The Long-Awaited Second Volume!
Adventures in Writing for Children
More of an Author’s Inside Tips on the Art and Business of Writing Children’s Books and Publishing Them
By Aaron Shepard
Fifteen years after publishing The Business of Writing for Children—Amazon.com’s all‑time bestseller among guides to children’s writing—award-winning author Aaron Shepard returns with a new collection of articles on the art and business of creating literature for young people.
Topics include managing time in stories, structuring a chapter book, retelling folktales and legends, obtaining permissions, databases and business forms for children’s writers, performance tips for author readings, online interaction with young readers, reviving a book with print on demand, converting from picture book to ebook, and more.
Whether you’re aiming at traditional publishers or choosing to self publish, let Adventures in Writing for Children help you pursue an adventure of your own.
Aaron Shepard is the author of The Legend of Lightning Larry, The Baker’s Dozen, and sixteen more picture books and early readers, along with several chapter books for middle grades, extensive resources for storytelling and reader’s theater, and a graphic novel. His publishers have included Atheneum, Scribners, Clarion, Lothrop, Dial, and HarperCollins, as well as Cricket and Australia’s School Magazine. Aaron’s work has been honored by the American Library Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, the American Folklore Society, The New York Public Library, and the Bank Street College of Education. He has been a judge for the Golden Kite Awards of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Shepard Publications
Paperback ~ 2015
Ebook ~ 2015The following links may earn commissions for this site.
“Simply stated, anyone aspiring to write a book—any kind of book—for a child should read Aaron Shepard’s Adventures in Writing for Children. This little volume fully lives up to its hype. An invaluable addition to personal and community library collections and reading lists.”—Small Press Bookwatch, Mar. 2015
Real Time
Break It Down, Build It Up
The Art of Retelling
Building a Legend
The Perils of Permissions
Databases for the Children’s Writer
Business Forms for the Children’s Writer
The Magic of Reading to Children
Tinker, Tailor, Writer, Storyteller
Works in Progress
Saving The Sea King’s Daughter
From Picture Book to Ebook
This Is Not a Test
What’s Good for Business . . .
Real Books
Kidwriting Quotes
Getting Started
My earlier book on children’s writing, The Business of Writing for Children, was drawn mainly from two sources: handouts from the classes and workshops I used to give, and my articles for Once Upon A Time and the SCBWI Bulletin (earlier called the SCBW Bulletin)—the newsletter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
In selecting the articles to include in that book, I tried to keep a balance among its main subject areas—writing, publishing, marketing—and to avoid domination by my personal specialties. I also chose to omit my more controversial articles, to make the book more generally accessible.
Naturally, these criteria left out a number of articles I considered valuable. I’m pleased to offer at least some of them now, in this second collection. I’ve also included later articles, with some brand new ones—some of which I’ve meant to write for years. (There’s nothing like publishing a book to help you tie up loose ends.) And as an added treat, I’ve thrown in the children’s writer quotations featured on my Web site.
I hope you enjoy this new book and find it helpful. And if you want to read the articles I left out this time, you can find them on my Kidwriting Page.
