Chapter Books? MG? Difference?

DavidBrett

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So, my writer friends are starting a chapter book writing online course, and say how its different and more relaxed than writing MG with serial potential for e-books and traditional publishing. My question is this, and it's probably a stupid one, but... what's the difference between chapter books and MG? Doesn't MG range from post-picture-books to YA, with varying degrees in read-ages complexity? Can peeps provide details of classic/popular chapter books to help me better comprehend the two different genres?

Dave
 

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No it doesn't. MG is ages 8 - 12. Chapter books are usually 7 - 10. Chapter books are a lot easier to read, they aren't as epic in style and structure. They are used often as the first book that a child reads on his/her own. I'd recommend googling, but here's a nice chart to start you off:

http://emmawaltonhamilton.com/is-it-a-chapter-book-or-middle-grade/

Personally I wouldn't find writing Chapter Books relaxing or easier. In fact I'd find it harder. While it comes quite naturally to me to write fro 8 - 12 and know what vocabulary to use and where I can push the boundaries of word choices etc, Chapter Books are even more limited in language options and I really wouldn't know where to start. Also I don't see how writing Chapter Books have more potential than MG books when it comes to publishing. They are unique categories that each have their readership and blockbuster best sellers.

Maybe your writer friends just have more of an affinity for them, which is very possible. But I wouldn't just choose to write them because they are easy or whatever.
 

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Writing chapter books is much harder than writing MG. Finding the right balance in reading level is very difficult, and the dividing line between CB and low MG is hard to define sometimes, as is the difference between CB and Easy Reader books.

From what I've seen, CBs often tend to be series.

I've never seen an agent ask specifically for chapter books, but I've never really tried to query the chapter books I've written either, so I can't say whether they're easy to market or not.

Thanks for that chart, Toothpaste!
 

DavidBrett

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Yes, thanks Toothpaste! That chart is really helpful! And thank you for the info too, Sage (great Buffy avatar :D)

EDIT: So, my steampunk story is definitely MG, whereas my idea where a kid accidentally opens a Monsterpedia, unleashing all its creatures, and he has to wrangle them back up book by book could be either, depending on how complex I wrote it?
 
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You're welcome!

Also, no idea about your last question. Both could be CBs both could be MGs. Heck they could even be adult! (couldn't be YA as YA needs a teen lead) It's all about how you write it. :)
 

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Nope. Chapter book are books for a specific age category and reading level. They're the first books with chapters a kid will read on their own.

Fear not. Most adult books do have chapters. You're in fine company :greenie
 

jlmott

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The term "chapter book" as it is used in children's publishing is in unfortunate one, because it leads to so much confusion, even among people who deal with children's books. When I taught elementary, teachers and librarians would regularly refer to any independent reading book as a chapter book. They all have chapters after all! It was not until I started writing seriously and doing research into publishing that I even knew the designation "chapter book" was actually very specific and very narrow. My understanding is also, hearing from a few professionals at conferences I have attended, that it is a very difficult market to break into. This article helps to explain what chapter books are, and why trying to market an independent series is going to be a tough sell: http://kidlit.com/2010/10/22/early-reader-chapter-book-market/
 

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I had no idea the term "Chapter Book" was so specific and rigid. I've written books with chapters, aimed at adult audiences. Does that not count?

caw

Blacbird, you're being a little silly right here. And it seems a little disrespectful too. You in no way participate in this part of AW and only come here to mock the name of one of the categories? I agree that it is a strange name for a term, and I agree with jlmott below that it causes confusion in the kidlit book world. It would be nice if they came up with something else. But at the same time most categories are not literally named. "Adult" books aren't only read by adults, and in fact I know a lot of non-industry types who when I say the term think I mean "Erotica" as in "Adults Only". "Young Adult" makes no sense either as the audience aren't actually adults at all. And so on and so forth.

So yeah, please forgive me if you weren't posing in snark, I make assumptions about your posts based on your history here. But is it really necessary to pop into a part of the forum you never participate in to mock how people who work in part of the industry you don't work in name things? And how is it helpful to the OP at all?
 

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The term "chapter book" as it is used in children's publishing is in unfortunate one, because it leads to so much confusion, even among people who deal with children's books. When I taught elementary, teachers and librarians would regularly refer to any independent reading book as a chapter book. They all have chapters after all! It was not until I started writing seriously and doing research into publishing that I even knew the designation "chapter book" was actually very specific and very narrow. My understanding is also, hearing from a few professionals at conferences I have attended, that it is a very difficult market to break into. This article helps to explain what chapter books are, and why trying to market an independent series is going to be a tough sell: http://kidlit.com/2010/10/22/early-reader-chapter-book-market/

Totally confusing. Not a fan of the term myself. Especially because I remember being a kid and calling all longer books with chapters "chapter book" because we were still at an age where we needed to differentiate between them and picture books etc. As a writer it is further confusing because there are also "Early Readers".

Thanks for the article! Interesting read!
 
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Early Readers vs. chapters books vs. low MG made it very difficult to figure out what I was looking for when I was trying to figure out what age category a series I wanted to write was in. When I asked book store owners and librarians, they had no idea of the categories either. The librarians were okay with Easy Reader--there was a section for it--but they'd be like, "Chapter books? Do you mean like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter?" I think they had the same problem with thinking of it as what books in the children's section have chapters.
 

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This is what bugs me generally about categories. Now we have people talking about maybe we need a new category between MG and YA. And I feel like on the one hand I get it, because sometimes there are these spots that since they don't have a marketing title they get ignored and books for those spots don't get published. But at the same time I think the more categories we create the more confusion we create. The more specific we get too the more people might think they can't go outside the box: only certain ages are allowed to read such and such, or worse, the desire to read something "lower" then makes kids feel stupid or baby-ish. Heck I see this with writers too! So many authors desperately don't want their books to be considered MG and will do everything they can to try to make an MG book fit into the YA world because . . . reasons.

I mean, I get why categories are created, I do. . . I just . . . sometimes don't always think they're as effective as people want them to be.
 

jlmott

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This is what bugs me generally about categories. Now we have people talking about maybe we need a new category between MG and YA. And I feel like on the one hand I get it, because sometimes there are these spots that since they don't have a marketing title they get ignored and books for those spots don't get published. But at the same time I think the more categories we create the more confusion we create. The more specific we get too the more people might think they can't go outside the box: only certain ages are allowed to read such and such, or worse, the desire to read something "lower" then makes kids feel stupid or baby-ish. Heck I see this with writers too! So many authors desperately don't want their books to be considered MG and will do everything they can to try to make an MG book fit into the YA world because . . . reasons.

I mean, I get why categories are created, I do. . . I just . . . sometimes don't always think they're as effective as people want them to be.

I understand your frustration, both with the sheer volume of categories and, even more problematic, the way they tend to exclude books that don't neatly fit into the occasionally arbitrary checklist of what makes a book a such-and-such kind of book. For example, the idea that the MC must be 12 or under for MG, and anything older makes it a YA book. Now as a general guideline, there's nothing wrong with it, but I have seen it often cited as a RULE TO BE FOLLOWED AT ALL TIMES.

The problem is, where does that put the Harry Potter books, since Harry starts out 11 years old and ends at 17? Should we keep the first three books in the MG section and trundle the rest over to YA? Not to mention the books of the late Lloyd Alexander, whose MG novels often feature teen or young adult protagonists. Of course, those books have been published and are popular enough that such restraints don't really matter. But new books and new writers that try to push against the confines of these definitions are met with resistance--sometimes rightfully so, but sometimes not.
 

Debbie V

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The problem is, where does that put the Harry Potter books, since Harry starts out 11 years old and ends at 17? Should we keep the first three books in the MG section and trundle the rest over to YA?

This is exactly what's done in my library, or the full series is in both spots. Crossover books? There's a whole nother category.

Chapter books are hard to sell unless they are in series. The readers at that age want to meet old friends in similar themes over and over. (At least that's the general industry wisdom.) For examples, look at Judy Moody, The Magic Tree House, Puppy Place, and Horrible Harry. My public library actually shelves them as series. (There are also quite a few licensed characters and non-fiction series: Magic School Bus, Scooby Doo, Who Was?) Literaticat has a good brief description including word count guidelines for all of the age categories. I don't have it bookmarked, but I know I've seen it linked in other threads here.
 

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Blacbird, you're being a little silly right here. And it seems a little disrespectful too. You in no way participate in this part of AW and only come here to mock the name of one of the categories?

I didn't mock anything. I seriously never knew that "Chapter Book" was a genre category. "Silly" and "disrespectful" are interpretations you made about my comment, which seem . . . silly and disrespectful. Especially in view of the very next sentence in your response:

I agree that it is a strange name for a term, and I agree with jlmott below that it causes confusion in the kidlit book world.

caw
 

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I've written two younger historical fiction stories. I think one is better suited as a Chapter Book and the other one MG. I was wondering if there was a list of words or something that could help me make sure the vocabulary in my chapter book is age appropriate?

I personally found writing the Chapter Book harder. Reading lots of them is helpful to get in that reader mindset but as an author, it is painful to can be hard to write for beginning readers. No more fancy sentences. I have to save those for my adult books.
 

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I suppose blackbird the reason I inferred you were mocking was when you asked this
I've written books with chapters, aimed at adult audiences. Does that not count?

Considering you are in the children's part of AW and considering the definition had already been made above, the question seemed so obviously redundant and to me it therefore seemed like you were mocking. You say you were sincerely asking though, so I apologise. But I don't think my inference was out of left field considering the kind of question you posed, the context you posed it in, and also considering you tend to post quite often with sarcasm on AW in general. That being said, I suppose, yes, I am very protective of this part of AW and of kidlit in general as it is very often considered lesser and derided and I am probably more quick to assume someone is making fun of it as I've had a lot of experiences with that being the case. So I'm sorry for not believing it was a sincere question. I will work harder at trusting that people are being genuine when it comes to kidlit questions.

(As to my following sentence, I actually think the name is difficult yes, but I still don't think it's something to mock (as I thought you were doing).)
 
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Smish

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I love chapter books. They're some of the most fun to read. And I love them much for the same reason kids love them. They're generally part of a series, so you know the characters and what the book is likely to be about (Clementine is going to be dealing with every day issues, like working on a school project. Furry and Flo are going to be dealing with some catastrophe related to Furry being a werewolf. Time Warp Trio is going to involve time traveling. Etc.). They're entertaining, but comfortable.

It is definitely harder to break into the chapter book world as a debut author, though it can be done. When publishers purchase chapter books, it's often in a 4-book deal. So the general advice I've heard is to write one book, but have outlines for three more.
 

Debbie V

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Halee,

I often Google the word I'm questioning with the words graded vocabulary. You'll get vocab lists online that have your word. Then I average and make my best guess based on my narrative voice. My main character has a mom who is a teacher and he's a good student and reader, so I'll use a word that shows up in 8th grade for this sixth grader.

I have heard of a book, but I don't know what it is. There is also a site that can get you the grade level of your work. I think it's at Ren Learn. You can do this in Word as well (It gives you the Flesch-Kinkaid grade level). Use both because the formulas they use differ.