On Sunday morning, Michelle gave an in-depth presentation about all things nonfiction to a packed room (we had to get more chairs!). Here are just a few of the many great tidbits participants gleaned from her presentation...
Reasons to write nonfiction:
Brief history of the kids nonfiction book market:
Where to sell nonfiction writing: magazines, trade, mass market, and educational market.
Good nonfiction has the same elements as good fiction:
Reasons to write nonfiction:
- Satisfy your curiosity
- Be a lifelong learner
- Reuse your fiction skills
- Sell to a hungry market (You are 8 times more likely to get published if you write nonfiction!)
Brief history of the kids nonfiction book market:
- textbooks, informational texts
- In 1988, Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman won the Newbery and nonfiction got sexy.
- Then, DK came along and made nonfiction look cool.
- Now, Common Core State Standards are mandating more time spent reading nonfiction texts, so publishers are hungry to acquire it.
- Nonfiction was the fastest growing area of children’s book publishing for 2014 and is projected to be again for 2015!
Where to sell nonfiction writing: magazines, trade, mass market, and educational market.
Good nonfiction has the same elements as good fiction:
- appropriate for the audience and age group
- promotes a sense of kid power through the knowledge it imparts
- has a strong opening hook
- fully fleshed out characters and settings
- fun, interesting, and well-organized text
- a beginning, middle, and end
- a climax
- an uplifting resolution
How to strengthen your nonfiction voice:
- Write!
- Don’t second-guess yourself.
- Choose topics your passionate about.
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