How to Write a Nonfiction Picture Book: Step 1

Hello, writers! I am starting a series of posts on writing a nonfiction picture book. I’m writing it as I go, and I will later compile this on my own website, I think. So, if you have questions, please do ask! That will help me know where I need to be more specific (without being overwhelming). Thanks!

I’m going to flat out assume that over the past year, you’ve read at least 100 new (published in past three years) nonfiction picture books. If you haven’t, stop right here and start putting books on hold at your library. This info will be here waiting for you when you finish your reading…

Great, you’re back!

Choosing a topic for your nonfiction picture book is your first step, usually. (I say usually because I sometimes choose the form/structure first, but that’s not really normal.) This is the “What” of three important elements of your book. (What? So what? and Now what?)

Forget “write what you know.” Instead, write what you are excited about or curious about! You will be spending a lot of time with this topic over the next several months or years, so you need to care about it.

However, just because you care about it doesn’t mean kids or editors will care about it. Here are a few things to consider.

Kid Appeal: Your topic has to appeal to kids as well as yourself! One of the great joys of reading nonfiction picture books, for me, is discovering that a topic is way more interesting than I initially thought. And that can definitely happen. But in general, it’s great if your topic has obvious, immediate appeal to kids. If it relates to their lives somehow. Big machines, creepy bugs, amazing animals, cookies—these are examples of topics kids relate to. They see them in real life or on TV. They know what these things are. They are drawn to them. They have an emotional reaction to the topic—whether that’s excitement, fear, or happiness.

Topics without immediate kid appeal might still work, but finding just the right angle will be key. (More on that in a future segment.) For instance, taxes, swollen feet, and how to hang holiday lights might all interest some adults. But picture book readers? Not so much.

Competition: Your topic must be fresh to stand out from the competition. Go to Amazon and do a search for children’s books on your topic. Are there 20? 350? None at all?

Some topics have been covered so much that it would be really difficult to sell another book on the topic. When I search Amazon for children’s nonfiction picture books for ages 3-5 about “animals,” more than 7,000 results appear. Seven. Thousand.

When I narrow it down to “dogs,” there are still more than 2,000 results.

When I switch to “platypus,” there are two results.

You might be able to sell a dog nonfiction picture book if you come up with a totally fresh approach, but there’s probably more room for a platypus book.

Curriculum: Curriculum connections only matter if your picture book is going to be for ages 5-9, rather than the more traditional 2-5-year-old audience. But if your topic ties in to something kids study at school, that’s good to know and might help you decide which age range to target. (More on that soon.) It also might help sell your manuscript, when it comes time.

DO THIS NOW

1. Brainstorm a list of possible topics to write about. You can start with general topics—cars, sand, the sun, Abraham Lincoln…whatever you’re curious about or passionate about. Can you list 50 topics? Give it a try.
2. Now go back and circle or highlight the 10 that most interest you that also might not have as much competition as “animals.”
3. Reread your list of 10. Which one is whispering to you right now—pick me! Let’s start with that one.

 

Next up: Wonder