So one of the things I'd like to accomplish this summer is to really get a move on on this children's book idea. This is an idea, I've had sitting around my head for a long long while. And I've decided that what I really need is someone to egg me on, which logically suggests my seeing if there is an illustrator out there who is willing to take that leap with me.
Without giving the specifics away, the idea I have is really good. Good enough for me to be quite excited by its possibilities, but it would need a certain stylistic touch to the art itself. Briefly, the idea incorporates a sustainability theme, and there are a couple of bonuses related mostly to the sort of connections I might have as an academic.
In terms of the kind of art I'm looking for, I'm actually thinking of something like Mo Willems, who is responsible for such great works as "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus", "Knuffle Bunny" and one of my all time favourites "Edwina, The Dinosaur."
Mind you, I'm always open to ideas. Anyway, do let me know if you, or anyone else out there, has some interest in the prospect of a science-y children's book. No guarantees of course, but sometimes you never know how these things pan out.
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Hey David, you don't have to find an illustrator before you write the manuscript. In fact, the companies that publish children's books would rather you didn't. The marriage of art and text is actually one of the editor's jobs -- if a publisher likes the text enough to buy it they'll also commission the art for it.
Instead, you should write it, polish it, and polish it again. Know which age group your book is trying to reach. Find out which companies are publishing sciencey books for that age group. Learn what other books on the market are like yours so you can explain to publishers what kind of reader is likely to buy it. If your book finds a home, the publisher will take care of the art. But if you can't describe the market it's aimed at, it'll be harder for it to find that home.
Thanks for the info Diane. Actually, I was kind of hoping to see if there was a way to go through this process where the artist and writer can work a little more closely together. i.e. see if there was an opportunity to have a go before going through the usual route (query with text, see if you get accepted, and then hope for the best, since at that point, art and even the story itself can change considerably depending on the editor's disgression)
Hi David, I own Printakid.com, a small publishing company that makes personalized stories for children. We change the drawings and the text so the main character looks like the child receiving the gift. My husband and I love stories with a science theme. I think we were the first to publish a story incorporating the object Sedna (see our story "The Robots of Sedna"). Unfortunately we probably published it a bit too quickly, since we called it a planet :)
In any case, we are not a traditional publisher so we don't work the same way. We have our own graphic artists and we can work in different styles (we are working on adding more styles than the initial one we have on the site). Look at my about us page and see why we started this company. If you like what you read and would like to see how we could work together, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Hi, David.
I bopped over here from Chris Mooney's blog.
I'm a Ph.D. physicist and the author of 15 children's science books ( http://www.fredbortz.com/booksby.htm ), with numbers 16 and 17 to appear later this year and numbers 18-19 in progress, and I would be glad to enter into a private discussion with you about what a scientist can do in the wonderful world of children's publishing.
But to start the discussion, I would say Diane is absolutely right, especially if you'd like to make an impact through a major trade publishing house.
I also review science books for major metropolitan newspapers ( http://www.scienceshelf.com ) and have a middle-of-the-road blog (click my name) that has recently discussed global warming and my attempts to persuade my politically conservative friend that the science is not part of a "liberal agenda."
(Is middle-of-the-road blog an oxymoron? Sometimes I think so!)