Writing Children's Books

            Since co-writing Comeback Moms, I've met many women who ask how they can get their book published.  Like me, they love writing and during their time away from paid work they try their hand at feeding that passion. Reading to their little ones often makes them especially drawn to the children's literature genre.

            To that end, there's good news and bad news.  Since I always like to end on a happy note, let me share a little bad news first. 

            Publishing is a very tough business.  Very (and I mean very) few books written ever make their home on a bookstore shelf.  There are many reasons for this which I'll skip for now.  Suffice it to say, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare might have a tough go in the marketplace these days if they were just starting out. 

            People in the publishing business will tell you a general rule of thumb.  It is as follows:  You need an agent to get something published and you need to have something published to get an agent. If you're a first time author, I'm sure you immediately see the quandary here. Getting an agent to even take the time to bother to reject your work is difficult.

            With that behind us, let's move on to the good news.

            Publishing is changing.  More authors are successfully self-publishing their work when they can't get a major publishing house to notice them. Also, publishers will tell you that they're always looking for good work.  If you've read many children's books these days, you may agree with me that there is always room for genuine talent.

            So how do you get started? 

            Here's my suggestion.  I'm a member of an organization called the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators ("SCBWI").  They've been around for decades and boast a membership that includes most of the major contemporary children's authors.  For a current fee of $75 a year, you can join their organization.  Soon after, they'll hook you up with a local chapter which sponsors monthly meetings and can put you in touch with other authors in your area who can help you polish your work.  They also sponsor regional and national meetings (New York in February and Los Angeles in August).  I'm a huge fan of their national meetings where you can get instruction from some of the best writers, agents, publishers and editors in the business.  Who knows?  You might even be "discovered" there.

            Let me conclude by noting that no compensation was paid for the endorsement of this organization (although I wouldn't turn it down if offered).  I'm just very impressed with what they do.  Not only do you learn a lot, but you meet many terrific people as well.  If you're interested, you can check them out at http://www.scbwi.org/.