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Picture Books 101

 

What is a Picture Book?

  • Illustrated stories and nonfiction for children ages 3-6, or 4-8.**     Designed to be read out loud to a child.

 

  • Text averages 1000 words or less (500-800 words is most common); books average 32 pages.

 

  • The text focuses on the characters, plot and action of the book. Very
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Young Adult Books 101

What is a Young Adult Book?

 

  • Fiction and nonfiction for ages 12 and up or 14 and up. Books tend to be 150 pages or longer. Manuscripts are generally 40,000 words and higher.

 

  • Fiction can be any genre. Some of the most popular are fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, cyber
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Middle Grade Books 101

What is a Book for Middle Graders?

 

  • Novels or nonfiction for ages 8-12 or 10-14. Lengths can vary from 84-200 pages (novels are usually over 100 pages long), or 20,000-40,000 words. Illustrated nonfiction may have fewer words.

 

  • Characters are children ages 9-14 (average character in middle grade novel is
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Easy Readers 101

What is an Easy Reader?

 

  • For readers kindergarten through second or third grade.

 

  • Designed to be read by children just learning to read on their own.

 

  • Books can be 32-64 pages long, fiction or nonfiction, with texts ranging from about 50 words up to 2000 words.

 

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Chapter Books 101

What is a Chapter Book?

 

  • Called “transitional books” (ages 6-9), or “chapter books” (ages 7-10), these short novels are broken into chapters that average 3-5 pages each.

 

  • Books range from 64-96 pages; manuscripts average 6000-15,000 words (transitional books being on the shorter end).

 

  • Characters can be animals, fantasy creatures or
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VIDEO – How Do I Determine the Proper Age Group For My Manuscript?

In this video, Laura gives tips about how to target the correct age group for your book.

VIDEO – What Should I Write About?

You're driven to write a children's book, but you're not sure what you want to write about. No problem, let's figure it out. In this video, we'll give you some tips for avoiding what *not* to write about, and how to mine your own life experiences for great subjects.

 

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PODCAST – Jon & Laura on Writing Fiction for Kids

A few years back, Jon and Laura sat down to talk about the key ingredients of writing fiction for children.  From story ideas to manuscript submission, they covered all the bases.   Originally a special bonus for select customers, the entire talk is now available to all CBI Clubhouse