Tips for Writing and Publishing Children’s Books

Children´s library books. Photo from here. Tak...

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Children’s books have become very popular within the current literary and book markets. These books can include both fiction and non-fiction books and can be educational as well as entertaining.

If you are an aspiring author, you may want to consider writing children’s books as a possible creative outlet. You may find that this can be a very profitable endeavor. In addition, you may be writing the next children’s classic, such as the Harry Potter series.

Here are a few tips on successfully writing children’s books.

Write an age-appropriate outline for your prospective book. If your target reader is under the age of five, make sure you will be including plenty of pictures.

Make sure your story has relatable characters and global, universal issues. It’s a great idea to try to teach a lesson.

When writing, make sure you are not talking down to your audience. It’s a good idea to actually write at a higher level than your audience, as this will provide a challenge to the children reading your book.

If you have the ability to illustrate your book, do it. Publishers do have illustrators on staff if you need help with pictures and illustrations.

Study the children’s market using resources such as the Writer’s Digest for Children’s Books. There are also great online resources that can help as well. Doing this research will help you properly target your market when you are ready to submit your book. Make sure you follow all the guidelines for submission properly.

Promoting Yourself as a Freelance Writer

If you are new to the freelance writing world, it is important to promote yourself and showcase your talents.  Getting your name out there can lead to better pay and bigger jobs.

Website

Put up a website.  Even if you can’t afford a hefty bill for a professionally made site, these days anyone can throw up a template site in a matter of minutes.  Having a website will give potential clients a home base to contact you at.

Social Network

Join popular social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Digg.  These are great ways to promote your articles, increase your readership and meet clients.

Join a Writing Forum

Joining a forum can help you to learn tips from veteran writers.  Many of these sites will have lists of Internet scams to watch out for.  You can also get legitimate leads and marketing ideas from these sites.

Do a Few Freebies

Small, local publications often will take articles from new writers but there is no pay.  Doing this can help you to gain some exposure and beef up your resume.  Giving of your time now can lead to a high paying job later on.

Get Out and Meet People

Don’t let your freelance writing career turn you into a hermit.  Make new friends and get new leads by going out to local writers groups or taking a writing workshop at a community college.  Always be supportive of other writers.  Writing is a challenging craft and other writers can be your greatest resource.

Writing For Residual Income

Writing for residual income can be lucrative, but it is important to remember that it is not a get rich quick scheme.

Time

Writing for residual income takes time and patience.  Unlike writing assignments for upfront pay, getting paid a lot for your residuals can  take months to a year.  The average person takes at least a year to start seeing a large return on their residual articles.

Diversify

Always write for more than one site, it is ideal to have multiple income streams coming incase a certain venture folds or changes their compensation structure.

Keep on Writing

You need to write in volume to make the most out of residual articles.  You can not just put up two or three pieces and expect success.  Top writers with residual earnings success have over 300 articles on one content site or personal blog.

Why Residuals are Good

Residuals are a good egg for freelance writers because they will allow you to take a “sick day” or “vacation day” and still have money coming.  After a good year or two writing residuals, some writers came make $900 or more without lifting a finger.

Shelf-Life

Make sure that the topics of your articles have a long shelf-life.  Not many people will care about Christmas 2011 during the Christmas season of 2013.  Write articles that can be fresh now or a few years from now.  Writing about topics such as health, savings and green living are popular topics.  Write about topics that you are passionate about and your work will seem like play.

Blogging Tips

If you are just getting started in blogging there is a lot to learn.  Let these few short tips serve as a stepping stone in the right direction.

Pick a Theme

Blogs amount an endless series of topics are not often successful.  Find your niche and write solely about those topics. This will make it easier to be build a concrete following. Popular themes include making money online, writing, small business, frugal living, health and shopping.  Pick a niche that you are both knowledgeable and passionate about.

Shortness

Use short but interesting content.  Making monster size posts will do you no good.  Readers get bored quickly and will move on to the next blog.  Don’t be afraid to use bullets or to do a series of short posts.

Monetize

If you are going to have a blog either for your business or for fun, you may as well monetize it.  Use Google Adsense and affiliate programs from Amazon and Ebay to earn money.  Adsense will earn you money based on clicks.  Using Amazon or Ebay you can advertise listings for others and if the product is clicked on through your blog and sold, you will get a commission.

Design

You need to give some attention to your design.  Even if you can’t afford a professional design at first, you at least need to use a template that goes along with the theme and mood of your blog.  Use a color scheme that is easy to read.  Crazy designs that are rough on the eyes can driver readers away.