How to Write a Children's Book in 14 EASY Steps

Mariana Llanos
Aug 11
4 min read

You've always wanted to write a children's book. How hard can it be, after all? Here's a few fool-proof tips to get you started on your journey.

Start with an idea. Or 1,000 ideas all at the same time. Some will even pop up in the shower or when you’re driving and can’t get a hold of paper and pencil. No worries, this means you’re doing it right.
Once you decide on the idea you want to write, a bazillion other things are going to get in the way of writing… All of a sudden everyone will want to call you, visit you, and require your attention—or a new season of Stranger Things will be released earlier than anticipated. Still, don’t worry. This also means you’re onto something.
Finally, you managed to focus and use your time right. Wait, there’s the Facebook. Should you tell everyone that you’re finally going to write? NO. Sit still and write the thing!
Okay, you’re doing it. It’s whimsical, it has spunk. Perfect. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT stop to check for punttuaction; or gremmerical mystakens… pour your story out of your body. One more push. You can do it.
AWESOME SAUCE! You have a draft! Now it’s time to think about publishing—NO!!! Understand: this is a draft. One of many, hopefully. But it is “a something”, so celebrate!
Now you are lost because you’re in love with your story, but that nice lady who has written a bunch of books told you that a picture book is supposed to be short and concise. It might be a tad difficult to read over 4,000 words to your 3-year-old nephew. Cutting a single word of your masterpiece feels like a betrayal to your muse. Breathe in deeply. Let the advice sink in. Grasp that knife.
Cut, cut, cut. Revise again, and cut, cut, cut anything that doesn’t serve the story or moves it forward, especially if it’s a picture book. Now it’s time to make sure your grammar and punctuation are alright. Yay! It’s ready…!
For publication you ask? No. For more rounds of editing. At this point you might want to join a writing group and find a few critique partners. For the love of everything that is lovable, don’t use your 5^th grade English teacher, your uncle who self-published a thriller, or your neighbor who holds 7 masters in Literature from the Middle Ages . Writing for children is a skill. Children’s literature is a genre with its own characteristics. Find other children’s book writers who can help critique your work. Or take a course and attend conferences. Keep on working on your story.
A group of fashionable writers working hard at Highlights Foundation Writing Retreat (Left to Right: Mariana Llanos, Kate Narita, Rebecca Roan, Sera Rivers, Brooke Hartman
LISTEN. It’s hard when we don’t hear what we want to hear but other writers’ feedback is meant to help you. Apply the changes, accept the edits, consider the input. Maybe it needs a change of POV (point of view), maybe it’s not a picture book, maybe it reads too old for the target audience. At the end of the day, it’s your story and you control it, but trying, revising, and accepting is always a good writing exercise.
Look back. Look how far you’ve come. That story is now polished and shines like a diamond and you feel like it’s ready for the next step. YAY!
If you decide to go the traditional route (finding an agent to sell your story to a publisher, or sell your story to a publisher directly), you’ll still edit your story many more times with your agent, and then with your editor back and forth, before it’s ready for publication… It takes time, but you will feel the reward when you hold that book baby in your hands. WELL DONE, YOU!
PS. At this point the book baby will feel more like your grandbaby than your child, because publishing takes TIME… but hopefully you will use that time to keep writing more stories!
If you choose to self-publish instead, you likely won’t wait as much for publication, and you’ll feel powerful to have all that creative control but… do you really need creative control if you don’t know what you’re doing? I urge you to research and work with professional editors, book and cover designers, and illustrators to create your best work.
And now, back to number 1 because I forgot to mention that while you’re doing all this, don’t forget to READ! Read as many children’s books as you can, and I’m not talking about classics like Peter Pan or Dr. Seuss. Read what is currently being published, study the market, develop your own voice. The world doesn’t need more Dr. Seuss’ write-alikes, the world needs that special and unique voice within YOU.