your children's book to life with our step-by-step workbook.
The best picture books are simple stories that engage children, and show them a fun or valuable perspective. Think about Dr. Seuss’s classic Green Eggs and Ham: the whole story premise is that the main character, Sam-I-Am, tries to convince his friend, a picky eater, to try green eggs and ham. It engages children with something relatable 一 being reluctant to try new foods 一 and it shows that perhaps it’s not so bad to give it a try.
If there’s one thing that most classic picture books have in common, it’s that they look at the world from a child’s perspective.
It can help to write your story with a specific child in mind — one you know personally. If you are a parent, a teacher, or have dealt with kids personally, think of them as you write your story. Connect with the way they experience life and the things they value. Remember the sorts of things that make them laugh.
Most importantly, consider what’s compelling to them. Maybe your story can address some of their fears and doubts, or evoke their most cherished moments. Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes is about a little mouse who’s concerned about all kinds of things — especially starting school. The story reflects an anxiety many children experience and provides a hopeful message that things will be okay.
Image: It's a firefly night by Dianne OchiltreeDianne Ochiltree’s picture book It's a Firefly Night tells the story of a girl who catches fireflies in a jar on a warm summer night, but ultimately makes the decision to release them. This is an experience many kids will relate to 一 and will make them feel good as our young hero learns to care for and respect the little creatures around her.
But before you run with your story idea, it’s important to validate its market potential.
Try to assess what's working in the marketplace already, and if your book idea fits in. What are the most popular picture book themes?
As long-time children’s book editor Brooke Vitale points out, the most popular picture book concepts haven’t massively changed over the years. “Across the board, the top-selling themes for picture books have been bedtime, farm, and ABC.” This is because they’re subjects kids can relate to: bedtime rituals, farm animals and their sounds, and learning to read.
“Also high on the list have been holidays, in particular Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, and the reason for this is because they're marketable.” By marketable, Vitale means that these sorts of picture books are ones that people could easily buy as gifts for children.
Image: Trick or Pete: A Halloween Book for Kids by James DeanSome smaller holidays are on the rise too, like Mother's and Father’s Day, as well as graduation celebrations. But you don’t have to tie your story too closely to the specific holiday you’re targeting 一 a Mother’s Day book can be about a mother-and-daughter relationship, or a graduation title can be an aspirational tale set around education, making the story evergreen and relevant year-round.
There are always new themes bursting onto the scene, like empowerment or mindfulness, which you can tap into to bring fresh stories to market. For example, in The Princess and the Pizza, Mary Jane Auch subverts the classic princess story: instead of accepting her fate and marrying into another royal family, Princess Paulina becomes a self-sufficient founder of a pizza empire. And of course, this idea ingeniously combines three things that many children love: princesses, carbs, and cheese.
Once you’ve landed on a great story idea, don’t forget that you’ll need a memorable lead character.
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The most iconic children's book characters have distinct and relatable personalities. Think of Leo Lionni’s Frederick, a field mouse whose fondness for poetry and art is seen as distracting from his family’s efforts to gather supplies for winter. Or take Jim Panzee from Suzanne Lang’s Grumpy Monkey, another outsider who struggles with his “bad temper” while everyone around him is having fun 一 something many kids will relate to.
Image: Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne LangWhether your main character is a child, robot, animal, or sentient gas cloud, what matters is that they feel real — with specific abilities and challenges.
Young readers don’t want to read about perfect heroes, but rather characters they recognize. Memorable characters should come with their own fully realized strengths, weaknesses, conflicts, and motivations that make them compelling to their young readers.
To help you create great new characters, we have some additional resources for you:
FREE RESOURCE
Reedsy’s Character Profile Template
A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.
Besides being relatable in their behavior, your main character should have their own sets of dreams and desires — and the willpower to realize them.
If there’s a younger character in your book, it’s usually their story you should be telling. It should be about their dreams, and they should be the ones making decisions that drive the narrative forward.
As Reedsy Children's editor Anna Bowles suggests, don’t forget who the heroes are. “A lot of beginners write about children as we adults often see them: as cute and slightly comical little beings. But what children actually want is stories where they are the heroes, driving the action, facing challenges, and making choices.”
Patrick Picklebottom and the Penny Book is the story of a young boy who goes to buy his favorite book. On the way home, his friends invite him to fly a drone, play video games, or scroll through social media — but he declines and gets home to read instead. In real life, a child might have a parent giving them advice, but in the book, it’s Patrick himself calling the shots. He buys the book, he says no to the various temptations, and he gets himself home to read it.
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Once you’ve got a great story and some interesting characters, it’s time to consider your story structure.
Even within the word limits of children’s books, you need to create a satisfying story arc that captivates young readers from the very start, takes them on an exciting journey, and culminates in a gratifying and memorable conclusion. One way to achieve this arc is to think of your story as a simple question and answer.
Picture book editor Cara Stevens, who in her long career has written and edited for Nickelodeon, Disney, and Sesame Street, believes that every story should begin with a dilemma and end with a resolution. “There's usually a question: Will Mr. Frumble get his hat? Why doesn't Priscilla like chocolate? Why doesn't Elmo want to go to the dentist? These questions are a vital point in diagnosing your story or giving it direction when you're not sure where it's going.”
📼 Watch the Reedsy Live in which Cara Stevens reveals the 20 questions that can help picture book authors turn their ideas into finished manuscripts.
Once you’ve identified the story-driving question, you then want the character to face some challenges and doubts.
Novels are often about characters dealing with a challenge, and how they change as a result of it. Children’s books are no different. Even in the simplest of narratives, the character should grow and learn something by overcoming internal and external conflicts.
In Richard Scarry’s Be Careful, Mr. Frumble!, the title character goes on a walk on a windy day and his hat is whisked away by the wind. Will he get it back? After chasing it through trains, trees, and the sea, he does. Despite the initial worry, he finds that he’s grateful for the fun that losing his hat brought with it.
Image: Richard Scarry's Be Careful, Mr. Frumble!Or think again of Patrick Picklebottom, who just wants to read his book: his conflict is created by his friends’ requests to do other things. By the time he reaches home, he has learned to say no and prioritize what he values most.
Whatever journey you set your characters on, it’ll have to fit within the standard picture book’s length.
It’s easy to fall in love with your story and characters and find yourself overwriting as a result. Children's books have rather standard lengths, depending on their type, and it’s important to try and stick to them to ensure your book is readable for your target audience.
The average word count for a standard picture book falls between 400 and 800, with a length of 24 or 32 pages. The page count includes the copyright and dedication page, as well as your author bio, which means your story has to be told within 30 pages or less. With so little room, you’ll have to be mindful of the number of characters you introduce and the number of plot points they will encounter.
At this point, you have a lot of story elements cooking and a structure to mix them in. But before you do that, you’ll want to think about the secret ingredient — style.
Picture books often feature repetition, rhythm, and rhyme. These literary devices add a musicality to books, making them a pleasure to read or listen to. Children will want to have their favorite stories read to them repeatedly, so parents will greatly appreciate it if the words fall trippingly off their tongues when doing so.
🤔 Should your picture book rhyme? Listen to editor and children's author Tracy Gold's opinion on Reedsy Live.
Let’s have a closer look at why repetition and rhyme are so common in kids’ books.
You can use different types of repetition in picture books, such as for words, entire sentences, or sounds. You can use it to structure your story, pace it, or reinforce a certain point or concept. When executed well, it can create a nice build-up that kids can pick up and easily follow.
The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith uses repetition in a few different ways. It starts with the narrator walking down the road and spotting a donkey. The first sentence is repeated in every scene, along with the donkey sound (Hee Haw!) Then it adds a line describing the donkey 一 its appearance, mood, and music taste (a sort of donkey dad joke). But that’s not all: each scene adds a short, rhyming description of the donkey, which, as the book progresses, keeps building up into an amusing climax.
Image: The Wonky Donkey by Craig SmithBuilding the story incrementally through repetition and rhyme can be powerful. But remember, it’s not compulsory — and not all rhymes are created equal.
In recent years, many children’s book editors have advised against rhyming in your book. That’s because it’s quite difficult to rhyme well, and children's book agents are able to spot a bad or derivative rhyme from a mile away. That said, if you’re a master of the perfectly unexpected rhyme and you think your book demands them, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go for it.
Llama Llama Red Pajama is packed with rhymes from start to finish. It’s a simple story of a cria (that’s a baby llama!) waiting for their mother to comfort them at bedtime. The story’s simplicity and very short lines are perhaps some of the reasons it works so well.
Image: Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna DewdneyIf you’re writing in verse and rhyme, always read it aloud. Ask yourself if it feels forced, excessive, or awkward in any way, and whether the rhyme contributes to building the story. If it doesn’t sound quite right, you can always see what it’s like without the rhyming.
According to writer and editor Jennifer Rees, you can sometimes achieve even better results without forcing it. “So often, I get some really sing-songy stuff that forces the reader into a rhythm that people think is fun — but in truth, it just drags on.
“There are so many gorgeously written picture books that do not rhyme but they just sound beautiful. Someone has really paid attention to how the lines read and how each and every single word sounds when you read it out loud.”
There are also a few more literary choices to consider as you write your story…
Your core audience is at a crucial stage of their mental development and is currently mastering basic literacy skills. This calls for a few considerations as you write and edit your children’s book.
Even at the best of times, kids have limited attention spans. It's essential that you jumpstart the action with some sort of hook in the first few pages. This ‘hook’ could come in the form of an intriguing character or an inciting incident.
The inciting incident of Dr. Seuss’s classic The Cat in the Hat, as you might recall, is an intriguing character. After setting up a scene with two bored siblings, Seuss introduces a mysterious cat who invites himself into their home. Is the cat good or bad? Should he stay or should he go? The reader understands that the cat brings chaos with him, and the story is set in motion.
Image: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. SeussOnce the story has started, it’s just as important to maintain a good pace. Each scene should ideally act as a little hook that builds the tempo or raises the stakes until the story's resolution.
Another important thing to consider is your choice of words.
There are many great places to show off your bombastic grandiloquence, but a kid’s book is not one of them. Children won't be impressed by four-syllable words — they'll only be confused by them. That said, children's editor Jenny Bowman often tells her authors that, when used intentionally and sparingly, the occasional big word can be welcome. “Children are smarter than you think, and context can be a beautiful teacher.”
To figure out the most fitting vocabulary for your story you can read other books for kids in your age group, or browse famous word sets for early readers, like the Fry and Dolch lists or the Children’s Writer Word Book, which feature the most commonly used words for children’s books depending on their age.
It’s not just the vocabulary that needs a double-check. Also consider your characters, their behaviors, and the environments they inhabit 一 they should all be tailored to resonate with a child’s life experience. A talking eagle who’s a corporate lawyer working on a big M&A case might not be as relatable as a little mouse on her first day at school.
To know if you’re on the right track, the best thing you can do is road-test your early drafts with their intended audience.
Read your story out loud to children and parents in your social circle. Pay attention to how it sounds with an audience, and whether it invokes an emotional response. Kids are usually pretty honest, so their feedback will be some of the most valuable you’ll receive.
Aim for a few rounds of reactions, and incorporate their suggestions as much as possible. Only once you have thumbs-ups from your young beta readers should you begin to think about your next step, which is to start combining your words with powerful visuals.
In contrast to many other types of books, where words alone are sufficient to tell a story, in picture books text and illustrations complement each other to create a more immersive experience. Whether you’re planning to bring in an illustrator or pick up a pen and brush yourself, you should always be thinking of pictures when you’re drafting your manuscript
Think of your book like a (very) short movie. Every time you flip a page, you enter a new scene that holds the potential to surprise your young readers. To achieve this effect, consider placing your surprises strategically on the other side of page turns.
To help you visualize the flow of your story and its pacing, try using a storyboard template to mock up your visuals and match your text to the right scenery.
FREE RESOURCE
Children's Book Storyboard Template
Bring your picture book to life with our 32-page planning template.
When self-editing your manuscript, try to cut unnecessary sentences and let the visuals do the talking instead (by showing, instead of telling.) There’s no need to squander your precious word count describing the weather or a character’s clothes if the pictures can do the same. So instead of writing them into your manuscript, include those details in your art notes so that your illustrator will know precisely how to represent them.
Once you’ve written and rewritten your children’s story, consider bringing on board a children’s book editor to polish it further.
If you've gotten feedback, self-edited extensively, and still feel your children's book isn't quite there, consider hiring a professional children's editor. Their years of experience will both improve your storytelling and make sure that your book is ready for the market.
Fortunately, we have the best children's editors right here on Reedsy, many of whom have worked with major authors like Daisy Meadows (author of the Rainbow Magic series) and R.L. Stine!
MEET EDITORS
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Work with a professional children’s book editor to take your book to the next level.
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There are two types of picture book editors you may be looking for:
Developmental editors. These editors will look at your story’s backbone, from characters and settings, to the story plot and concept, and make sure it’s solid and ready for the market. They will also comment on whether you used rhyme and repetition wisely, if you need to change the time frame or point-of-view, and suggest other potential improvements.
Copy editors. The copy editor will correct your typos, spelling, and grammar, assess your choice of words, and make comments to ensure your text is perfectly polished.
Very often, you can find a single editor to handle both services — they’ll give your book a developmental edit, provide any notes for revising your draft, then copy-edit the manuscript once you’ve made the changes.
Read our post on children’s book costs to find out the average price for each service. If you’re self-publishing, there’s one important part of your budget you’ll want to put aside: that would be to hire a skilled illustrator to bring your words to life.
If you want to publish your book traditionally, don’t bother looking for an illustrator. It will be handled by the company who will represent your work, as they prefer to be in charge of that. Just prepare your picture book query letter and start pitching agents.
If instead you’re self-publishing your picture book, you’ll have to locate your very own Quentin Black. We wrote an in-depth guide on how to hire a children’s book illustrator, but one of the most important points is to determine your ideal illustration style.
MEET BOOK DESIGNERS
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Enchant kids and their caregivers with a professionally designed book.
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What style best captures the mood and world of your story? Perhaps your book is for very young readers, who will enjoy bright, bold, and graphic illustrations. Perhaps you’re aiming at a slightly older audience, who’ll appreciate whimsical characters and a more muted color palette.
Each illustrator brings a distinct touch to their human characters, from intricate linework to striking realism, edgy designs to gentle human-like figures. You’ll have plenty of options to choose from, depending on what you’ve envisioned for your book.
To find your ideal professional, gather a range of references to make sure you have ample inspiration and “mentor texts” to refer back to. Browse through your favorite kids' books, or the portfolios of some professionals, and identify what you like — and, perhaps just as importantly, anything you definitely don’t like. This post on 20 children’s book illustrators will be a helpful jumping-off point in finding visual references and the vocabulary to describe what you’re looking for.
While some artists might welcome a challenge, and enjoy trying out a new style, the best way to guarantee results that you like is to find an artist whose style already matches your vision fairly closely — rather than asking them to fit a square peg into a round hole.
And there you have it! Once you've completed these steps, you'll have a completed children's book ready for publication. Make sure to check out our guide on how to publish your children’s book for more information on how to get your story in the hands (and hearts) of your young readers.
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