WRITING A PUBLISHABLE PICTURE BOOK

When I first started writing, I began with picture books because I thought they were easier. HA! They are not. In fact, a clever picture book is one of the hardest things to write. More and more picture books have a "high concept." In other words, you know what the book will be about, just by reading the title. Check out these examples:

In comparison, one of my first picture books was called PIONEER STAR. The premise was that a little girl wanted to drive her grandpa's covered wagon in the Fourth of July parade. It was reminiscent of the bedtime stories I used to tell my little sister when we were growing up. See the difference in my idea and the ones above? The titles and concepts above are much more marketable.

However, nothing we write is ever wasted. I was recently working on a Middle Grade novel, and in one of the chapters, an older sister is telling a bedtime story to her younger one. I pulled out PIONEER STAR and used much of the text to build that scene.

My Middle Grade novel, (title still to be determined), is under contract with Scholastic. So PIONEER STAR will be published, just not as an illustrated picture book as I had imagined.

The path to publishing a picture book is much easier if you start with a "high concept," but I've learned not to throw away any of my stories--sometimes they can be repackaged!

A Life Of Its Own

My writing has a life of its own. Once I sell a story or article, it's out of my control. I let go, say a little prayer, and wish it a safe voyage. Occasionally small miracles happen.

Last Thursday I received the following email out of the clear blue sky:

Dear Shannon,

I’m doing an article on profiles for The Writer’s Guide. Lonnie Plecha--editor of Cricket--mentioned your article “A Pirate’s Life For Me” as an example of a good profile for Cricket and when I went to your website I saw that you’ve written others as well. Would you be willing to do an interview with me about your process? I could send you some questions you could answer via email if that would work for you or we could set up a time to talk on the phone.

Thanks so much for considering this interview.

All best,

Patty Pfitsch

I wrote "A Pirate's Life for Me" several years ago. Much has happened to it since that maiden voyage. It appeared in the August 2008 issue of Cricket, an updated version was published in the November 2009 issue of Ask, and now bits of it will appear in The Writer's Guide. What a lovely surprise!

Have any unexpected bits of good fortune happened to your writing? Leave a comment and tell me all about it.