Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts

Wednesday 18 April 2018

5 tips to writing books for children (With words by published children's author, Carol Baker!)



It isn't as easy as A B C. Writing for children is a lot more challenging then a lot of people would expect.

Children demand engaging, thought provoking and linguistically interesting books that capture their hearts and light up their imagination. As a writer is it difficult to know when your story is too simple or too complicated for your chosen age range, or even if your writing will appeal to your target age range.

I spoke to Carol Baker, a teacher with a passion for English Grammar who recently commissioned me to illustrate her own children's book; Armored Armadillo to Zippy Zebra – An alliterative anthology of animals

With Carol’s professional advice, I have compiled these 5 most important tips to writing for children.



Don’t preach or lecture

It’s tempting to put wholesome, life lessons into your book, especially if your story has a moral that is revealed at the end. But children know when they are being taught a lesson; and it’s too much like school. They spend much of their day being told what to do and taught how to behave, so young readers will shy away from books like this.

Try and avoid writing your ‘moral’ at the end of the story in an obvious way, and instead use the character and the story to show how the person has learned and changed. For example a book about a boy who never shares his toys may end with the boy learning to share, but instead of writing this as the boy’s Mum telling him, ‘Sharing is kind and the right thing to do, so you should always share,’ how about the boy finds out for himself that sharing makes him more popular and he prefers the friendships he makes more than his toys, leaving them discarded at the end of the book as he runs off to play with his friends?

Books that have good lessons hidden below the surface are much more likely to be fun to read, and children are smart enough to learn that this behaviour can benefit them too. When you find yourself preaching, ask yourself; how can I imply this without saying it outright?

Carol’s career as a teacher prepared her for this.

My passion has always been English grammar, and I particularly enjoyed teaching fairy tales and folk tales to children.  Valuable life lessons and English grammar structures can be learned from these simple stories which many of my ESL (English as a Second Language) students grasped unknowingly as they began reading.  A good teacher can make learning enjoyable.

Although “Armored Armadillo to Zippy Zebra, An Alliterative Anthology of Animals” can be read for pure enjoyment, many parents and teachers will appreciate the ways they can apply the book as a teaching tool. 








Write from a child’s point of view

A great practice session for this is to listen in on children having a conversation without adults. How do they ask questions? How do they put their sentences together? Children have a unique way of interacting with the world around them, and they will find it difficult to read a book that is written in an adult environment. 

A child will not only understand your story better, but they will also relate to your characters much more if they talk like them and think like them. Here’s a great example.

An adult might say; ‘Where does the sun go after sunset?’
A child might say; ‘Where does the sun sleep at night?’

If you are writing what you think a child should hear – stop right there. Go back and write as if you are immersed in the world of that child. Tables and chairs tower over your head, adults eat strange things and you can’t understand why pouring mud onto the living room carpet is so bad.



Don’t treat your readers like little kids

'But they ARE little kids!' I hear you exclaim.

Think about it. What child likes being told they’re too little and inexperienced? Young children love to think they’re all grown up. When they are reading (or being read to) they want to feel like they are powerful, respected and that the person telling the story understands them.

Children are a lot more intelligent and perceptive then most adults give them credit for. It’s a fine balance between giving them the opportunity to piece a story together themselves, working out something that they might not understand at first, and still keeping it simple enough that they can still follow the plot without getting frustrated and abandoning it. Carol Baker does this by providing some easy to pronounce, well-known words with new, more difficult ones that children can learn.

I knew I was going to choose an animal for each letter of the alphabet as the basis of my book, but it took me two years to decide what vehicle to use for showcasing these animals.  Should I make it funny or factual?  Should I make it rhyming?  What age readers should I target?  When I decided to give each animal an alliterative adjective, I saw alliteration as my vehicle.



Kid’s LOVE silly humour

While illustrating for Carol Baker, I slipped a pair of underpants into an illustration. Carol wasn’t keen on the idea and removed them to the dismay of her Granddaughter. After seeing her young test audience giggle so much when they saw the clothing, Carol decided to put the underpants back in.



It’s not just underpants. Snot, poop, bogies – if it’s gross and inappropriate, young kids will love it! Adults on the other hand, will have no idea what is so funny about it.

Don’t be scared to throw in a few rude situations in both your writing and the accompanying illustrations. If you’re unsure, test them out on a willing young subject and see if they laugh. You’ll be surprised!


Say more with fewer words

Children’s books typically have fewer words to play with; so don’t waste them. Make every word count by eliminating any words that aren’t essential to the story and use outstanding, interesting words that add to the atmosphere you are trying to create.

Carol Baker does this perfectly in her book. Without going over ten words per page, every single word she uses gives something to the reader so that the sound they make when spoken are pleasant to hear and conjure up the exact image that is needed to understand the meaning.

Tell the reader the important bits, and use the illustrations to show them the rest.


 Carol's inspiration for her book came in a dream one night and a few years later she's selling copies of her book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well as at local bookstores and events. 

My book showcases entertaining and educational alliterative descriptions of real animals with beautifully detailed and colorful illustrations which include an “I Spy” feature that can be enjoyed by both children and adults.
I’m very pleased with this project!  I have a brilliant illustrator, and I am proud of my alliterative descriptions.



You can your copy of Armored Armadillo to Zippy Zebra – An alliterative anthology of animals here; www.amazon.com


If you’re interested in getting a quote for illustrations for your book, you can email me to find out more! izzybean@izzybean.co.uk

Monday 20 November 2017

Releasing a children's book for Christmas - are you prepared?

Ho ho ho - it's almost time for Santa to come and visit! 

And what does Santa bring to good little boys and girls? Books of course!


But when should you start marketing your Christmas themed books? Should you say 'holidays' instead of Christmas? And should your book have a festive 'message'?

Don't worry if you're asking all these questions and more; they are all relevant if you want to be a successful Christmas author. I recently teamed up with author Adam Reed to create a magical, festive themed book to rival the popular 'Elf on a Shelf' series, and he kindly took some time to give us some advice on this blog.

Adam was originally looking to start a holiday tradition with his family and only came across one option - an elf. As he looked at it and dug into the story he was taken aback by how creepy it looked, how intimidating the story was to children, and how stressful the “tradition” came to be for parents.  
With that, he struck out to create a fresh, new Christmas tradition not only for his family, but for children and families all over the world.  In doing so he vowed to take all the negatives of the elf, and turn them into positives, creating a magical story, an adorable plush, and a holiday brand that would bring a new meaning to family traditions at Christmastime for years to come.  He hopes that with REINDEER IN HERE he has done just that.


So let's start with the writing.

Writing a Christmas tale is much, much different than writing at any other time of year. The competition is already high - with some popular and classic Christmas stories dominating the market. How can you make YOUR Santa stand out from the thousands that already exist? Why would a parent choose to buy YOUR book instead of the ones that everybody already know and love?

One tip is to make sure you're original. Instead of the over-done story about Santa and the night before Christmas, why not think of a unique twist to place over the top? Perhaps Santa rides a skateboard instead of a sleigh. Perhaps Santa is female. Adam gave his story a twist by creating a whole new world of imaginary characters and traditions revolving around a brave little reindeer who saves Santa's day! And popular classics like 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas' apply this rule to their stories too. It's what makes them sell out each year.





Another tip is to include all those Christmassy feelings that you associate with that special time of year, without being too obvious and cheesy. It's easy to fall into the trap of writing about being good for Santa, or hearing bells jingling or even seeing snow fall, but most kids hear this in every Christmas book, TV show and song already. Try thinking about what makes you feel festive instead. Maybe it's the smell of hot mulled wine, or having to wear knitted mittens. Write about the tastes, smells and sounds of Christmas that you often overlook or take for granted and you're sure to create a vibe that excited children can't resist. 

Christmas words are, of course, going to be in your book, but some authors struggle in their attempt to make their book appeal to everyone. It's important not to alienate children but at the same time you have to be true to what you are writing about. Have a think about exactly who is going to buy your book and let that be the decider on your language. If you're writing a religious book about the importance of traditional Christmas values and Jesus's role at that time of year, then your audience will be different to a book that is writing about elves and presents. You can't market it to every single child in the world, because they aren't all the same, but you can use language and illustrations to make your book diverse and relevant. If your book isn't a traditional Christmas book, then you can still create that festive feeling in your illustrations instead. Adam's book uses a bit of both to really capture the magic of December.

"If you look at the illustrations, we really tried to make Christmas unique and magical on every level. While there are traditional Christmas colors, there are a lot of very bright unexpected colors. I wanted the North Pole to be magical, I wanted the illustrations to pop off the page and I think we accomplished that.  Early copies of the book have been reviewed extremely positive, and children seem to be reacting to the bright colors, and magical feel of the entire story and visuals.  It was a very deliberate decision to design it that way."




So you've written your story and you're sure it's a winner! Now it's time to cash in on the crazy Christmas sales. Here is my biggest piece of advice I can give you;

PLAN YOUR CHRISTMAS BOOK DURING THE SUMMER

It seems strange to be thinking about Christmas when it's sunny outside, but please don't underestimate this advice. As an illustrator I am inundated with requests to illustrate Christmas books during October and November and unfortunately I have to turn most away by explaining that they're just too late. Aside from the illustrations taking many months to complete, editing, formatting and publishing will eat away at your deadline so the sooner you can start the better. Adam knows this all too well. He says;

"The whole process was stressful and the launch is also stressful because its been two years of work to get here. Add to that that my wife just gave birth to our second child, and was on bed rest for weeks…it was the perfect storm of madness.  But I also know my personality, and I thrive under pressure and stress, it just motivates me even more to succeed one way or another.  
Ideally I wanted to do it in early November as I feel that most people start planning for Christmas in early November, but it was a very layered process to get the book written, illustrated, and edited — and then an even more intense process to find a packager, a plush maker, design both the plush and the packaging, then put them all together and get them to amazon in time for the holidays. It was almost an impossible task but I pulled it off."

So plan well ahead and expect your book to take longer than you thought. After all, it's better to be early than late when it comes to Christmas sales! Most parent start their Christmas shopping in November, but some start as early as September - so that means you should aim to have your book finished and ready for sale at the end of August! Try to make the most of sales and start pitching as soon as the cold nights start setting in. When you are advertising your book, remember that while kids may be your target readers - it's the parents who will be buying. Try to aim your advertisements at parents and families buying your books as gifts for children. 


Writing and marketing are huge tasks, but here are some other points you should be thinking about too;

The book's message.
Just because it's Christmas doesn't mean you can't apply all the usual rules of writing a story for children. Are you teaching a life lesson or just having a fun story with a twist at the end? there should definitely be a reason for your character's actions - just like any other time of year. Avoid pages that don't progress the story and make sure your plot is full of action and events to keep your reader's interested.

Illustrations.
What kind of illustrations are you looking for? They play a big role in picture books and you want to make sure they're clean, professional and appealing to kids. If you're looking for Christmas illustrations, make sure your illustrator has had experience drawing snowflakes or Christmas trees.

Research.
Do your homework! If you're writing about Reindeer like Adam did, make sure you know what shape their hoofs make in the snow or what their diet is. Including facts will make your story more believable and children will pick up on mistakes - so don't wing it!





Thankyou for reading, I hope this blog helped you write a Christmas tale that will be loved year after year after year! If you're looking for an illustrator for your Christmas tale, you can email me at izzybean@izzybean.co.uk and I'd be happy to discuss your project.

You can buy Adam's book as a beautiful box set that includes a Reindeer plush toy here; http://reindeerinhere.com/available-black-friday/

You can also find more about Adam's campaign - ShelfTheElf on his website here; http://reindeerinhere.com

Merry Christmas!










Thursday 30 June 2016

WORDS AND PICTURES - How to balance text and illustrations in an illustrated book.


When writing your children's book, you probably took a lot of time with your words; writing, reading them and then re-writing until you had crafted those words into a sentences, sentences into paragraphs and those paragraphs into a beautiful story that you can't wait to share with the world.

Then, like so many other authors, you let someone else handle the rest and they 'plop' the words onto the middle of a page in Times New Roman. Sigh.

I've worked as a full time illustrator for over seven years and one thing I have learnt is that exactly where and how you plop the words in a book makes a huge difference. The typography and placement is just as important as the illustrations. The two should come together and create a visually appealing page that reads naturally instead of clashing.

Here's some of my own DOS AND DONTS for making the most of your text. You can use these yourself, or pass them along to your illustrator or designer who can try them out for you. I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts too, so if you've got some ideas that I haven't mentioned, please feel free to comment below!


DO match your font to the story.




Try and pair your font with the nature of your book. For example; a story about a Princess who chews bubblegum might be light and rounded, but a book which involves monsters and dark forests may suit a spindly, spider-like text.

You can try more than one font and even mix them up as you go along, having different fonts for different actions or characters. Just be sure that whatever you choose, it is ALWAYS legible.

Here are some great websites for sourcing fonts - and some of them are free!

www.dafont.com
www.1001fonts.com
www.fontsquirrel.com

DON'T plonk your font down anywhere and leave it there.


You must think about the placement of your text. It's a long process that will involve lots of edits and tweaking until you get it right, but a good designer will never get annoyed with trying out different placements. When you think you've got it right - try another placement just in case!

Is your text on the same page as an illustration? 
Which one do you want to see first - the words or the picture? 
Does the text get lost in the colours? 
It is in the same place every page? 

One thing is certain - you must be aware of bleed and trim. The text should never be too close the edge of a page. 

DO test with other people to see if they can read it.


This seems obvious, but it's hard to test your own book properly when you already know what it says. Ask friends, family and other writers to read it out in front of you. Do they read it in the correct order? Do they stumble on words or struggle to find the next sentence? As beautiful and your layout might look, if it isn't easy to read by your target audience you may as well bin it now.

DON'T be boring.


Black, Times New Roman in a white box... yawn! 

What about red text? Text with a pattern? Text with a texture? Now there's an idea. How about text that curves around the illustration it is describing? If your text is being shouted, why not place it inside a huge illustration of a mouth? Get creative and try different things - if it looks good and can be read easily then make it work WITH the illustration instead of leaving them to battle for space. I'm not saying you can't keep a neat, monochrome theme if that suits your book; just don't automatically default to it without at least thinking about your options. 




DO your research.


Look at as many popular children's books as you can, and see if you can find common themes they all have. Assess their typography, the size of the font, where they place it... these bestsellers must be onto something.

Don't be afraid to try some of their ideas yourself - use them for inspiration! (Just be careful not to plagiarise anyones work, of course.)

DON'T have too much text on a page.

This is a common error that new writers make. 500-800 words is the recommended average for a 32 page children's book and it's like that for a reason - it leaves just the amount of text on each page.  Filling a page with text leaves no room for illustration and makes it feel cramped. If you need to say more, consider moving text to an adjacent page or cutting out a less important sentence. It's tough to cut your story short, but it will benefit the book in the end.



DO have pages without any text at all.


Some clients are horrified when I suggest this. No text on page 13? But what will they do?! What will they read?! 

This is a great opportunity to break your book up and make your audience pay attention as long as you use it in the right place. (You may not have a right place for it in your book, and that's OK too!)

The best tip here is to use it as a build up or passage of time and let the illustrations to do the talking for you. A story about someone digging a hole to the other side of the world may leave three pages of nothing but illustrations of the character digging... getting lower and lower until they disappear entirely... The next page that includes text should then have a big action or reveal as the climax;

...SUPRISE! He's now in China!

This is where your illustrator's talents come in handy. When there is no text on a page, you need to give the reader plenty to look at. Hidden items, background characters and lots of detail will make this trick work.

DO create your own font


While I appreciate this is not something everyone is able to do, it may be something your illustrator could do for an extra fee. Creating your own font has many benefits; If you can't find one that looks right you can create one to fit perfectly. No other books will have the same font which makes yours unique. Not using easily recognised or default fonts means some readers (and publishers) will take you more seriously and know you have put the extra work in. 

Finally, here is a list of words and what they mean. They aren't 'Dos and Don'ts' - but they will certainly help you discuss what you need with your illustrator and be able to understand what they are saying to you! I hope you enjoyed reading my tips and tricks to making words work for you. Now get writing that next bestseller - and good luck!



SERIF - Fonts that have little details or accents to make the words easier to read. "This is an example of Serif"

SANS-SERIF - Font's that don't have the little details or accents. On computer monitors we are restricted to dots per inch and so the details and accents are not as easy to scale down or read.  "This is an example of Sans-Serif"

TYPOGRAPHY - The way type is arranged to achieve the desired effect

TYPEFACE - A kind of type. For example; Times New Roman

LINE SPACE (SINGLE, DOUBLE, ETC) - The amount of space between the lines of text







Tuesday 6 October 2015

Izzy Bean's Top Ten Tips for Self Publishing Your Children's Book!

Self-publishing a children’s book is easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Almost anyone with a computer and some free time can do it. What is not easy, however, is self-publishing a children’s book that is actually good, and that sells well. 

I’ve been illustrating children’s books professionally for almost nine years, and along the way I’ve dealt with my fair share of first time self publishers. I’ve enjoyed every single one of them, but I have also realised that while most self published newbie authors never make their dream of being the next Roald Dahl, there are some essential tips that increase their chances of being read, reviewed and possibly even picked up by a big name publishing house. So before you reach for the pen or your laptop, here are my top ten tips to bear in mind when self publishing your first children’s book.




1. Read, Read and Read Some More

Chances are, if you’re passionate about writing, you’re passionate about reading. So you’ve probably already got this one covered. Just in case, read some more anyway! Reading any genre for any audience will help your writing skills regardless, but focusing on books that are written for your intended target audience is a must. Don’t just read them though, analyse them too. How many words are on each page? How many words in total? Are they complicated words? Do they have illustrations?

2. The PPP system, or POINT PER PAGE

I invented the PPP system to help authors focus on quality, not quantity. Each page of your book should have one major point that is essential to your story. It could be introducing a major character, an action that moves the story forward, or another event that is an important part of your story. If you have a page which you could take out without affecting the storyline, then leave it out. Tackle each page individually and ask; What is the point to this page? A 14 page book should have 14 points to the story. If one page has two points, consider separating it into two pages. (Without going into too much detail in this blog post, you can have secondry points that accompany your main point on each page, but more about that another day…)

3. Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead

You’ve spent countless hours writing your first story and you’ve finally finished! Right? Wrong! This is only the beginning, what you have just finished, is the first of many drafts. It may seem daunting, but you’re going to be re-writing this draft over and over, and only after you’ve re-written it enough to know it off by heart, and are possible even sick of the sight of it, then you’ll finally be ready to let people see it. Which leads us nicely onto the next tip…

4. Rely on Feedback from more than your friends and family

Your nearest and dearest love you to bits and everything you do in their eyes will always be great! While having them read your story and give you their opinion is not a bad thing, don’t rely on their feedback alone. Reach out to people who may be a little more honest and critical, maybe even find someone who you know will pick faults with your work. Why? Because you will get readers who will do just that, and you’re looking for honest feedback so you can test your story on a real person and use their feedback to improve your writing. As an additional tip, it’s worth noting that not all critiques could actually lead you to improve your story. There will always be someone who will find errors or have something negative to say about your work, even Harry Potter was turned down for being ’too complicated for children to follow’ by many publishers before being picked up by Bloomsbury. Your job is to listen to that feedback without feeling too offended, and also be the judge of whether it is useful or not.

5. Think Ahead / Do your Research

At least half of the first time authors I work for don’t think about who they are going to publish their book with until after it’s finished. There are many benefits to planning ahead, such as being able to save enough money, setting your launch around popular holidays or spreading some of the work to make it less stressful, but sometimes it will also cost you more money and effort if you don’t plan ahead. There are publishers who will only accept certain book sizes, and page numbers, which would mean a lot of wasted time if you create a beautiful book only to find you have to re-draw all the illustrations to fit a different ratio or cut out some of your pages.

Things to consider;
Hardback, paperback or Ebook?
Is the company charging you per book, or taking a percentage of sales?
Will the company let you distribute with other companies or are you limited to their customers only?
Do you need an ISBN number?

If you’re unsure who to self publish with, you can read my previous blog about Self Publishing here.

6. Make your characters relatable




Children come in all shapes and sizes, and no two children are the same. As an illustrator I’m very aware of making the characters appealing to real children.
Children have a strange sense of fashion – think trainers with fairy dresses, bright stripy socks with polka dot jumpers. Children wear glasses, have plasters on their knees, their noses are always running, they have paint on their hands. Some children have afros, some children have an abundance of bright red hair, others have ponytails. All of these details make your characters not only more believable, but a child will subconsciously be hunting for someone in the book who looks like them, and if they can’t find anyone to relate to, they might not be interested. So don’t limit yourself – let your imagination run wild!

It’s worth noting that in order to be realistic and relatable, you shouldn’t focus too much on gender specifics. While a lot of little girls love pink, there are plenty who are also obsessed with dinosaurs and play football. Children are more complex then gender stereotypes.

7. Make your title stand out

Aside from your cover, it’s the one thing that people will judge your book on. It’s the first thing they read, and your first chance to grab their attention among all the other titles. Make it fresh, catchy and different! There are a lot of books along the lines of ‘Simon Goes to the Park,’ but not so many named ‘Kit Kitten and the Topsy, Turvy feelings.’ If your title has three words, one of those should be your main theme, and one of them should be your character’s name. Ideally, we should get the general idea of what your story is about, just by your title alone. Here are three titles I recently illustrated, can you guess what the stories might be about?

1.    I Have Asthma, What Does That mean?
2.    Little Meerkat’s Big Panic
3.    The Lion Who Could Swim



8. Promote Your book… without paying a penny

You may dislike Facebook and all it stands for, but if you’re not utilizing it to promote your book, you’re missing out on one of the biggest advertising outlets available to you, which also just happens to be completely free. Sign up, create a pgae for your book, and start sharing! The same goes for Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, Google Pages and more. While it may seem pointless at first, the trick is to interact with other authors and those who share similar interests, and post regularly. Try not to make everything you share about your book, alternate it with relevant articles and share other author’s books to gain interest within the community.

Aside from social media, there are plenty of other ways to promote your book on a budget, a lot of them far more effective than paid advertising. Such as arranging book signings or visiting local children. Teachers and Carers are always looking for guests to read to children in a safe environment. Get your illustrator to create some colouring and activity sheets and visit a local school, nursery, club or church to spread the word about your book whilst also helping your local community.

9. Join the Club

There are some great societies, clubs and groups for authors that are both free and paid for. The benefits of joining these groups is that you can learn a lot of tips and tricks direct from those who have been there and done that, and share your own experiences too. Make friends, chat and listen to others without trying to sell your book to learn invaluable advice and have real-life support. Check out the links below to find what groups I, and some of my clients regularly contribute to.

10. Get a great illustrator

If you’ve written a brilliant story, you need brilliant illustrations to go with it. Don’t undo all your hard work by settling for less than average illustrations because you know someone who will do it for free. It’s a common phrase, but you really do get what you pay for. Luckily, if you’re on a budget, there are ways to cut costs and still end up with a great illustrator!

Negotiate on price – an illustrator who really likes your script may be willing to drop their price to suit your budget.

Use one of your internal illustrations as the front cover

Use ‘spot’ illustrations instead of full page illustrations

Have less illustrations in your book and use illustrated borders around the text only pages

Find an illustrator that will allow you to pay in installments rather than all up front


Most importantly, your cover should really, really stand out. It is the first thing your customers will see, and yes, they will be judging your book by it! Take a look at some of these covers I illustrated, and if you like, you can contact me for a quote by emailing me at izzybean@izzybean.co.uk or see more of my work on my website at www.izzybean.co.uk