83
votes
My kid's first story
What is "the right way"? Why do you consider it better than some other way to write a story? What do you consider "mistakes"?
You can ask your son about why he has made certain stylistic choices or ...
47
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
No one can copyright an event
The events that happened to your father don't belong to anyone. They just are. Different people will have different knowledge (or beliefs) about various portions of ...
- 32.4k
35
votes
Accepted
A children's book that takes 25 minutes to read out loud - is it too long?
If anything, I'd say your book is too short for that age. 3rd grade is 8-years-olds, right? At that age, 25 minutes to read out loud is closer to one chapter of a book they'd be reading.
At 8 years ...
24
votes
My kid's first story
Assuming this isn't a school assignment, subject to a grade, I think your most effective approach right now is just to encourage him in his writing rather than trying to improve it. This is a good ...
- 56.5k
19
votes
Accepted
Using footnotes in fiction: children's book which can be enjoyed by adults
I don't think this is the right way to go about it.
I have to say I'm not a fan of explanatory footnotes in fiction, it's far too much of an immersion breaker. In fact I'd go so far as to say they ...
- 7,223
17
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
"Can someone take a story that happened to you, without your knowledge, and publish it?" Of course. Newspapers does this all the time. No one asks the president's permission before writing a news ...
- 25.5k
16
votes
A children's book that takes 25 minutes to read out loud - is it too long?
The audiobook for Winnie the Pooh is 2 hrs and 46 minutes (although admittedly it is episodic in nature rather than a single story.)
I was first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone around the ...
- 11.2k
14
votes
Is it better to avoid names with a difficult pronunciation in Middle Grade fiction?
Short answer: definitely, absolutely, wholeheartedly 3.
Long answer: Sir Terry Pratchett wrote somewhere that since he was reading a lot as a child, when he was little there were many words he knew ...
14
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
You do have (limited) legal rights to your own name and story. In this case, if the author used your father's actual full legal name, and other ...
- 56.5k
12
votes
Accepted
Making science for toddlers easy to remember
It's been decades since I was a kid watching cartoons on TV, and I can still sing some of the Schoolhouse Rock songs.
Schoolhouse Rock, for those unfamiliar with it, was a series of short (2-3 minute)...
- 21.4k
11
votes
Using footnotes in fiction: children's book which can be enjoyed by adults
You don’t say what age of children you want to address and I’m not sure whether your use of the young-adult tag indicates older children or if that is intended to cover your ’adult’ audience.
If you ...
- 903
10
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
If this happened in European Union
using his name and other specifics
without his permission may violate General Data Protection Regulation. Note, if your father died more than 10 years ago, it no ...
- 201
9
votes
Illustrations for a children's book to be republished
You need to consult with a lawyer. This question overlaps with contract law and copyright law and seeing as you don't have any of the original contracts it will be difficult to establish what happened....
- 1,478
9
votes
Standard split between author and illustrator of children's book
I am a children's book illustrator. Thom is right 50:50 or for heavily illustrated picture books 60:40. When it comes to the advance, the illustrator usually gets more because it will take them 3 to 8 ...
- 151
9
votes
Where can I find resources for bedtime story plots?
I gave your question some thought, and I figure the best source of inspiration for you would be an encyclopaedia. Let me explain: your regular characters can travel to distant lands where they'd ...
9
votes
My kid's first story
Try giving him some books to read about the subject he wrote about. You will soon find out if he is really interested in the stories or if it was just something he used to try and get your attention. ...
- 1,987
8
votes
Accepted
What are some clear differences in theme/story between children's, middle grade, and young adult fantasy?
There are no clear-cut distinctions. Children are different. One child might be reading at 6 what another wouldn't touch until 12. For example, King Matt the First is explicitly written for children (...
8
votes
Sending manuscript to multiple publishers
Most publishers are fine with simultaneous submissions and understand that it could otherwise take years for a manuscript to be accepted. What's important is to read the publisher's guidelines before ...
- 32.4k
7
votes
Is it better to avoid names with a difficult pronunciation in Middle Grade fiction?
I'm also going to agree with the third suggestion. The idea of a pronunciation guide is a good one, and you could do as others have done and make it part of the dialogue (for example "My name's Shawn, ...
7
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
Assuming you are in the US...
Copyright will likely protect this author's expression of the facts. This means that you cannot copy phrases from the book (for example), but you can write a different ...
- 4,003
6
votes
My kid's first story
Though he looks forward to my praise, which I surely do, he gets bored every time I try to outline his flaws in the story.
That's pretty standard 11-year-old-boy behavior. I peeked at their handbook ...
- 306
6
votes
Accepted
Sending manuscript to multiple publishers
This is a norm that has changed. Not long ago, simultaneous submissions were frowned upon. Now they are largely expected. However, publishing tends to be an old-fashioned industry. There are still ...
- 56.5k
6
votes
How To Make Something Straight-foward and Dark Into A Kid's Picture Book?
Your question is: Could this plotline be geared to young children? Honestly, I would deliver a strong no.
How many books are there for 5-year-olds which involve such a degree of violence including ...
- 1,759
5
votes
Copyrighting illustrations I paid to have created
According to copyright laws, the artist has the right to sell reprints of the art.
It is important to know that copyright nearly always rests with the
artist, regardless of who owns the artwork. ...
- 846
5
votes
Need to own copyright on illustrations if planning a series?
IANAL, but I deal with these kinds of agreements all the time in my publishing business. Everything I say here applies only to US copyright.
Here's sample contract http://businessofillustration.com/...
- 1,348
5
votes
Where can I find resources for bedtime story plots?
Children's Writer's Word Book
The Children's Writer's Word Book is a very good resource for what you are looking for. It is quite readable (will hold your interest) and has enough material to help ...
- 6,467
5
votes
How many words does a normal chapter have?
In my opinion, the word count of a chapter just doesn't matter.
Instead, the word count of your chapters should depend entirely on the goals for the chapter, and how long it needs to be to tell the ...
- 4,439
5
votes
Where can I find resources for bedtime story plots?
Apparently what my grandfather used to do, telling a story to children, was to ask them -- what do you want in the story?
And apparently they'd reply things like:
A spider
A palace
Toffee-paper
And ...
- 502
5
votes
Is it better to avoid names with a difficult pronunciation in Middle Grade fiction?
I grew up in the 70's in Britain reading C.S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Christopher, along with Enid Blyton, Elizabeth Beresford, Joan Akien, Arthur Conan ...
- 650
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