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Anyone who has experience with children knows the challenge of encouraging children to pick up a book.
Developing readers are looking for content worth reading - and they have the added challenge of struggling through their own lack of fluency to get there.
If you have a child in your life who is struggling to start reading, self-publishing your very own book may be the answer.
Don’t worry, writing for kids, and encouraging kids to read, isn’t as hard as it may seem, and it could exactly what your child needs!
Here are some helpful first steps to follow if you’re looking to start writing for kids in your life:
Think about your child.
Great writing means careful consideration of your audience.
While many companies are beginning to specialize in inclusive children’s books and kids books for specific audiences, only you know exactly what is going on in your child’s life.
If your child is struggling with self-confidence at school, a series of texts about a superhero succeeding at school could be inspiring.
If they’re dealing with a more specific issue, perhaps a recent ADHD diagnosis, you can write an inclusive children’s book to help them learn about their condition. When you truly consider the child’s needs, writing for kids becomes much easier as you know the direction you want to write.
Create a story outline.
A story outline may seem overwhelming, but it helps to get some ideas of what you’ll be producing. Do you want your story to rhyme? How many words on a page can your child currently handle, how far do you want to push them? How quickly do you want the story to develop? How long do you think the story can capture their attention? Getting specific with these answers can help you develop an outline of what you’d like your writing for kids to look like. Try drafting out your ideas on paper.
Some people like a storyboard or an outline to help them organize their thoughts. You could ask your child what sort of things they'd like to see in a book made just for them.
Not sure where to start? Check out our Age Guide for inspiration!
Hire a ghostwriter.
The world of self-publishing means you’ll be publishing on your own without the help of a publishing company.
You may be thinking, 'I'm not a writer!' - but not to worry!
You don't need to do it all yourself. Hiring a ghostwriter is a great first step in helping someone move your ideas into action. Writing for kids can be challenging, and you deserve a professional to help you create an engaging narrative. They’ll be able to craft a story for you that can check all your boxes - that outline/draft we talked about above helps here!
An experienced ghostwriter will not only bring your story to life, but also be able to help make rhyming content, target it for an age demographic and reading ability group, and can even include some editing services so you can check that part of your list as well.
Publish with pride.
The great part of writing for kids is although you may have gone into wanting to write a kids book for your child, the truth is many other children could enjoy what you’re creating. Self-publishing allows you to reach others just like your child and give them the support they need. It turns out the most successful self-publishers for inclusive children’s books started by writing for kids in their own life first. The great news about using Amazon KDP is they’ll do all the heavy lifting for printing and shipping.
So pat yourself on the back for sharing your ideas, helping other children, and for publishing on a platform like Amazon KDP.
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Let’s make hay while the sun shines!