This plug is for Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, by Alice Pope, published by F & W Media. Who knew good ol' Cincinnati, Ohio was such a shining star in the kid-lit-osphere? I didn't, until just this year. I have begun searching for a way to align my professional life with my passion for children's books, and I picked up this book as part of that career-change research.
This book is mainly a directory of children's book publishers and other info, geared to writers and illustrators as they try to get published. However, it's much more--each edition has something new to enjoy, because it also contains articles and author interviews! My favorite interview in the 2008 edition was with picture book author-illustrator Mo Willems. I so enjoyed learning how he "became acquainted" with the Pigeon--Willems says he was working on a project and the Pigeon kept appearing in the margins of the sketches, criticizing them. Oh, that pesky Pigeon!
My favorite features in the 2007 edition are the articles "U.S. vs. U.K. Children's Fiction" and "Creating Books for the Youngest Reader". The latter is a roundtable discussion with six people who write, edit, and/or publish board books. It was fascinating to learn the current issues with marketing this niche. I really nodded my head along with Emily Jenkins, who in response to the question, "What are the most common misconceptions about baby board books?", said,
"...that quality doesn't matter. People assume a junky, badly written thing is fine for a baby, because the baby doesn't know the difference and is only going to suck on it anyway."
There are many other great points raised in that article. The 2007 edition also contains interviews with Christopher Paolini and William Joyce. For anyone interested in children's literature, even if you don't plan to write or publish your own, CWIM is a must-read. Enjoy!
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