The Changing Face of Children’s Book Publishing

Most writers don’t have any idea how the business of children’s book publishing really works. Most assume it’s the same as that for adult book publishers. But it can overwhelm the creativity of those considering a children’s book idea. But knowing a little bit about how children's book publishing has evolved will help.

Until the late 1960s, children's book publishing was a relatively small part of the overall publishing business. Publishers published only a few new children's books a year and relied on a small number of well-known authors like Dr. Seuss, E.B. White, and Robert McCloskey. The majority of their business relied on backlist titles, titles that had been published in previous years, not on new books from new authors.

All of that has dramatically changed n the last 35 years as publishers realized that they could make real profit publishing children’s books. What used to be a cozy corner of the publishing world has grown into a billion dollar business. First, because this market is full of insatiable readers—how many kids take just one book out of the library—and second, because the market is renewable. While times and attitudes change, kids are kids. Another reason that the kids market has grown is due to the multitude of reading programs in schools that are encouraging kids to read more.

Undoubtedly, what kicked off this explosive growth was the release of the first book in the  Harry Potter series in 1997---Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by first-time author J.K. Rowling. First published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, with Scholastic as the United States publisher, it targeted kids in the 10-12 age group.. Since then, the series has sold over 400 million copies, and the Harry Potter brand, including the books, merchandise, and movies has an estimated worth of $15 billion dollars. It has made J.K. Rowling the highest earning novelist in history and has made unprecedented profits for her publishers.

Most importantly, Harry Potter created a revolution in the publishing industry. Reading, especially among children over eight years old, was suddenly more popular than ever before, and many teachers claimed that Harry Potter got more boys reading than ever before. The release of each new book in the series brought hordes of buyers into bookstores, discount stores, and warehouse clubs. The phenomenon wasn’t only good for the books’ publisher, it was good for all publishers since new releases brought more foot traffic into stores and more customers for all kinds of books. Finally, because the first Harry Potter volume was simultaneously on the adult and children’s bestsellers list, it proved that children’s books also had a readership among adult readers. That showed that children’s books had grown up.

Children's publishers have become better at publishing books that make a profit. For writers, this means there are many more opportunities to get published since there are simply more books being produced. With online retailing, there are also more ways to sell books. And there are more creative opportunities, too. Publishers aren’t afraid of trying new formats and new book/product combinations, plus they’re taking chances on innovative and creative topics. As a result, children's book writers are getting better financial deals and stronger publicity support. 

As the children's book publishing business has grown, it has been affected by the diversity trend that’s sweeping the country. Publishers are creating more and more books with characters from a wide variety of races and cultures that are focused on multicultural themes.

The world of kids book publishing, once the domain of mostly female writers, has opened up to everyone. And more opportunities now exist in non-fiction for children. For those who have good ideas that kids will love, the children’s book publishing world is their oyster.

Reading and Writing Go Hand in Hand

Reading is an important part of writing. But you’d be surprised just how many beginning writers aren’t avid readers. A recent study states that 23 percent of Americans want to be writers, but the percentage of them who actually read regularly is pitifully poor.

Reading and writing go hand in hand. To be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. The more you read, the better writer you’ll become. This is a pretty bold statement, but it’s true. Exposure to good writing is imperative. Reading just anything won’t do. You have to read well-written articles, stories, and books before you can understand how to write them well.

Most people read to be informed and/or entertained. As a writer, you have to read for technique and, yes, ideas. The broader your reading—the more different kinds of writing you read—the more of each you’ll absorb and the more ideas you’ll have for your own work.

Begin by making it a daily habit. Work the reading of articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals (either online or in print) into your daily routine. With the proliferation of electronic tablets and e-readers, it’s easy to catch up on what interests you while you’re on your coffee break or while eating lunch.

Consider cross-platform programs like Evernote. With its free version, you can save articles or other writing from the Internet to read when you have time. And you can make notes on what you read if reading from a laptop or tablet.  Of course, you can always take along a paperback book to read while having lunch in a nearby park or even while sitting at the picnic table outside your office building where you work.               

The wider your reading, the better. But make sure what you’re reading lies within your fields of interest. That’s not saying you shouldn’t read something new and different once in while.  But if you stick to what interests you, you’ll be more likely to enjoy what you’re reading because you have some interest in the subject matter. Perhaps you’re interested in anything having to do with the Arctic or Antarctic. You might read articles, short stories, non-fiction books and novels about either location----all within you realm of interest.

You may be interested in reading various genres of writing—science fiction, mysteries, detective stories, westerns, etc. But if you don’t enjoy a particular genre, reading it for whatever reason won’t make you like it any more. In fact, it may totally turn you off to it because you see reading it as a self-assignment of sorts.

Also, be sure to stick to writing that has been professionally edited or at least written by a professional, such as this blog. Not all blogs fall into this category, however. Some are just ramblings of everyday people with something to say on a particular subject. And while they’re useful for gleaning information, the writing in them isn’t always up to par.

You can also read or re-read works of literature. But watch out. The older a piece of writing is, the more its style will be dated. And you want to read writing from the last 50-70 years—the period that includes modern writers like Ernest Hemingway, John Updike, Tom Wolfe, Ann Rice, and Truman Capote.

Remember, you’re writing in the 21st Century, so the technique and style you need to absorb should be of your contemporaries. But that doesn’t mean you can’t glean ideas from famous works. Try to figure out how the writer developed his or her idea for a story or book. Was it relevant at the time? Was it related to current events? Is it still relevant or could it be relevant again in a new form?

And while no idea should be done again in exactly the same way, you could put your own spin to an old classic. Take “Romeo and Juliet,” for example. This story of star-crossed lovers has been done over hundreds of times, each as intriguing as the last.

In the process of reading, learn to recognize bad writing. Then steer clear of it, both in your reading and your own writing.

It's All About Technique

As you proceed through your writing career, you’ll change as a writer.  While some of this change may occur naturally, you’ll have to work at improving your writing skills and developing your technique. The best way to do that is to write as much as you can and study the works of other writers.

Unfortunately, you’ve been taught just the opposite. While you studied literature in school, the aim of that exercise was to get you to understand the thoughts of famous writers and not necessarily their techniques. In their quest to make sure you didn’t copy parts of the works of other writers, your teachers pounded the idea that all your thoughts needed to be original. The last original thought not based on work that had been done previously most likely was that of the first person who learned to write. So why should you be any different.

While it’s okay for artists to sit in front of the works of old masters and copy them, the same doesn’t apply to writers—at least that’s what you were taught. In fact, it’s just the same. In order to improve your writing skills and develop good technique, you have to look to other writers, but not those who wrote long ago—in other words, not those found in traditional literature. Instead, you need to read and analyze the works of contemporary writers—at least ones not further back than the 1940s and 50s.

To begin, you first need to learn to read like a writer. Read over a piece of writing to enjoy it for what it is, but then go back over it and study the writer’s technique. If you liked it, ask yourself why. If you didn’t, also ask yourself why. See if you can figure out what made you read this in the first place. If you have a favorite writer, read as many works of his or hers as possible, then pick part of a particular one to study.

In order to study a piece of someone else’s writing, you need to put it in the same format as your own. Copy a few paragraphs of particularly good writing into your word processor. Make sure it’s double spaced, then print it out. Look at it as if its your own writing. What do you notice about it? Are the sentences consistently long or short? What about the types of words used? Does the writer employ any special techniques?

After you’ve studied this sample of another writer’s work, compare it directly to one of yours that’s similar in topic and tone. Why is the other writer’s work better? Now try to write a few paragraphs of your own on the same topic and in that writer’s style. The more you read and study of that writer’s work, the more of his or her technique you’ll subconsciously pick up. Over time, by reading and studying a number of other writers, you’ll soon develop a technique all your own that has bits and pieces of the technique of others woven into it.

A good way to get yourself moving forward is to put together a reading program. Pick writers who you like and who write about similar topics. Also pick a few that write about other subjects that you don’t. If you’re a non-fiction writer, start with non-fiction works, but pepper your program with a few really good short stories or novels and pieces of creative non-fiction. If you’re a fiction writer, start with works from the same genre as your own—historical fiction, romance, mysteries, etc.—then pepper your program with a few select biographies and works of creation non0-fiction. Follow this program for three to six months. Afterwards, you’ll begin to notice a distinct improvement in your writing as your writing skills and technique improve.