March 24, 2021-Happy Victoria Day, Friends! I hope that you’re finding a fun way to celebrate the holiday. We’re talking about writing for kids, and today we’ll focus on board books!
What are board books exactly? A subgenre of the picture book, these are a great way to get books into your kids’ hands at the earliest age possible. Board books are also known as ‘chewables’ because babies tend to stick them in their mouths (along with everything else); the books are made of thick cardboard that is specially bound and ranges from 16-24 double-sided pages.
Ages 0-2-year-olds enjoy this type of book the most due to the simplified content partnered with a few easy words. A minimum of 10 words with a maximum count of 20 words, with such a low word count, these books heavily rely on images and simple illustrations.
Board books are very simple concept books created by publishers with no outside help or by hiring authors to write to specifications. Usually, the names of the illustrator and authors are left off the book or the publisher uses in-house talent as mentioned above. They cost more than picture books to produce but have to be sold at a lower price. This means that only when the publisher is producing a large print run that they know they’ll sell will they take on a board book. Honestly, don’t bother submitting to publishers for this genre because chances are 99% that we won’t publish it.
Stick to children’s picture books and above, that way; you’ll have a real shot of getting published. Check out our Children’s Book Writing Master Class here: Children’s Book Writing Master Class – Pandamonium Publishing House