Course Advice

I don't know anything specific about the program, but if you've been trying for a while without having any success, then I strongly recommend getting involved in this or some other project. The more you understand about the professional side of the market can only help you, IMHO. And programs like like that usually include opportunities to network. If you've got something good but unusual, then you want to look for every opportunity to put your work out where there's a chance the right person might see it. Conferences, workshops and courses are the way to go, I believe, if you want to push your work to the next level.

Have you tried sending out a portfolio to the main children's publishers?
Most writer /illustrators I know began illustrating other people's stuff and move on to doing the whole package once they are immersed in the business. It is really hard to sell picture books at the moment but illustrating other people's may be easier as a way in?

It may be the stories that aren't hitting the mark - yet.

You two have raised an interesting question. When is "writing to the market" a good thing and when is it a bad thing?

My opinion (I love to share):
If you write something you don't believe in and love, just because you think this is the thing that will sell, that's bad.

But really knowing what kinds of books kids enjoy and are looking for is a very good kind of "market analysis." You said in the other thread that you were dissatisfied with what you find at the bookstore, but that may be the wrong place to look. I mean, I teach first grade, so I get to see not only which books my kids laugh at, but which ones they go back and read again and again. And which ones make them say, "Aww," but never touch again.

Good independent booksellers, children's librarians and teachers might be better resources for you than what's on the shelf.

Also--there's a very definite trend in these post-Harry P. days. Picture books for kids older than about 7 or 8 simply don't sell. Kids who can read don't want to be seen with a picture book. They want to look grown-up. They want a Novel. So that explains why so much of what you see on the shelves is simple--it's written at a 5-year-old interest level.

If your work is deeper, darker, more appealing to a 9-year-old, then you should be exploring the graphic novel format, IMHO. The illustrated novel (Diary of a Wimpy Kid and BabyMouse being two of the most popular--ooh, and Captain Underpants!) is the new thing for middle grade kids. And in that genre, just about anything goes. At least, Captain Underpants has talking toilets and a villain who gets turned into talking poop, so you can't accuse it of being what adults want kids to read...

Long live Captain Underpants!

And Mo Williams' "Knuffle Bunny" rocks.