Writing for children and young adults is very different than writing for adults. Audience expectations are different. Picture books, for example, have completely different sub-genres than adult books. Whereas adult books have genres like science fiction and fantasy, picture books have sub-genres like fairy tale, alphabet, and bedtime books.

There is a whole body of knowledge that the authors of children’s and young adult books need to apply that is separate from that used by writers who write books for adults.

There is some overlap, in terms of how manuscript publishers and agents should be evaluated and the basics of writing a good query letter. If you want to learn more about either of these components please consult The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions. This article just focuses on the unique aspects of publishing books for younger readers, and not on the areas that overlap. This article also won’t cover writing and editing a children’s book, as that is a separate skill set. In my experience, the best way to gain knowledge in those areas is to join a class or workshop that focuses on children’s book writing.

This article focuses on publishing a book you have already written, revised and edited. Please know that revision and editing are essential steps you must complete before starting the submission process. Publishers do not take un-revised work seriously.

There are so many misconceptions about children’s book publishing! One of the most common is that an author should submit a picture book with illustrations already included, when that is in fact the opposite of what most publishers want – unless, of course, you are an author/illustrator. I hope to dispel any misconceptions in this book.

I have divided this article into two sections, one focuses on children’s books and the other on young adult books (YA). Some of the information in the children’s books section and the YA section is redundant. I am assuming that most authors will selectively read the sections that are relevant to them. Because of that there is, for example, a manuscript formatting section in each of the sections.

Children’s Book Publishing

Children’s book publishing is a catchall phrase that covers a wide variety of age groups and sub-genres aimed at each age group. Below I break down the different categories of publishing, give examples of successful books in each category, and detail what most publishers are looking for in terms of each category. I’m also going to cover things that are important in terms of picture books and chapter books.

Board Books and Early Concept Books

These books are aimed at babies and young children ages zero to four. Board books are composed of hard, thick pages. Some authors specialize in them, particularly Sandra Boynton, whose classics include The Going to Bed Book and Barnyard Dance.

If a board book has a plot it is a very minimal one. They are usually narrated in third person and there are generally less than 10 pages a book.

Sometimes board books are focused on concepts such as colors, or lessons such as going to the potty. A large number of board books are about going to bed and the alphabet or counting. Language in these books is very simple.

Board books usually have less than 100 words total. Some early picture books have board book editions, such as Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans and Corduroy by Don Freeman. These books are much longer than a hundred words in length, but that is because they are picture books first and foremost, just converted to the board book format.

Early concept books are generally identical to board books in terms of content, but the presentation is different. Instead of being printed on thick board, they are books with normal paper pages (although sometimes the paper is on the thicker side to create flaps). These books are aimed at the same age group as board books generally are. Examples include Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, as well as Faster! Faster!  by Leslie Patricelli. It is important to note that, if a book is popular in paperback and aimed at the very young, it will almost always get a board book version. Both the books above come in paperback and board formats. 

It is also important to note that even when it comes to board books, trends matter. A few years ago it became very trendy to create board book versions of classics, such as Pride & Prejudice: A Counting Primer by Jennifer Adams. Right now there are a number of board books focused on social justice matters and explaining them to the very young, like We Care: A First Conversation About Justice By Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli.

Early Picture Books 

Early Picture Books are aimed at kids ages three to six. Most publishers currently prefer to publish books in the 300 to 800 word range, but they can be up to 1,000 words (although these are a tougher sell). Most books sold are in the 300 to 500 word range. The idea behind the limited word count is that the author relies on the illustrator for most of the description. Any description left in the text is usually important to the rhythm and cadence of the story.

Mostly, these books have a central protagonist who is either of kindergarten age, or an animal. The protagonist, and not any adults in the story, must solve the central story problem. Many books aimed at this age range do not really have adults in them; the focus is either on children or animals.

The language in picture books is geared towards being read out loud. Themes can cover everything from family, to loss (usually in terms of favorite toys – keeping things light), to controlling emotions, to siblings (particularly the addition of new ones).  

Famous read aloud picture books include Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Some of the more recent early picture books my family has enjoyed include One More Jar of Jam by Michelle Sumovich, Rhyme Crime by John Burgerman, Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, by Kevin Noble Maillard.

Picture Storybooks

These books are aimed at children ages five to eight. It is a more limited demographic and overlaps with the early reader demographic. Picture storybooks are much trickier to sell to publishers. They are generally between 500 to 1,000 words in length, but anything that is 750 words or longer is a harder sell, so that point is important to keep in mind. Most picture books stay within the either 32 or 48 page format, the allowance going to longer works of nonfiction.

Popular picture books for older readers include The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka, Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, and The Goblin and the Empty Chair by Mem Fox. More recently published favorites in our household include Little Witch Hazel by Phobe Wahl, Swift Fox All Along by Rebecca Thomas, On the Trapline by David A. Robertson, The Manic Panic by Richa Jha and The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson.

The language is still intended for an adult to read out loud, and can be a little more complex. Themes in books like these can also be more complex and handle harder issues like poverty, divorce, etc.

Overall Picture Book Advice

If you are not an author/illustrator, send your picture book manuscript as written story only, without pictures. Most publishers have contracts with illustrators or in-house illustrators that they will pair you with if they accept the work. This is one of the reasons you should really go with a publisher you trust, and one with a good visual sense.

If you are an illustrator, most publishers are open to illustrator submissions. Most independent publishers do not accept submissions by author/illustrator, and if you are an author/illustrator I highly encourage you to try to find an agent.

Some authors overcompensate for the lack of illustrations by adding detailed descriptions of what pictures they want to be paired with the text they’ve already written. This is unprofessional, as publishers do not want too much information. Based on the text, it should be relatively clear what the picture will end up being. But if need be, the author can include minimal illustrator notes to describe important action on the page that might not be obvious with words only.

Because the publisher is ultimately the one in control of the illustrations, I really encourage picture book writers to have looked at in-person, and preferably purchased, at least one book from every publisher they are submitting to. The library can really help with that if your budget is limited, but it is much easier to know what you are getting into if you are not basing your opinion on the front cover of a book you are seeing only online.

If you have completed professional illustrations for your book already, there are a few publishers that consider books with illustrations and you can submit to those. But your odds of getting your manuscript accepted are higher if you try to find an agent first. Most of the successful author/illustrators I know found an agent and then a publisher.

In general, the biggest mistake that I see from authors who are writing children’s books is that they aren’t spending much time reading them! Even though I’m not writing picture books, as the parent of small children I spend a lot of time reading picture books.

For authors, I think it is very important to be aware of the classic picture books that have defined earlier generations, books like Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day, Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Dogger by Shirley Hughes, and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett.

It is also important to get a feel for what is currently popular and defining children’s book publishing. By reading contemporary children’s books, I have been surprised by the focus on protagonist originality and quirks. Books like This is Sadie by Sara O’Leary, and Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty are clear examples of this. But there is a wide variety in contemporary classics. Herve Tullet’s Press Here has no characters at all.  Jon Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back is largely humor based.

Go to your local bookstore and look at what books they’re promoting in the children’s section. Try to find a knowledgeable bookseller to tell you which books are selling well. Focus in on those that were just published in the last year or so. And, read the awards lists for acclaimed titles.

Take note of who is publishing what. If the publisher that is currently focused on publishing work that is similar to what you are working on only accepts agented submissions, you should focus on finding an agent, perhaps even one that has already placed books with that publisher. Make sure to mention the successful books that your book has common ties to when submitting to publishers or agents. It will make it clear that you have done your due diligence.

Some of the readers will already know all this, and have already put in effort in this regard. If you have, focus on reading the books that are aimed at the same age group as your book. There is no such thing as being too well read when it comes to picture books, and the relative brevity of them makes it possible to read a lot even with limited free time.

This might not be something publishers take into consideration, but as a parent I only buy books for my child that aren’t too repetitive, because I know I will be reading the book possibly hundreds of times over. Some repetition is important and good for kids’ reading confidence, but too much can turn parents off.

Rhyming is a harder sell these days, particularly to publishers. It is certainly harder to publish rhyming books, but that doesn’t mean that a book with excellent rhymes will not do well. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson is a good example of a successful contemporary book that rhymes. In general, it is good to avoid rhyming, or to only include a few half rhymes unless you are an expert poet.

Also I cannot emphasize enough the importance of word choice. The vocabulary you use really has to be appropriate to the audience that your work is aimed at. The Children’s Writer’s Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner is but one example of a resource you could use for leveling your word choices. If you read very many board books aimed at the very young you will realize it isn’t just the words themselves that matter, but the sound of the words. Lots of onomatopoeias appeal to the very young; words like moo and choo-choo hold a lot of appeal.

If you’re not sure the vocabulary of your book is appropriate, it can also be good to find some kids to test it out on. Make sure the length is appropriate enough to keep their attention, too.

Earlier I talked about how many words publishers are looking for, depending on the category. One has to take these limits seriously. You could write a great book, but it will not be considered for publication if it does not meet length requirements. There are of course longer picture books out there, but most of these were either written and published a long time ago, or were written by already established authors, or are in the nonfiction space.

The good news is that if your book is too long, you have an opportunity to perfect your craft by revising and editing it down to the appropriate length.

Also, it is good to know that many children’s books now don’t have a moral. Forcing one is not going to make yours more appealing to publishers. If there is one, that is fine, but it is in no way a requirement and many publishers don’t like it.

I also encourage picture book authors to look into and possibly join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators or the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators & Performers. Both of these organizations do a great job of providing accurate industry information.

Formatting Advice for Picture Book Manuscripts

Formatting a picture book in many ways is similar to formatting any other manuscript. You should always use 12pt Times New Roman font. The type should be black. Do not mess around with colors or font. It might seem cute at the time, but it is not a good idea and your manuscript will not be taken as seriously, or in some situations not be considered at all.

Your contact information should always be on the top left of the first page. This includes your name, you address, your phone number and your email address. You can include a link to a website if you have one.

The word count should be in the upper right. If you are submitting a print manuscript add a couple inches between the information and your title. The title should be centered. Most authors make the title bold or make the font slightly bigger. Your name (or pen name) should be centered below the title, but it should be size 12 font and not bold.

Picture books do not require cover pages and so the actual manuscript should start below the title and author text, with maybe two or three inches of space between them. The manuscript itself should be double-spaced.

There should be no lines between paragraphs. Each paragraph should be indented .5 inches (Word standard setting). Paragraphs should be left aligned (standard) and the margins should be 1 inch (standard). Only one space should exist between sentences.

Make sure to have a header on all the following pages. The header must include the author’s last name and the title on the upper left. Page numbers are mentioned on the right.

Make sure to follow any additional guidelines outlined by the publisher.

Do not include a copyright. Copyrighting work dates it (among other things) and it also marks the author as an amateur. Copyrighting is not a necessary step to take with a manuscript. Just include the text of the story. Avoid unnecessary illustration notes, or page break notes, or anything else. Those are up to the discretion of the publisher, should they choose to publish the book.

Early Readers

Most early reader books are written in house and are targeted to 5 to 7 year olds. It is hard to find a publisher open to general submissions or an agent that handles them, although there are exceptions. Sometimes authors meeting publishers at conferences get drafted to write these books.

The word length of these books varies from 200 to 3,500 words. It all depends on what level of reader the book is aimed at.

The protagonist is usually the age or a year older than the intended reader. Sometimes the protagonist is an animal. The best example of the protagonist being an animal is in the books of Arnold Lobel including, Owl at Home and Frog and Toad. Other popular early reader book series include Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant and Amelia Bedelia by Peggy and Herman Parish.

Early readers are still illustrated (although not always on every page), so it is important to keep that in mind. These books are designed for the child to read aloud on their own, but are often still read aloud by parents.

Third person is still the most common mode of storytelling. The stories generally have a clear plot arc starting with a hook, followed by rising action, a climax, and then a satisfying conclusion. These stories focus on action and dialogue. There is very little description.

Vocabulary is tightly controlled by the publisher. Themes are lighter in these works and the focus is on educating the reader.

Chapter Books

There are two levels of introduction when it comes to chapter books. One focuses on six to seven year olds and these books are between 5,000 and 20,000 words. The other is aimed at eight to ten year olds and these books are between 20,000 and 50,000 words.

The protagonist of these books tends to be a year older than the intended reader. The protagonist is not complicated and historically they have been pretty flaw free but this is shifting.

These stories start out with a hook but the rising action tends to be more complicated and involves twists before the climax occurs. The story pace is slower in the older chapter books, but not much. The focus is on plot and dialogue and language is simple and straightforward. There are some descriptions in this level of books.

These books often have themes relevant to the first few years of school; they focus on things like fitting in and friendship.

Early chapter books almost always have some illustrative element to them. They don’t tend to have full color illustrations (though some do), or illustrations on every page, but illustrations are interspaced throughout the book.  

The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne is a classic example of an early reader aimed at six to seven year olds. Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows is a good example of a series aimed at eight to ten year olds.

Middle Grade

These books are aimed at eight to thirteen year olds and are generally between 30,000 to 55,000 words in length.  If the book is in the fantasy genre it tends to be longer. Books in this category tend to cover a whole range of subjects and topics. Some can deal with complex issues, and many do not.

There are some middle grade books with two protagonists aimed at this age group, but most still have one. The protagonists are usually a year or two older than the intended reader. The books are almost always written in past tense, with a few exceptions.

In books for middle grade readers the plot is longer, more developed, and more complex. All of the components of a story arc play a role here. Sub-plots play an important role and secondary characters become more developed.

In middle grade books, the main character tends to have more complex motivations than at the chapter book level. Main characters can make mistakes, as long as they redeem themselves along the way.

Language must be clean of profanity but it can be more complex, particularly if your book is aimed at twelve to thirteen year olds.

Harry Potter is a middle grade series; or rather it starts out that way, as the later books veer solidly into YA territory. Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk, The Giver by Lois Lowry and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George are all excellent examples of classic middle grade books.

In terms of current middle grade books there are so many wonderful ones to choose from. My eldest loves the both the Front Desk series by Kelly Yang and the Tristan Strong books by Kwame Mbalia. Her favorite books are very much middle grade graphic novels which are a growing market. While some small presses are open to these submissions, it is generally best to go the agented route in terms of graphic novels. 

General Chapter Book Advice

It is so important to know and understand your audience with these age groups. The best way to do that is to read popular contemporary books in the category that you are writing for. It is also important to know what the classic books are in the age range you’re writing for.

It can be very helpful to talk to a librarian about which older books are most consistently checked out from the library. Also, teachers can be excellent resources for these age groups. They know which books engage their students and which ones do not.

Read widely in the age range your book is targeted at. If your book is in a sub-genre, say fantasy, make sure you read the seminal books in that sub-genre, for example, The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. But also read contemporary classics like The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat.

With picture books, the age of the kids makes it kind of tricky to figure out why they like a particular one so much. Older children can certainly give better storyline feedback.

The readers of chapter books can offer much more insightful feedback about why they like the things they like. So try to find some readers that are in the age range your book is aimed at. You can learn a lot from them about what books they like, and they can also ideally read your book manuscript and offer relevant feedback.

Formatting Advice

Formatting a manuscript aimed at early readers, middle grade readers, and tween readers is almost entirely the same. You should always use 12pt Times New Roman font.  The type should be black. Do not mess around with colors or font. It might seem cute at the time, but it is not a good idea and your manuscript will not be taken as seriously, or in some situations not be considered at all.

Your contact information should always be on the top left of the first page. This includes your name, you address, your phone number and your email address. You can include a link to a website if you have one.

The word count should be in the upper right. If you are submitting a print manuscript, add a couple of inches between the information and your title. The title should be centered. Most authors make the title bold or make the font slightly bigger. Your name (or pen name) should be centered below the title, but it should be size 12 font and not bold. 

Books aimed at early readers do not require cover pages and so the actual manuscript should start below the title and author name, with maybe two or three inches of extra space. Chapter books of all lengths should have cover pages.

The manuscript itself should be double-spaced. There should be no lines between paragraphs. Each paragraph should be indented .5 inches (words standard setting). Paragraphs should be left aligned (standard) and the margins should be 1 inch (standard). Only one space should exist between sentences.

Make sure to have a header on all the following pages. The header must include the author’s last name and the title on the upper left. Page numbers are mentioned on the right.

Make sure to follow any additional guidelines outlined by the publisher.

Do not include a copyright. Copyrighting work dates it (among other things) and it also marks the author as an amateur. Copyrighting is not a necessarily step to take with a manuscript.

Young Adult Publishing

YA is an interesting genre because unlike other categories of children’s books, many adults read it, so there is a bit of a disconnect between the intended audience and the actual audience.

Publishers speculate that up to 80% of YA books are bought by adults over the age of eighteen. Keep in mind that at least some of those adults are buying them for teens. YA books are officially aimed at thirteen to eighteen year olds. The characters in these books are usually fifteen to eighteen years old.

One of the critical errors some new authors make when writing YA is to make a parent a main character, and even sometimes a POV character. I have never read a traditionally published YA book where an adult was a POV character.

Most publishers internally distinguish between older and younger YA, but when a reader is at a bookstore or browsing online, older and younger is mixed in together.  For either older or younger YA, the author platform is more important than it is in children’s book publishing because you will be directly interacting with teenagers.

Trends are very important in YA publishing. It is pretty easy to get a feel for what is currently popular by talking to a teenage reader or by visiting a bookstore, or by going on Goodreads and looking up the most popular YA book for the current year. But figuring out what will be popular or what publishers are thinking of getting into is a little trickier.

In my experience, if there is one book that really stands out in terms of success, but there are few other contemporary books in this same area, publishers will seek to fill the gap, and fast. Twilight was like that, and so were The Hunger Games, and both unleashed hundreds of imitations/variations.

The Horn Book Magazine also regularly publishes helpful articles about trends in publishing.

It is very important to get a feel for what is good literature when it comes to YA, not just in terms of contemporary books, but in terms of classics; books like The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

The great thing about YA books is that you don’t have to personally know teens to hear their feedback. Unlike younger kids, teenagers are more likely to discuss books and review them online. It is great to specifically seek out teen opinions that way.

It can be crucial, depending on the content of your book and your background as an author, to get a sensitivity reader. Sensitivity readers are individuals who review advance manuscripts of upcoming books and they check for issues of representation, bias, insensitive language and cultural inaccuracies. They make suggestions for possible changes to authors. A sensitivity reader reviews a manuscript for internalized bias and negatively charged language. 

Many review companies such as Kirkus employ sensitivity readers, but authors now often pay readers to review the content of their books before they submit them. Sensitivity readers are important for chapter books and YA books, particularly if you are interacting with charged issues that you yourself do not face. For example, if an author without a learning disability writes a book about having one, a sensitivity reader would be very helpful in promoting accurate representation.

Your sensitivity reader need not be a professional, and can even be a friend, but it is  important that they come from the correct background for the story. For example, if you write a book about refugees yet you are not one, getting the perspective of a refugee would be vital for the authenticity of your book. You also need to know that they are willing to give you an honest opinion.

It is important to treat your sensitivity reader with respect, so even if they are a friend or acquaintance, you should pay them for their time.

Most YA books are between 50,000 to 70,000 words. Genre books like fantasy can certainly be longer. Romance novels tend to be on the shorter side of the word range.

The target audience of YA is readers from twelve to eighteen. Books aimed at readers on the younger end of this are sometimes shelved separately in bookstores but in terms of the publisher/agent author relationship they are all lumped in together for the most part. An agent seeking YA would be open to books focused on readers anywhere in that age range.

The protagonist of these books is generally between sixteen and eighteen now. In the last five years, these books are skewing older and older in terms of protagonists. Fourteen year old protagonists rarely appear now and even fifteen is unusual, this is a little unfortunate for younger readers, and I really feel like a gap of sorts is forming between YA and Middle Grade that isn’t being met particularly well by contemporary publishers.

The plot format is the same as in an adult novel;  there is  a complete story arc  multiple sub-plots are expected. Characters are complex at this point and must also go through a complete arc. For teens, the character arc often involves lots of angst and drama and first love and/or coming of age themes play an important role if skewed towards younger readers.

Now that the main focus is on older protagonists and older readers, there is generally less angst and more nuanced character portrayals.

Almost anything can happen in these novels, and with most publishers no subject is off limits. Although, if sex or violence appears, it is most often not overly graphic. Language should be mostly free of profanities or limited to mild ones. It is also increasingly important to avoid any language that is culturally offensive and problematic (a word like retard would be a prime example).

The main difference between adult and YA novels these days is the age of the protagonists and the fact that YA tends to be primarily plot oriented. Even literary YA has fewer descriptive passages than adult and more of a focus on pacing.

I do not yet have a teenager, but I do still read YA myself from time to time, and recent favorites include the One of Us is Lying series by Karen M. McManus, The Six Crimson Cranes series by Elizabeth Lim, You have a Match by Emma Lord, and Only a Monster by Vanessa Len.

Formatting Advice

When formatting a YA manuscript you should always use 12pt Times New Roman font. The type should be black. Do not mess around with colors or font. It might seem cute at the time, but it is not a good idea and your manuscript will not be taken as seriously, or in some situations not be considered at all.

Your contact information should always be on the top left of the first page. This includes your name, you address, your phone number and your email address. You can include a link to a website if you have one.

The word count should be in the upper right. If you’re submitting a print manuscript add a couple Inches between the information and your title. The title should be centered. Most authors make the title bold or make the font slightly bigger. Your name (or pen name) should be centered below the title, but it should be size 12 font and not bold. This information makes up the cover page. The rest of the manuscript continues on the next page.

The manuscript itself should be double-spaced. There should be no lines between paragraphs. Each paragraph should be indented .5 inches (Word standard setting). Paragraphs should be left aligned (standard) and the margins should be 1 inch (standard, with only one space between sentences).

Make sure to have a header on all the following pages. The header must include the author’s last name and the title on the upper left. Page numbers are mentioned on the right.

Make sure to follow any additional guidelines outlined by the publisher.

Do not include a copyright. Copyrighting work dates it (among other things) and it also marks the author as an amateur. Copyrighting is not a necessary step to take with a manuscript.