Children's book writing resources?

[Brian G Turner]

I know someone who needs to do some research into writing for children, not least targeted age groups, story length, etc.

Could anyone point me towards any useful resources specific to the publishing industry on writing for children, please, if you know any?

 

[Dozmonic]

I don't have a resource to direct you to other than myself. If your friend has any questions, they can ask here, or can grab my email and do it that way.

 

[Mouse]

Many years ago, before I had the internet, I did this: http://www.childrens-writers.co.uk/

 

[Brian G Turner]

I don't have a resource to direct you to other than myself. If your friend has any questions, they can ask here, or can grab my email and do it that way.

Ok - first one would be: How are the market segments designations for age broken down, and are there preferred word counts for these?

ie, 1-5: 300-1000 words
5-8: Approx 5k words
8-12: Approx 15-25k words
12-15: Approx 40k words

 

[Dozmonic]

They're not afraid of printing big books for younger kids. Some very popular books have large word counts...

A guide for popular books in each age range (that you've got correct there)
Beast Quest = 10k per book, that's for 7-9 year olds
Derek Landy looks around 60-90k, 8-12
Rick Riordan 60-90k, 10-14
Darren Shan 50k, 12+

1-5 is going to be picture books
5-7 is Andrew Cope, Daisy Meadows, younger Enid Blyton stuff etc
8-12 is Beast Quest, Derek Landy, Michelle Paver, Michael Morpurgo (massive word count range for his stuff), JK Rowling, David Walliams
12+ generally domatined by vampire fiction at the moment; also Michael Grant, Robert Muchamore, Suzanne Collins etc

Edit: So pretty much take your lower word counts for the ages given as the minimum, and anything above that up to full novel length is accepted and currently being taken on

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I think Andrew Cope is more 8-12 - he's quite difficult to read in comparison to Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl. Our local library has moved him recently.

There is a Writer's and Artist's Yearbook for children.

 

[Dozmonic]

Smiths and Waterstones both have him in the 5-7 range, though I admit I haven't checked out what his books are like. It could well be he's the upper end of that limit, as the books are similar in size to Beast Quest