Lisa Rojany is a writer and publishing professional. Lisa has her own company, Editorial Services of L.A., for writers of fiction and nonfiction.

Peter Economy is a Wall Street Journal best-selling business author and ghostwriter with more than 125 books to his credit, including multiple For Dummies titles.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: the Abcs of Writing for Children 5

Chapter 1: Exploring the Basics of Writing Children's Books 7

Knowing Your Format, Genre, and Audience 8

Getting into a Good Writing Zone 8

Transforming Yourself into a Storyteller 9

Polishing Your Gem and Getting It Ready to Send 10

Selling Your Story 11

Promoting Your Book 11

Improving Your Chances of Getting Published 12

Chapter 2: Delving into Children's Book Formats 15

Dissecting the Anatomy of a Book 16

Grouping Types of Children's Books 17

Illustrated Books for All Ages 18

Baby-friendly board books 19

Picture books for toddlers 20

Other books that have pictures 24

Working through Wordy Books 30

Early readers 30

First chapter books 32

Middle-grade books 34

Young adult books 36

Chapter 3: Exploring the Genres 39

Going Out of This World 40

Science fiction 40

Fantasy 40

Graphic novels and manga 42

Horror and ghost stories 42

Getting in on the Action (and History) 43

Action/adventure 43

True stories 44

Historical fiction 45

Mysteries 46

Writing About Real People 48

Biography/memoir 48

Lgbtqia 49

Gender-oriented series books 51

Friendship 53

School issues 54

Developmental milestones and first experiences 55

Prose poetry 56

Romance 57

Giving Stories a Message 57

Learning/educational 57

Religion 60

Aspirational and inspirational 60

Diversity 61

Family issues 62

Pets and animals 63

Cultural issues 64

Addiction, abuse, and mental illness 65

Keeping Them Laughing with Humor 67

Quirky characters 67

Parody, satire, and jokes 67

Slapstick and gross 68

Dark humor 68

Wordplay 68

Chapter 4: Understanding the Children's Book Market 71

Getting Insight into Book Buyers' Needs 74

For chain and big-box bookstores 74

For independent bookstores 76

Recognizing What Reviewers Offer 78

Discovering What Librarians Add to the Mix 79

Taking a Look at How Teachers Use Books in Their Classrooms 84

Considering Parents' Perspectives 86

Thinking Like a Kid 86

Going after what kids like - regardless of Mom and Dad 87

Knowing what kids don't like 88

Part 2: Immersing Yourself in The Writing Process 89

Chapter 5: Setting Up for Success: Finding the Time and Space to Write 91

Finding Time to Write 92

Figuring out when you're most productive 92

Sticking to a writing schedule 93

Evaluating your commitment 93

Optimizing Your Writing Environment 94

Locating your special writing spot 94

Keeping helpful references handy 95

Cutting down on clutter and getting organized 96

Preventing and dealing with interruptions 98

Chapter 6: Starting with a Great Idea 101

Once Upon a Time: Coming Up with an Idea 101

Relying on specific ideas rather than big ones 102

Tapping into your own experiences 103

Digging through childhood mementos 105

Drawing from other children's experiences 106

Pulling ideas from the world around you 106

Stumped? Break through with Brainstorming 107

Doing it all by yourself 108

Giving free association a whirl 109

Taking up journaling 109

Buddying up to the buddy system 111

Asking the advice of classmates and writing professionals 112

Seeking help from your audience 113

Going to the source 115

Checking the "best of" book lists 116

Fighting Writer's Block 117

Chapter 7: Researching Your Audience and Subject 119

Hanging Out with Kids 120

Going back to school 120

Becoming a storyteller 122

Borrowing a friend's child for a day 125

Dipping into Popular Culture 127

Watching kids' TV shows and movies 127

Playing kid-focused digital games 128

Reading parenting and family magazines and blogs 129

Perusing pop culture magazines and blogs 130

Surfing the web 130

Browsing bookstores 131

Visiting children's stores online or in person 132

Studying kids' fashion trends 133

Eavesdropping where kids hang out 133

Researching Your Nonfiction Topic 134

Outlining the research process 134

Getting around locally 136

Going far afield 136

Visiting the web - a lot 137

Part 3: Creating a Spellbinding Story 139

Chapter 8: Creating Compelling Characters 141

The Secret Formula for an Exceptional Main Character 142

Defining your main character's driving desire 142

Show, don't tell: Fleshing out your main character 143

Getting to Know Your Characters through Dialogue 144

Compiling a Character Bible 147

Surveying a sample character bible 148

Creating consistency 150

Writing Stories with Two or More Main Characters 151

Choosing Supporting Characters 152

Calling All Character Arcs 154

Character Don'ts - and How to Avoid Them 157

Steer clear of stereotypes 157

Don't tell us everything 158

Toss out passivity and indefinites 160

Don't rely on backstory or flashbacks 161

Developing Characters through Writing Exercises 162

Describe your first best friend 162

Borrow your favorite children's book characters 163

Revisit a painful or joyful experience from your childhood 163

Chapter 9: The Plot Thickens: Conflict, Climax, and Resolution 165

Plot: It's All about Action 166

Centering on the Story 167

Giving Your Story a Beginning, Middle, and End 168

Propelling Your Story with Drama and Pacing 168

Drama: A reason to turn the page 169

Pacing: How you keep the pages turning 169

Outlining to Structure Your Plot 170

Creating a step sheet 171

Fleshing out your outline 172

Knowing when to circumvent an outline 175

Preventing Plot Problems 176

Writing Your First Draft 176

Chapter 10: Can We Talk? Writing Effective Dialogue 179

The Fundamentals of Good Dialogue 180

Dialogue has a function 180

Dialogue has drama 182

Listening to Real-World Dialogue 184

How kids talk 184

How grown-ups talk 185

Adding a Speech Section to Your Character Bible 186

Testing! Testing! Reading Dialogue Out Loud 187

Avoiding Common Dialogue Mistakes 188

Failing to have conflict or tension 188

Repeating information: Showing versus telling 189

Describing dialogue 189

Using too many speaker references and attributions 190

Creating heavy-handed and unrealistic dialogue 191

Filling space with unnecessary dialogue 191

Improving Dialogue by Using Writing Exercises 192

Talking on paper 193

Introducing your first best friend to the love of your life 193

Chapter 11: Setting the Scene 195

Giving Context to Your Story and Its Characters with Scenery 195

Creating a Context Bible 196

Knowing When to Include Scenery and Context 197

When place figures prominently 198

When place plays an important role 199

When description of place doesn't interrupt flow of action 200

When you must mention an exotic locale 200

When you mention a specific place at the beginning 201

When you use place to transition to a new scene 201

Providing the Right Amount of Setting 202

Engaging Your Readers' Senses 203

Knowing When Not to Make a Scene 204

Exercising Your Nose through Smellography 204

Chapter 12: Finding Your Voice: Point of View and Tone 207

Building a Solid Point of View 208

Reviewing POV options 208

Picking your POV 209

Matching tense with POV 211

Having Fun with Words through Wordplay, Rhyming, and Rhythm 212

Engaging in wordplay 212

Taking different approaches to rhyming 214

Keeping your story moving with rhythm 215

Using Humor to Your Advantage 216

Figuring out what kids consider funny 217

Turning to the outrageous and the gross 220

The Mojo of Good Writing: Exploring Voice, Style, and Tone 221

Finding your story's voice 222

Writing with style 223

Taking the right tone 223

Knowing When You Need a Voice Makeover 224

Helping Your Voice Emerge by Playing Pretend 225

Pretend to be someone (or something) else 225

Chapter 13: Writing Creative Nonfiction Books 227

The Nonfiction Children's Book World at a Glance 228

Writing Toward a Nonfiction Masterpiece 229

Choosing a Great Nonfiction Topic 231

Looking at topics that get kids' attention 232

Finding topics that interest you 233

Branching out into the real world 233

Testing Your Topic 235

Outlining Your Creative Nonfiction 236

Starting simple 236

Fleshing out your ideas 237

Enhancing your outline by using visual aids 238

Common Creative Nonfiction Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) 239

Writing Exercises for Creative Nonfiction 240

Pretend you're a newspaper reporter 240

Create a funny five-step procedure to wash a dog 241

More short exercises to get you writing 241

Part 4: Making Your Story Sparkle 245

Chapter 14: Editing, Revising, and Formatting Your Way to a...