Ask a Picture Book Editor

Our blog this month is all about

So:

• You’ve found your theme, you’ve sculpted your characters and honed your voice. 
• You’ve put pen to paper and structured, and crafted your story into something that you want to share with an agent or a publisher! 

Hooray! 

The next big step is getting it noticed.

One top tip for getting your picture book picked up by an editor is to . . .

 


Most editors will find themselves completing a subconscious mental checklist as they go: 

If the editor loves the text they will be thinking about how they will ‘sell’ your story to 
- their editorial team and publisher 
- their wider publishing team (made up of the Foreign Rights team, the UK sales team, marketing, publicity, the managing director – we’ll deal with these guys in a later post!) 

And this is where the hook comes in. A hook is a one-line sales pitch that encapsulates the essence of your story and ‘hooks’ any potential editors, publishers, managing directors, booksellers, picture book buyers and picture book readers. 

If your story has a strong hook, then the editor will know right away how to pitch the story and won’t be left thinking, “nice story, but so what . . . ?” He or she will immediately know why and how your story is DIFFERENT from everything else that is out there in the marketplace. This is what the publisher and sales people will be asking them in turn. It’s not enough for the editor to love a book – it has to sell! 

If you can pin-point the hook of your text and write it at the top of your covering letter, then you’ve gone part of the way to ‘selling’ your text to your prospective editor.    

Here are some examples of hooks: 

Dragon Stew by Steve Smallman and Lee Wildish

A rollicking rhyming adventure tale starring Vikings, dragons and . . . dragon poo!

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
An innovative lift-the-flap book – perfect for little hands – about finding the perfect pet. 

Pirate House Swap by Abie Longstaff and Mark Chambers
An action-packed twist on a familiar theme, featuring unexpected holiday locations and pirates! 

Knight Time by Jane Clarke and Jane Massey
A reassuring bedtime story – with knights and dragons – about overcoming prejudice and becoming friends.

Grizzly Dad by Joanna Harrison
A warm and original picture book that celebrates dads (especially the grumpy ones!).

The Princess and the Presents by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton
A fantastically funny tale about being greedy and understanding the value of things and people. 

Evil Weasel by Hannah Shaw
A wonderfully wicked tale about making friends and learning to say sorry. 

If your cover letter comes with a succinct and strong hook you will: 
a) have ‘hooked’ the editor reading your submission 
b) helped them start their sales pitch to their team! 

OK – so having your hook helps you get noticed, but what else does it do for you? 

If you can pin-point your hook at the point when you’re refining your story, it can be a really helpful tool to make sure that your text has the right sense of focus and clarity, and isn’t becoming woolly or deviating too much from your original goal. The best picture books are sharp and succinct with an economy of words. 

If you start to look at your hook and think ‘oh, well I could add friendship, lost toys, love and bedtime to my hook as these are all themes which I’m now covering in my book . . .’
STOP RIGHT THERE! 

Your one-line hook is becoming too cluttered (and your story premise diluted)! 

It’s likely that you are trying to cram too many themes into your picture book text. Remember, picture books are short and, to create maximum impact, just one or two closely-interwoven themes (see month one’s discussion!) are enough. 

In a picture book there is not enough space to explore and develop too many multi-faceted themes and ideas – the most satisfying text will handle one or two really well, and in depth. So always think ‘less is more’. 

In summary then – what is a hook and why do you need it? 
 • The ‘hook’ is a term that gets used a lot in the industry and is a vitally important element in selling picture books. 
 • It’s a succinct, one-line pitch which encapsulates what your text is all about and how it will stand out from the competition in the crowded marketplace 
 • It’s helpful to identify your hook, because it should be at the heart of your story. 
 • Having a handle on it helps you to keep focus as you rewrite, refine and edit your story prior to sending it out for submission. 

And here’s our question for next month: 

You’ve hooked your editor and they LOVE your text . . . what happens next?

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Natascha Biebow is editor, mentor and coach at www.blueelephantstoryshaping.com

 

Ellie Farmer is Commissioning Editor at Little Tiger Presswww.littletigerpress.com

Ask a Picture Book Editor

So, you’ve found your UNIVERSAL theme, but what can you do next to make your writing really stand out from the crowd? Our next three blogs will focus on how to hone and refine your craft.

So how do you make your story child-centred? 
Your text needs to appeal to the child reader. It needs to resonate, engage and encourage readers to empathise with the characters and their story. 

Your characters are one way to immediately captivate your child reader. 

1. Know your character!
- picture them
- name them
- think of their personality and the sorts of things they might say. 
- think about what they eat, what they like, and what motivates them! 

Is your character a child? 
If they’re not, are they the sort of character that will appeal to a child? 
For instance, are they a pirate, a monster, an animal or an alien? 

If your character is not a child are they child-like? 
Do they think, speak and act in a fashion that a child might empathise with? Are they experiencing moods, emotions, difficulties and problems that are relevant and immediate to a pre-schooler and their world? 

Here are some examples where the protagonist is not a child, but shares recognisable characteristics with one:

From left to right . . .

Mr Bear Babysits by Debi Gliori: little bears get up to no good with the babysitter 
Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer: Olivia is a little pig who tells tall tales about her holiday 
Dr Hoof by Diana Kempton and Garry Parsons: the doctor is a donkey and the patients are all animals with child-like concerns - e.g. a dog has a splinter, a bunny has hurt his ear 
I Really Want to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio and Dorothee De Monfreid: the little crocodile is a fussy eater 
A Baby Sister For Frances by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban: Frances the badger is learning how to be a good big sister 
Harry The Dirty Dog by Gene Zion: a dog doesn't want a bath 

What motivates your character?

What floats their boat/rocks their world? 
Here are some great examples of books where authors have really got to grips with the dreams and aspirations of their characters: 

From left to right . . .

Duck Says Don’t! by Alison Ritchie and Hannah George: When Goose goes on holiday, Duck really wants to be responsible. But Duck ends up taking things a little too far . . .
Abigail by Catherine Rayner: Abigail loves to count more than anything. But in a busy desert it’s just tricky to find something that will stand still for long enough to be counted! 
It’s a George Thing by David Bedford and Russell Julian: All his friends are good at something and so is George. He’s just desperate to find out what it is.

What does your character really, really want/need and what will happen if he doesn’t get it? 
Some well-observed examples are . . .

From left to right . . . 

Eat Your Peas by Kes Gray and Nick Sharratt: Daisy does not want to eat her peas, no matter what Mum bribes her with. Instead, she turns the tables on Mum – she will eat her peas if Mum will eat her Brussels (but Mum doesn’t like Brussels!).
I Want My Hat Back by John Klassen: Bear’s hat is missing. He desperately wants it back so off he sets on a journey to find it. Nobody he meets seems to have seen his hat – or have they? One sneaky rabbit had better watch out! 
Rhinos Don’t Eat Pancakes by Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie: Daisy just wants her parents to listen to her – but they’re always too busy. Too busy to notice the rhino that’s moved in, which is good, because he’s a fantastic listener! 

2. Make your characters’ voice believable: 
- listen to kids on the bus and in a playground 
- note down phrases and words you hear on kids’ TV programmes 
- watch out for interesting personality traits, mannerisms and quirks 

Some fantastic examples of writers capturing all of the above are: 

From left to right . . .

Mabel and Me by Mark Sperring and Sarah Warburton - wonderful child and child-like characters: “Mabel, you are my BESTEST, BESTEST friend because . . . you say the CRAZIEST things!” 
Then Mabel and Me laugh long and hard . . . the way that best friends always do. 
Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Conner and Robin Preiss Glasser - perfectly observed personality and quirkiness:
“I love being fancy. My favourite colour is fuchsia. 
That’s a fancy way of saying purple.” 
Poo Bum by Stephanie Blake - very funny use (or overuse!) of a phrase:
Little Rabbit has learned a new word and he is going to use it over and over again!
“Poo bum!”
I Will Not Never Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child - an extremely good depiction of child voice which immediately resonates with the reader:
“I have this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny. Sometimes I have to keep an eye on her.” 

3. Think about setting:
Make it relevant, familiar or at least shades of familiar.
Does your story revolve around the home, nursery or school?
Is it an outdoor setting? Again, is it familiar like a garden, park, beach or wood?
Is it somewhere further afield like a museum, a palace – the important thing is to make it immediate and appropriate to the child. Pre-schoolers' worlds are really quite small, though the realms of the imagination (pirate ship, alien spaceship or undersea mermaid palace) are often limitless. There aren’t many picture books set in a mausoleum, a betting shop or a graveyard!

4. Focus on relationships with other characters:
Think about the relationships that are going to happen within your story and make the interactions believable.
Think about:
- how the characters talk to each other
- what they do together
- the level and ‘type’ of emotion that occurs between them.
Here are some examples of believable relationships between child and:

parents - Not Now, Bernard! by David McKee
pet - WANTED: The Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton
siblings - Any Charlie and Lola! book by Lauren Child

grandparents - Mile-High Apple Pie by Laura Langston and Lindsey Gardiner
teacher  - Totally Wonderful Miss Plumberry Michael Rosen and Chinlun Lee
friends - That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton


So here are just a few pointers and tips on how to help make your writing child-friendly and child-centred. Happy crafting and see you next month!

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Natascha Biebow is editor, mentor and coach at www.blueelephantstoryshaping.com

Ellie Farmer is Senior Editor at Little Tiger Press www.littletigerpress.com