I’m looking into writing scary stories for kids.

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JoeBrat

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Hi everyone, this is my second post. I'm new to writing on forums and writing books in general. Well, I guess I have written a few books in the past. They didn't do so well, so I was discouraged from writing for several years. I spent that time learning about writing fiction books. I've always had a fascination with writing MG books. I guess I just like to write books my kids would read. So, I worked on my structure of writing. I spent a lot of time trying to create plots that have a great twist. Then I worked on the establishment of the dialog that made my characters come to life. I wrote many short stories for my kids over the years. Several friends have told me my work was fun to read and they would be interested in buying my books.

Last week I decided I'm ready to give writing another shot. I have a hard time focusing on one story at a time. I think I work better on writing several stories at once. My wife thinks it’s a form of A.D.D., but it really seems to help me progress the books faster. I'm not sure if this is a normal practice though?

I wanted to write scary stories for kids. I always liked reading them growing up. Still today I binge watch shows like X-file, Outerlimits, and Alfred Hitchcock when I have trouble sleeping. I sat down last week to write some new creative plots for a series of kids scary stories and ended up writing the stories themselves. I currently have two finished books, one book at chapter seven, and six books between chapters three and five.

My first question is, I have been a professional artist for over fifteen years now but I never made cover art for books. Would you suggest I hire a cover artist to do my covers? I thought about doing the art myself but I know how to create ads and billboards that draw attention. I'm not sure I know what grabs a reader to pick up a book.

My second question is, I'm stuck between if it is a good idea to self-publish with Amazon? I would like to publish the traditional way but I have no idea how to do it. Would self-publishing with Amazon ruin my chances of finding a traditional publisher?

If anyone has good advice I would greatly appreciate it. I worked hard on these books and they are my best pieces. I enjoy writing them so much I had to force myself to compress my stories into twenty-five to thirty thousand words. I didn't want my books to be bigger than the books on the market right now for my age group and genre.

Thanks in advance,
 
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Cyia

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Hi everyone, this is my second post.

Hi.

I'm new to writing on forums and writing books in general.

Welcome.

Well, I guess I have written a few books in the past. They didn't do so well, so I was discouraged from writing for several years.

Sorry to hear that. :(

I spent that time learning about writing fiction books. I've always had a fascination with writing MG books. I guess I just like to write books my kids would read. So, I worked on my structure of writing. I spent a lot of time trying to create plots that have a great twist. Then I worked on the establishment of the dialog that made my characters come to life. I wrote many short stories for my kids over the years. Several friends have told me my work was fun to read and they would be interested in buying my books.

YAY!

Last week I decided I'm ready to give writing another shot. I have a hard time focusing on one story at a time. I think I work better on writing several stories at once. My wife thinks it’s a form of A.D.D., but it really seems to help me progress the books faster. I'm not sure if this is a normal practice though?

I'm not sure if you want to use me as a metric for normal, but I've currently got 9 novels in various stages of "done."

I wanted to write scary stories for kids. I always liked reading them growing up. Still today I binge watch shows like X-file, Outerlimits, and Alfred Hitchcock when I have trouble sleeping. I sat down last week to write some new creative plots for a series of kids scary stories and ended up writing the stories themselves. I currently have two finished books, one book at chapter seven, and six books between chapters three and five.

I'm curious how long your books are. It's possible to write them that fast, but seeing you mention chapters instead of words makes me wonder if you're measuring by the right yard stick.

My first question is, I have been a professional artist for over fifteen years now but I never made cover art for books. Would you suggest I hire a cover artist to do my covers? I thought about doing the art myself but I know how to create ads and billboards that draw attention. I'm not sure I know what grabs a reader to pick up a book.

You make the cover if you self-publish, not if you sell the novel.

My second question is, I'm stuck between if it is a good idea to self-publish with Amazon? I would like to publish the traditional way but I have no idea how to do it. Would self-publishing with Amazon ruin my chances of finding a traditional publisher?

There's a TON of information here, for both kinds of publishing.

I've never self-published, but there's an entire subforum dedicated to the craft where you can get a lot of great advice and tips. Always READ THE STICKIES in the subforums, which will answer a lot of the most common questions.

Keep in mind that self-publishing isn't always the greatest idea with kids' books. Their parents buy them, rather than the kids, and most people still tend to buy physical books their kids can carry around / get dirty. YMMV.

To publish with a paying publisher, one who buys your books with an advance, you need an agent. To get an agent, you need to get your book in tip-top shape, then write a query. Go down to "Share Your Work" near the bottom of the forum, and look around the query thread. The password is "vista." Once you've got 50 posts, you can post a chapter of your novel for some feedback from other members. Reading and critiquing other queries or books in your area of interest are great ways to boost your post-count.

There's also a subforum for vetting agents.


If anyone has good advice I would greatly appreciate it. I worked hard on these books and they are my best pieces. I enjoy writing them so much I had to force myself to compress my stories into twenty-five to thirty thousand words. I didn't want my books to be bigger than the books on the market right now for my age group and genre.

MG usually starts at around 30,000 and tops out in the 50-60,000 range, with exceptions like the School for Good and Evil being slightly longer. MG is the 8-12 year-old reader group.

Are you thinking of something for younger kids? Chapter books are usually in the 10,000-15,000 range, and some packaged series, like the old Animorphs or Goosebumps books are in the 20,000 range, but that's a specific kind of book-packager deal.


Thanks in advance,

Good luck!
 

JoeBrat

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Thank you so much. That is a lot of great information. I am starting to see why this forum is so popular. I looked at my kid's books they like reading and I assumed that was the standard word count for the age group. I would love to write 50-60 thousand words a book. I feel like I am holding back when I confine my work into 30 thousand or fewer words. I will work on posting to reach 50 posts. I would like to let others read my work and I would like to read others work as well.

I can't thank you enough for your wonderful advice Cyia.
 

MindfulInquirer

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Putting your stuff out there whatever it is, is (nearly) always going to be a slow, painful process with lots of negativity at first. Keep at it if you think you've really got something to bring.

It's quite interesting to write scary stories for kids. It can't be too graphic, or mature, but it can establish a real connexion with the kid, at that age we're particularly receptive to spookiness and creepiness. It's just a part of the human experience, whichever age or area in the world.
 
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