Mitali Perkins' at BookExpo America Children's Breakfast 2010

Here's the first ten minutes of my speech. Here's the last bit of my speech: Mitali Perkins on windows and mirrors in children's fiction. View the first ten minutes here: www.youtube.com One part of the speech was cut out -- where two white doves appeared out of nowhere and sat on my ancestral rooftop, reminding me of the power and hope of forgiveness. See the slide show here: www.slideshare.net

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Writing for Children: How I Broke Into the Children's Market

"Oh, I've always wanted to write for children!"

I hear it all the time, whenever I reveal that I'm a published author of children's books. Always the starry-eyed look, the slightly wistful expression, and the inevitable, "That would be so fun!"

Fun, indeed. All the fun of slaving over getting just the right word, of collecting rejection slips, of wondering if new authors really can break into the children's market.

There is a way -- if you are willing to exercise some flexibility in your writing.

Take a stroll through the children's non-fiction section of your local library and look at the newest books you see there: books on jet planes, hot air balloons, holiday crafts, bicycles, helicopters, race cars, and more -- some of them with my name on them.

Welcome to the world of the School and Library Market.

How the School and Library Market Works

Budget cuts or not, libraries need a constant supply of new books. Library books get a lot of hard use, and the most popular titles wear out quickly. Even the nonfiction section, the part of the library that many people think is "boooring!" gets a lot of use as kids look for books to help them with reports, or books on their favorite hobbies and interests.

When librarians pull worn copies of well-loved novels off the shelf for replacement, they may get new copies of the same title. But in the nonfiction section, old, worn, or outdated books get replaced with new books with up-to-date information.

Where do they get these books? From publishers that specialize in the school and library market. These publishers produce new titles and entire new series every year to meet librarians' needs. This also means that they need authors to write new titles ever year.

These aren't books that are going to be sold in bookstores, nor are they going to make any best-seller list, so don't expect high royalties. In fact, most school-and-library books are written on assignment on a work-for-hire basis. This means that the work is purchased outright from the author. The publisher retains the copyright and all rights to the book. This might sound like a raw deal, but consider that librarians want up-to-date nonfiction titles. This means that the book you write this year may not stay on the backlist more than five or six years. These aren't books that would earn a great deal in royalties. However, that same publisher will need a new title on the same subject in a few years. If your work satisfied the editors, they may ask you to write the new book.

Approaching School and Library Publishers

So how do you find publishers that specialize in the school and library market? Start again at the library. Look through the shelves for the newest books and note the names of the publishers. You can also ask the children's librarian if you can browse through their book catalogs. Get the addresses and website of the publishers, then see if they post author guidelines on their websites. You can also find educational publishers in the Children's Writers Market, which is widely available in bookstores and libraries.

Once you have a list of potential publishers, read their guidelines and follow them carefully. There are two ways to approach school and library publishers. One is with a book idea of your own. Many will accept submissions of fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, and will pay an advance and royalties. The other way is to send a resume that lists your published works (if any) and pertinent experience (any education experience you have is helpful), along with samples of your writing (sometimes called "clips"). If the editors like your sample, you may get a phone call or an email from an editor asking if you would like to accept an assignment. Which approach you use depends on the publisher. Their guidelines will state whether you should send a manuscript, or if you can send a resume and writing sample.

If you get an assignment, be sure to ask plenty of questions to clarify the editor's expectations. Make sure you're clear on due dates, and be prepared not only to meet the due dates, but beat them. Ask if there are sample books from the series that you can see before you start writing. There won't be if the series is new, but there may be a similar series that can serve as a model. If other authors are working on other titles in the series, ask if someone else has a due date before yours, and if you can look at their outline. This helps preserve consistency in the series. Educational publishers usually have extensive guidelines to help you write according to their style, and often have outlines from which authors work.

Then go to work doing your research and writing the best book you can. If the editors are pleased, expect more assignments in the future!

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Secrets of Writing Children's Fiction - 5 Easy Steps to Help You to Succeed

Many people carry the misconception that children's literature is easy to create. It is often thought that storylines can be much more simplistic than adult fiction, that language can be unelaborated and that characters don't have to be particularly three-dimensional. And in many ways this is true. Storylines for children's fiction do not have to be as complex as those used in adult fiction, language must be construed relatively simply, and characters do not need to come with all the baggage and background life stories that adult literature demands. But what is forgotten is the complexity of the reader for which one is writing for when they write children's literature.

A child sees the world in a very different light to most adults. That world needs to be captured and represented in children's fiction. To represent such a world through fiction is hugely challenging, and I take my hat off to all who do it successfully!

As with any form of writing, there are several steps that you need to follow when planning and writing a children's book. You need to do your research, you need to develop a storyline or plot, you need to create the primary characters and you need to ensure that the ending of the story will be satisfactory to the reader. Alongside these key steps, there are two additional areas that need to be thought about when creating children's literature:

- Language
- A Contemporary Setting

Let's discuss these in turn!

Language

The mark of a great writer - their ability to use brevity successfully! Children's novels are, by their very nature, short. A picture book will be carrying a few hundred words as a maximum; a book for a six year old reader will be coming in with a word count of around 1,000 words. Such a small word count leaves you without any room for error - EVERY WORD COUNTS. Let me say that again, EVERY WORD COUNTS! Every use of punctuation or grammar, every description, every sentence uttered by a character, every sigh, breath, movement, decision or thought has to be 100% correct. When you are working with a word count of 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000 words, EVERY WORD COUNTS.

Contemporary Setting

The need to understand and potentially use a contemporary setting for your storyline does not mean that your children's book has to be set in the 'here and now'. Children's stories based in Medieval Times or in Out of Space (for example) are still hugely popular and successful. But.., a storyline should maintain a contemporary feel. Perhaps the easiest way to achieve this is to focus the text around a contemporary issue that affects 'Today's Children'. Think about divorce, same-sex families, bullying, step-families, illness, the internet, drugs, alcohol, sexual relationships, violence, or modern technology, and see how each of these key issues could be brought into the make believe world of your children's fiction piece.

Summary - The Main Steps to writing Children's Fiction

1 - Research. Know your market. Read current children's fiction releases for the age group you are interested in writing for.
2 - The plot or storyline should have a contemporary feel
3 - Use a mixture of creative language and speech to bring your characters to life. They must be instantly visible to the young reader.
4 - Ensure the ending is satisfactory. Ensure all issues are resolved by the last page...don't leave your poor reader hanging!
5 - Edit and re-edit the language until you are happy with the usage and placement of every single word!

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Mitali Perkins' at BookExpo America Children's Breakfast 2010 (Part Two)

Here's the last bit of my speech: Mitali Perkins on windows and mirrors in children's fiction. View the first ten minutes here: www.youtube.com One part of the speech was cut out -- where two white doves appeared out of nowhere and sat on my ancestral rooftop, reminding me of the power and hope of forgiveness.

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Princess Costumes - Attractive & Comfortable Princess Costumes

Whether it is Halloween or any other costume party, little girls always prefer to wear glamorous costumes like the princess costumes. Whether it is the classic Cinderella costume of the science fiction Star Wars series princess Leia costumes, they have always been the favorites. Moreover, adult women are also catching up to the trend. After all who won't like to be a cute princess in a gathering? Costumes to be worthy must have two attributes however. It should be attractive and should also be comfortable.

Importance of Comfort Level
Little girls will always love twirling in costumes dancing through the party. It would not be good idea to have costumes that would be uncomfortable and leave scratches. At the same time they are also sensitive and will look for the best comfortable costumes. An itchy Cinderella costume would be no use however attractive it might look.

Factors to Consider
Taking care of a few factors can easily address the problems of having adequate comfort levels with the kids Costumes purchased. One of the steps in the right direction would be going for branded items. Searching real good brands won't be a major problem for the prospective buyer. A good and educative review website can provide ample information on getting the best comfortable costumes for the kids. Checking the descriptions, mission statement of the company concerned, and testimonials of previous users would help decide on the quality of the particular product concerned.

Clean and Tidy
Costumes that any parent buys for the kids should be clean and tidy. For comfort one could choose the silk lined products without any itchy underskirts or inner fabrics. Kids have tender skins and they are very sensitive to such items. One of the major components that need the buyer's attention is the seams. Unless they are finished they could cause immense irritation. Same analogy applies in case of hems. Finished seams and hems are thus necessity rather than luxury in case of quality kids costumes.

Pull on and Pull Off
Dresses that could be easily pulled on and off would be the best suited for kids. Neither the time nor the efforts spend in putting the costume on and putting them off is desirable either for the kids or for the parents.

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