What have I done?

Melisande · Apr 19, 2006

I have written a children's book. It contains approx 35.000 words and I have made 26 illustrations.
Is that a picture book? Or what is it. I aimed at children in the ages of approx 7-11 years old.

spike · Apr 19, 2006

Melisande said:
I have written a children's book. It contains approx 35.000 words and I have made 26 illustrations.
Is that a picture book? Or what is it. I aimed at children in the ages of approx 7-11 years old.

Here is the text book definition of a picture book, from Picturing Books

Picture books are a format (form/design) and a not a genre (content), though many people sometimes use the term "genre" to describe picture books as a whole. Picturing Books does not refer to picture books as a genre because it is the format, that is the physical aspects, of picture books that make them distinct within the field of children's literature.

32 pages is standard (though titles can be 24-48 pages)

Illustrations dominate text

Illustrations integrate with the narrative to bring story to a satisfying conclusion.

Word count is generally less than 500 words. Although picture books can have over 2000 words or have none at all, as is the case with wordless picture books.

Overall design serves to build a relationship between the text and the illustrations, this includes the front matter, back matter, and the book jacket

There is a lot of other info on that site. Please remember that many of the standards only remain standards until someone successfully breaks them.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 19, 2006

novel

Melisande said:
I have written a children's book. It contains approx 35.000 words and I have made 26 illustrations.
Is that a picture book? Or what is it. I aimed at children in the ages of approx 7-11 years old.

What you have is a novel, not a picture book, and it may not even use illustrations. Many such noevls are only around 25,000 words long.

It's usually up to the pubisher to include illustrations, and they usually also choose the illustrator.

janetbellinger · Apr 20, 2006

Picture books are generally aimed at preschool and kindergarten aged children.

stormie · May 1, 2006

Sounds like you have an MG (middle grade novel). Put the illustrations aside, work on a great query, and get hold of the 2006 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market. (I need coffee. I just realized everyone else said basically the same thing. But I'm posting this anyway!)

Tilly · May 1, 2006

I agree the word count is above that for a picture book. Also, publishers tend to want to arrange the illustrations themselves, rather than have the artwork submitted with the writing.

James D. Macdonald · May 1, 2006

Are you a professional-grade illustrator?

Melisande · May 1, 2006

No, can't say that I am. Kids like my drawings, though.

oarsman · May 1, 2006

If you can't use the illustrations with your book, perhaps you can use them on a Web site to support the book. My niece is a loyal reader of the Erin Hunter Warrior Cats series. She found out the author has a Web site dedicated to the series and is a frequent visitor to the site. The Web site includes illustrations of the characters, an illustrated map, and news about future books of the series.

I am not sure it is a possibility, but it might be something to think about.

Melisande · May 1, 2006

Cool idea, Oarsman. Thanks!

stormie · May 1, 2006

After rereading your post, your book seems dependent on illustrations. If that's the case, it would probably be targeted to the four to six year olds, give or take a year. And 36,000 words is way, way, too much for that age group. It should be under 1,000 words. As others have said, publishers also don't want illustrations with your ms.

Bufty · May 1, 2006

Melisande, the twenty-six illustrations cover alphabetically orientated characters if I recall correctly.

Melisande · May 1, 2006

Bufty, yes. In a sense. They are illustrations of the characters, more than of the letters of the alphabet. The carachters just happens to come in alphabetical order. That kind of made the story work for me. But the illustrations don't really have to be there. They just came out through the pen, very much like the book did. Hard to explain, but when I ran out of words, there came a picure, and so I found the words again. Therefore they are interlinked in my mind, but they do not have to stay that way.
The story can stand on its own feet, without pictures.

stormie · May 1, 2006

I think most people, including me, don't really know much about the ms., so the help we're trying to give may not be on target.

If your ms. is dealing with the alphabet, that's not really for 7-11 year olds. They're beyond that. Know the interests of the age group you're writing for.

And here's a general guide for age range and word count:

PB=3 to 6 year olds. About 1,000 words.
Early chapter books= 5 to 8 year olds. About 5,000 words.
Middle grade books= 8 to 12 year olds. About 25,000 words.

Melisande · May 1, 2006

Stormie, thanks for taking this interest!
The only way the story deals with the alphabet, is the fact that the characters are presented in alphabetical order. It is not like a learning thing. They just came out that way in the beginning, and I thought, hey, that's cool. It also made it easier for me to continue the story, because L leads to M... to N...
Thing is, the story is way too advanced for 5 to 8 year olds. It starts very much like a story for little kids, but it gets deeper and more involved as it unfolds.
I'm stuck in a rut, and feel that a major rewrite might be the only way to save my poor bugs from eternal damnation in the trash-can.

PS
Here is the synopsis:
This is a story, fairytale even, about an ant named Andy. He gets tired of his daily chores at the anthill and sets forth on a quest for adventure. As the story unfolds he meets other insects, from A to Z (and yes, there’s an insect to each letter of the alphabet). He interacts with them in many different ways, peacefully on a whole but sometimes not. Some become his friends, others just pass by. Andy finds that the world is a lot bigger than he had ever dreamed. It’s a story about friendship, finding adventure and experience and maybe – oneself.

What have I done?

Melisande

spike

Mostly Ignored

Jamesaritchie

janetbellinger

stormie

storm central

Tilly

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Melisande

oarsman

Salt water is the cure

Melisande

stormie

storm central

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Melisande

stormie

storm central

Melisande