How to Write Children’s Books
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
This article is all about how to write children’s books, including advice on the correct children’s book age group, children’s book word count, children’s book page count, how to write a children’s book query letter, and how to find children’s book literary agents and publishers. For everything children’s books, read on.
HOW TO WRITE CHILDREN’S BOOKS 101
Many writers turn to the Internet, wondering how to write children’s books, or searching for children’s book ideas. “Children’s book” is a popular term, but when it comes to true children’s book publishing, it’s problematic and inaccurate. Why? Because the children’s book publishing market is actually segmented into many different categories. Savvy writers know this, and won’t throw around the more general “children’s book” term when talking about their projects, or pitching them. So if you’re curious about how to write children’s books, for starters, don’t call them “children’s books.”
Some of the striations in this market include board books (what babies gum on), then picture books, early readers for kids starting to read independently, then novel-like chapter books, middle grade novels, and the market extends all the way up to young adult novels for teen readers (and beyond).
So the simple question of how to write children’s books has more angles to it than most writers initially think. However, one thing ties most children’s books together: they are written for young readers at a very dynamic time in their lives. Kids are voracious about their books, and they fall hard for stories and characters. People who wonder how to write children’s books must admire and respect their young readers, without ever wanting to preach to or talk down to them (check out this article on how to write meaningful children’s books.
Writers of children’s books are able to access their own childhood memories when gathering ideas for writing a children’s book. They care deeply about their young audiences. But to really succeed in the children’s book market, you need to be specific about what you’re writing, how long it is, and which individual category you’re targeting. Read on to learn more, so that you don’t use the generic “children’s books” term again.
How to Write Children’s Books: Children’s Book Age Group
As discussed above, there isn’t just one children’s book age group, there are many. Here they are, broken down from youngest to oldest:
Board Book Age Group: 0 to 2
Young Picture Book Age Group: 2 to 4
Picture Book Age Group: 4 to 6
Nonfiction Picture Book Age Group: 5+
Early Reader Age Group: 5 to 7
Chapter Book Age Group: 6 to 8
Young Middle Grade Age Group: 8 to 10
Middle Grade Age Group: 9 to 12
Upper Middle Grade Age Group: 12+
Young Adult Age Group: 13+
Young Adult Fantasy Age Group: 13+
New Adult Age Group: 16+
You’ll notice some overlap between age groups here. It has a lot to do with different children reaching different levels of reading skill at different ages. Some of these numbers are guidelines, as a result, instead of hard and fast rules for how to write children’s books.
How to Write Children’s Books: Children’s Book Word Count
Children’s book word count varies by your target children’s book age group, as you may have guessed by now. So if you’re wondering how many words are in a children’s book, you have to go back and ask yourself, “What kind of children’s book?” Here is a list of word count for children’s books, going from youngest to oldest readers:
Board Book Word Count: Up to 100
Young Picture Book Word Count: 400
Picture Book Word Count: 600
Nonfiction Picture Book Word Count: 1,000 to 3,000
Early Reader Word Count: 300 to 1,200
Chapter Book Word Count: 1,500 to 10,000
Young Middle Grade Word Count: 15,000 to 25,000
Middle Grade Word Count: 25,000 to 65,000
Upper Middle Grade Word Count: 65,000 to 85,000
Middle Grade Fantasy Word Count: 65,000 to 85,000
Young Adult Word Count: 50,000 to 90,000
Young Adult Fantasy Word Count: 70,000 to 95,000
New Adult Word Count: 80,000+
How to Write Children’s Books: Children’s Book Page Count
The publishing industry mostly discusses unpublished manuscripts in terms of word count. If you’re wondering, how long is a children’s book?, you’ll find some children’s book page count guidelines here.
Board Book Page Count: 16 to 24
Young Picture Book Page Count: 24 to 32
Picture Book Page Count: 32 to 48
Nonfiction Picture Book Page Count: 32 to 64
Early Reader Page Count: 32 to 48
Chapter Book Page Count: 48 to 80
Young Middle Grade Page Count: 64+
Middle Grade Page Count: 100+
Upper Middle Grade Page Count: 160+
Middle Grade Fantasy Page Count: 180+
Young Adult Page Count: 240+
Young Adult Fantasy Page Count: 300+
New Adult Page Count: 300+
Keep in mind that page count is more relevant to published books than to manuscripts. Books for younger readers tend to have fixed page counts, while page counts can vary widely with font size and book layout, especially when it comes to novels. When you are pitching your children’s book for potential publication, you’ll talk about your manuscript in terms of word count instead.
How to Write Children’s Books: Special Considerations
Once you start zeroing in on what kind of children’s book you’re writing, you may start thinking about a big component of how to write children’s books: the pictures! This topic confuses a lot of writers because they are writers, not illustrators, but they don’t know whether children’s book illustrations are expected as part of a pitch. If so, who provides them? Who pays for them?
Children’s book illustrations are a large part of the conversation of how to write children’s books, especially in board books, picture books, early readers, and chapter books. But before you start learning about illustrating children’s books or hire a children’s book illustrator, keep in mind that not every book is illustrated. Chapter books do tend to have some art, though it may be spot illustration (the occasional pages of art, or art accompanying the chapter headings). Same for middle grade. Cover illustrations are different from interior illustrations.
If you are able to get a traditional publishing deal on your quest of how to write children’s books, you can rest easy that the publisher will commission—and pay for—illustrations. Most publishers will want to choose the illustrator, so many projects are sold as simple manuscript text. If you’re specially trained at illustrating children’s books, you can submit your text and art as an author-illustrator, otherwise it’d be prudent to take the text-only route.
If you’re thinking of DIYing it, keep in mind that children’s book illustrations have evolved tremendously into their own art form. Most hobby artists can no longer compete with what’s being published in today’s marketplace. So supplying your own illustrations is often a bad idea unless you are a trained artist.
How to Write Children’s Books: Children’s Book Publication
You probably came to this page wondering how to write children’s books so that you can get your idea published. Now you know that there are many types of children’s books, for many ages and categories of child reader. So instead of asking how to write children’s books, start learning more about the type of children’s book you want to write. Here are some articles to get you started: How to Write a Children’s Picture Book, How to Write a Nonfiction Picture Book, How to Write a Children’s Early Reader, How to Write a Children’s Chapter Book, How to Write Middle Grade Fiction, and How to Write a Young Adult Novel.
Once you know what kind of project you’re working on, you can start researching children’s publishers or children’s book literary agents that represent your specific category. You can write them a children’s book query letter with your pitch. And when you do finally submit your project, you’ll know better than to call it a “children’s book,” because you will have done your research and given yourself a stronger shot at success.
Click here to purchase Writing Irresistible Picture Books, my book on children’s picture books. This comprehensive guide is crammed with craft advice and groundbreaking original research, including a survey of 1,000 upcoming picture book deals, a breakdown of 80 modern and marketable picture book topics, and in-depth analysis of over 150 published picture books.