Jon Samsel

With some writing experience and knowledge behind you, you might one day wish to try your hand and pen at a children’s book. Books for children are special and take special talents. You need a keen understanding of the children of this generation and some insight as to what publisher’s are looking for if you hope to become a successful children’s book author.

How does an author get started writing for children? Maurice Sendak, Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and Judy Blume probably wondered the same thing when they began. The way Judy Blume started was to follow in the steps of authors she admired. “Realizing I would never be another Dr. Seuss or Maurice Sendak, I turned to novels and wrote the kind of books I wanted to read when I was a kid.”

An understanding of today’s children is vital for success. Children do not like to be talked down to, and they are not often fooled. The more you know about them, the better your chances of writing a successful book.

When you feel ready to try a project, query a likely children’s book publisher with a description of your idea or an outline and chapter or two. Some publishers require a complete manuscript.

If you are not sure which publishers to contact, you can go online and study the treasure trove of resources, such as publisher sites, Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, Writer’s Digest, Google Book Search and other trade publications. Study the newest books for children and see which publishers seem to be doing the type of book you wish to write.

A solid resource for writers interested in the children’s book genre is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, 3rd Edition by Harold D. Underdown.

Some publishers break down their juvenile and children’s book needs into these divisions:

• Picture books for children ages three to eight or four through seven
• Fiction and nonfiction for ages eight through twelve
• Special interest books for young to older teens eleven through eighteen
• Humorous novels and science fiction for ages nine through twelve
• Readers from eight to twelve often enjoy books about faraway places and various products in use
• Young teens like books on careers, hobbies, the family, government, problems young people face, and romance
• The older teen group is much into special interest areas like military service, art, music, and theater

Many children’s book authors started young. P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins books, is an example. Stories and poems she wrote as a girl were published in Australian magazines and newspapers.

While recovering from a serious illness, Travers wrote the first several Mary Poppins stories “to while away the days, but also to put down something that had been in my mind for a long time.”

Travers is very loyal to her young readers. She calls them “children hopping about with umbrellas, trying to make them fly.”

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Some of the biggest money an author can ever hope to make lies in mass-market paperbacks. Some books are destined to be published as paperbacks right from inception while other are published as paperback after successfully being published in another format first. Only time and experimentation will tell if you have what it takes to turn out this type of book.

Paperbacks cover a wide variety of subjects. One paperback, ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good People,’ has over two million copies in print.

How do you know if your idea is right for this category? There is a test you can do. First ask if enough people would be interested in the book? Mass market means appeal for millions of readers.

Ask also if it’s commercial enough for the leading paperback publishers, and you know what they want is huge mega book blockbusters. They do, however, make some big mistakes in the books they reject and then watch them soar to the heights.

Finally, in your test, ask if you as the author have enough interest in the idea to see it through to completion? You would be surprised how many manuscripts are started but never finished.

Bestselling author Clive Cussler started in mass market with his ‘Raise the Titanic’ years ago. Most of Clive’s books are published first in hardcover, but he has sold millions of paperbacks as well. One of his three book deals was reportedly a $14 million offer. But Cussler hit the big time some years ago and has been a big fiction name for a while.

One of Clive’s lead characters in his exciting novels is Dirk Pitt, who gets involved in challenging missions on the high seas of world intrigue. The first thing you quickly realize about Clive is what a truly masterful storyteller he is. For novels, that is the most important skill you can have. Cussler simply tells a fascinating story as reading his novels reveals.

When not working on a new novel, Cussler and his crew are off to some locale on a search for a new sunken ship. He is credited with having located the German U-boat that sank the LUSITANIA. They located the exact spot where the German U-boat lies beneath the sea. Cussler passed along that information to officials so that a record can now exist of where the German submarine lies.

In writing novels, Cussler believes that a novelist should make every effort to end each chapter with a hook so the reader feels, “My God, what happens next?” This is what keeps readers turning pages.

Keep in mind that mass market is also nonfiction and not just novels. Consider the following mass market paperback bestsellers:

• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
• Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul
• Spontaneous Healing
• Habits of Highly Effective People
• How the Irish Saved Civilization
• A Whack On the Side of the Head
• All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten

The first named, ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff,’ is reportedly the fastest selling trade paperback ever. It has gone back to press many times and millions of copies have been sold.

If mass market interests you, the first thing you need to decide is whether to try a nonfiction book or novel. Study the bestselling charts to see what the public is responding to at present.

Some books cross borders and sell in every area. This fact is presenting new challenges to your publishers. But if mass market is where your goal is, think wide appeal. Get excitement, adventure, mystery, glamour, and suspense into your fiction. If your mass market effort is nonfiction, strive to come up with news the reader can put to immediate use. Above all, try to anticipate coming trends and look for sequel books, which are simply other angles on the same title or idea.

Previously I’ve blogged about the many different types of novel genres. One of them is the thriller, a popular category in the world of fiction. Before you hunker down in front of your laptop to pound out your own thriller, you should determine if you have the passion and talent to write fiction. It’s not as easy as it looks! Assuming you have what it takes to be a bestselling author, you’ll want to delve into deeper into the thriller genre.

Author Mary Higgins Clark is a master of the suspense thriller. In ‘Pretend You Don’t See Her,’ a young woman is in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets caught up in a murder investigation. In her book, ‘Where Are You Now,’ a man disappears without a note or a goodbye, yet he still calls home every Mother’s Day. What happened to him?

Sharon Kaye’s ‘Black Market Truth’ is a new thriller about ancient texts, Dionysian cults and Aristotle. It’s not hard to imagine someone paying millions for an ancient scroll with the only known version of Aristotle’s arguments, or to think that someone else would be willing to kill for it.

A novelist’s own life may yield good ideas for a thriller. Tap your memory for story ideas. The places you have been, scenes you have observed, even bits of conversation can all lead to a novel. Interesting people you have met, seen, or know about, from all walks of life, might lead to the beginning of a novel. Think well about your own life and past as well as what happens each present day.
 
In recent years, the legal thriller has been very popular both as novel and motion picture. ‘The Associate,’ ‘The Rainmaker,’ ‘Runaway Jury,’ ‘The Client’ and ‘The Firm,’ by John Grisham, have done well.
 
The variety found in the thriller category is fresh and appealing. ‘China Doll’ tells the story of a seven-year-old girl who is kidnapped from the side of her American parents while all three are visiting Vatican City in Rome. The parents enlist the help of a security person who solves such cases but can only be reached and communicated with via computer. This security person learns that eight other blond, blue-eyed children have vanished in the same way within 16 months.
 
Another exciting thriller is Michael Crichton’s ‘Airframe,’ which poses the question of why a plane on its way to America from the Far East goes through a series of sharp up-and-down movements just before crashing.

Asking intriguing questions is a key way to launch a thriller. What if Dr. Jekyll had a maid servant? This question led to ‘Mary Riley,’ which became a book and motion picture with Julia Roberts in the lead.
 
What if a young lawyer wished to be a photographer, and after killing his wife’s lover (who was one), assumes the identity and vocation of the victim? This premise by Douglas Kennedy, an Australian author, became ‘The Big Picture.’
 
An increasing number of thrillers involve computers and biotech. Stephen Cannell’s ‘Final Victim’ is about a serial killer who uses secret computer technology to trap his victims. And then there is Ken Follett’s ‘The Third Twin’ which centers around the premise of the genetic manipulation of human embryos.
 
Keep in mind that a number of thriller novels go on to become very successful blockbusters. Whether you’re a new author or veteran pro interested in breaking into the thriller category, stay alert to the fact that publishing has become more and more like Hollywood. Both publishers and Hollywood are looking for big books that have the potential to become mega blockbuster properties. Turn one of these out and place it with the right publisher and you could skyrocket to success as an author.